Indoor LOFTY PROBLEMS.

[Itisi]

Hi all

Somebody may well have done this, so please stop me if they have.

I thought I'd start a thread about problems facing those of us who use our loft space as a grow area, or more precisely a thread about the solutions to these problems.

I'll kick off with some of mine.

1. Access. My wife has an issue with my current set up. She'd like me to fit a nice pop down hatch with foldaway ladder. My paranoid self however, thinks this would make access too easy for prying eyes. It's only a matter of time until I lose this argument!

2. Power. Very few lofts come with this luxury. Mine has a rubbish fluorescent light I plan to upgrade. Power for the grow comes from an extension lead descreetly runt rough a fitted wardrobe. This is OK for my grow as I have low power consumption.

3. Space. Depends on roof type. Mine is a bit of a mix. I'm end of terrace on a slight hill. So my house is about a foot higher than next door. I have enough room for a 1mx1mx2m tent. There are loft shaped tents that would give me more floor space.

4. Climate. Haha haha. Insert your favourite expletives here! Obviously the whole point of growing in a tent is to create a favourable micro climate for the plants. If your tent is in your home, it's exterior is gonna be pretty constant, room temperature. In a loft however!! Mine will go from winter temps where it's as cold as it is outside (down to freezing or just below) to summer temps of outside temps + thermal gain from roof (up in the 40's centgrade). So in summer I went for lots of fresh air supply and cfl lights to keep temps down. Winter! I've insulated the entire tent, air supply from indoors, extract discharges into loft, because I have gone led I have had to put a 1m tube heater in the tent. Lights on, I maintain mid 20's c. Lights off it stays in the mid teens c even when external temps are down to 3 or 4 c that's with no heater on. It's worked so well I'm keeping the insulation for summer. Another good thing is it disguises any heat signature.

5. Water. The frustration of having the tent next to a water pipe but having to struggle up the ladder with full buckets! I have a butt I fill, I plan to t into the water in the loft at some point.

6. Injury. Shaky access with buckets of nutrients, low ceiling,big hole in floor, clumsy stoner. It's a matter of time really.

That's all for now. I haven't touched on; previous owners old crap, floor boarding, dust or rats as yet!

Please chip in with any I'm put.

Laters

Itisi

 

[woody]

Hey @Itisi great thread mate, dont recall it being done before ( in the last year anyway) im a loft space grower too.
same problems with buckets of water an winter/ summer temps. Im pretty well insulated but still need a heater on at the minute!
The height/shape meant i had to keep the tent in the centre of the room taking up a lot of space, until i converted into a grow room, i just built a studwall and door about 1.5m off the gable end. Also means i can keep the room locked.

Looking forward to other loft growers experiences!
@Wile e Peyote arent you a loft grower too dude?

 

[Itisi]

Hey @Itisi great thread mate, dont recall it being done before ( in the last year anyway) im a loft space grower too.
same problems with buckets of water an winter/ summer temps. Im pretty well insulated but still need a heater on at the minute!
The height/shape meant i had to keep the tent in the centre of the room taking up a lot of space, until i converted into a grow room, i just built a studwall and door about 1.5m off the gable end. Also means i can keep the room locked.

Looking forward to other loft growers experiences!
@Wile e Peyote arent you a loft grower too dude?

Hi San,

I'm planning to convert one end to a complete room.

Need to get the roof repaired and shift the water tank 1st.

When this grow is finished I'll move the tube heater into my air intake duct. What type of heater do you run?

What sort of insulation you got? I have 3" polystyrene plus a layer of multi foil . All building grade, so has the relevant fire protection.

The lockable door on the grow room is a massive plus. (My son's girlfriends, father works for her majesty's finest! Stealth is a must in my house!)

Thanks for chipping in.

I

 

[woody]

Ive a couple of tube heaters too but they arent the most effective!
Insulated with sheets of kingspan and then sheeted in timber.
Yea stealth is my no1 priority too. During the harbest is when i need to be most careful- clothes stripped and straight into the tub

 

[Itisi]

Agreed about the tube heaters. I'm a heating and ventilation engineer by trade.

So a permanent solution to that is also on my list.

I have had a look around for a suitable heat exchanger for my air supply. Nothing yet.

 

[Wile e Peyote]

Ye mate I grow I'm the loft unfortunately the only way of keeping the tent warm is added heaters had to bite the bullet and put a 1700 watt oil heater on plug in thermostat keeps my temps at around 75 to 80f have insulated the top halve of the tent helped a bit only have heat problems with water temp in the summer it's bloody cold in the winter but the plants don't seem to mind can help with the water problem just bought a stretchy hose and tap adapter from fleabay no more lugging water for me good luck dude growing in a loft has its own unique problems

 

[Itisi]

Ye mate I grow I'm the loft unfortunately the only way of keeping the tent warm is added heaters had to bite the bullet and put a 1700 watt oil heater on plug in thermostat keeps my temps at around 75 to 80f have insulated the top halve of the tent helped a bit only have heat problems with water temp in the summer it's bloody cold in the winter but the plants don't seem to mind can help with the water problem just bought a stretchy hose and tap adapter from fleabay no more lugging water for me good luck dude growing in a loft has its own unique problems

Hi wile

Wow. That's a lot of heat! How big is your tent?

I think the main thing to keep a stable temp is the temp of the supply air, ducting my supply from the house was such a simple thing to do and makes so much sense.

I spend a fortune keeping the house at a constant room temp, why not capitalize on that? Even in summer the house will be cooler than outside or the loft space.

I

 

[Wile e Peyote]

Hi wile

Wow. That's a lot of heat! How big is your tent?

I think the main thing to keep a stable temp is the temp of the supply air, ducting my supply from the house was such a simple thing to do and makes so much sense.

I spend a fortune keeping the house at a constant room temp, why not capitalize on that? Even in summer the house will be cooler than outside or the loft space.

I

My tent is around 5 by 5 feet and I rent so no alterations but when you put the cost with how much extra bud you get its more than worth it but in the summer no heat problems even when it's 100f in the loft it's stays a nice even temp in the tent [emoji3]

 

[Itisi]

OK

Some of the other issues I've come up against.

Junk. At the end of the day the loft is home to; xmas decos for 11 months a year, suitcases 11.5 months a year and assorted crap that you will eventually fix/find a use for/fit into again/have another baby (god forbid!). I had the added bonus of the previous residents tutte. A 6 yard skip full! And there's still a cramped corner to clear. Xmas just demonstrated a small cannabis farm does nothing to help with storage problems.

Floorboards. It's a massive 'in' joke within the building trades. Yes, they know we will want to use the loft space,but, to drum up some extra repair work they don't board the loft knowing there's a good chance of getting a call to repair the foot damage to ceilings! The previous owners had semi boarded the loft with old, broken furniture! You tread from 3" thick worktop onto 1/8" hardboard. I have started boarding it using loft boards (no fool me,lol), that is a proper mission. Threading the boards up through the hatch, around all the cross beams and joists into position is like doing a Chinese puzzle.

Rats. I love nature, as long as it stays the fu (# out of my house! I was warned when I moved in that our gardens are a busy rat run. At the beginning of last summer, I heard noises from above. I investigated but found nothing.
Eventually I sussed out that rats had climbed the drainpipe to the guttering, chewed through the facia board and where nesting in the soffits. 2 weeks, 54 rat traps, 4 tubs of poison and a tin of .22 hunting tips later and I had reclaimed the high ground. There were 3 rats caught.
Basically the open eaves of a loft is an open invitation for pests, especially when there is a food/water source in there.

Dust. Thankfully I don't suffer ocd. My house was built in the 40's to home bombed out Londoners (not much changed lol) . The 60 year old roofing felt crumbles in the breeze, leaving dust, the exposed tiles allow the wind to blow through, leaving dust, the heat of the grow and the fans create air flow, leaving dust, opening the loft hatch allows warm air to rush...........etc,etc,etc.

On a positive. I need to repair the roof in summer. I'll use that opportunity to insulate the roof , seal the eaves and have the loft as room. There's a disused chimney that could be converted to an extract duct. There's service pipes already up there to add a water supply and a drain. It's the one place in the house that my wife and dogs will not enter.

Thanks for those that have chipped it.

Seems the main problems are universal.

Laters

I

 

[Itisi]

OK

Problems I haven't encountered.

Tax man. In case you are unfamiliar with the term, it's what thieves who steal from criminals call them selves. Until the uk gets dragged out of the dark ages us growers are classed as criminals. Apparently these tax men use drone with heat sensitive cameras to scope local areas, they check out houses with grow room heat signatures and then pay them a visit. I've heard of 2 such visits, one the tax men got away with all the plants and equipment, the other they chased off by a Staffordshire Bull terrier. Hopefully my insulation will disquise my grow. There was a case in the papers were a judge did actually convict a tax man for robbing a farm.

Old bill. Same as above really. Obviously they have better equipment and the law on their side.

Repairs. I read on here a while back, a guy had to disassemble his grow due to a loft leak and need to call a plumber. Fortunately for me I can handle most household repairs myself, but if you can't ,this would be a major pain. If I had to do this, it would take the best part of a day and the damage to the plants!

Well, I can think of no more. Should I stumble upon other probs I will of course, share.

Laters

I