Grow Room in basement? Wash with bleach, vinegar, or ammonia?

Hello Everyone!!

I have an (approximate) 14'L x 7'W x 8'H room in my basement. It has electricity and water. It hasn't been disturbed for years. I've basically cleaned it out at this point and was wondering what I should clean it with?

There are built in tables, shelves, and cabinets down there. I don't want to run the risk of introducing (or giving) something detrimental the chance to flourish in my new space. There was a good bit of dirt, rust, and trash down there. I know it won't be a sterile environment...but want to get it as clean as possible before I hang my lights and move my seedlings. The walls are cement if it matters. We don't own a power washer.

I'd appreciate any advice. I will be posting pics of my progress soon!

~The Wife

A 5%(max) solution of bleach to hot water bucket is ideal, you are after killing bacteria, viri and above all spores, that will give no end of hassle, scrub and mop, and allow to air dry

I built my grow room out of my basement and it was in horrible shape before I got there. I scrubbed all surfaces with bleach water and painted everything. If I was to move out and take out all my grow stuff, I will have increased the value of the property with what I did. You don't need a power washer but you do need to take your time and do it right because once you get some plants in there it will be hard to make changes.

I love my basement because it stays around 67 degrees year around. I can run high wattages, even in summer, without using any a/c down there. Good luck!

I'd love to have a basement again! When I did have one I paneled off the underside of a counter top and caulked it up really nice. All remaining surfaces were painted with Killz. That was pretty white, so I called it good. If you go over the killz, then go with flat white. I think I used latex, but oil based killz might adhere better if your walls are moist. Like others said scrub everything with a bleach solution. Let everything ventilate for a long time before you introduce any vegetation.

Another route would be to put in a frame made out of 2x4s or 1x1 and cover it with white paneling or the waterproof acrylic/vinyl stuff depending on your budget. This would let you run any outlet boxes you need if you are adding electrical. My basement had a room that was mostly closed off and I was able to mount an A/C unit in the wall, put an old bookcase over the back (backwards so the A/C unit was enclosed), and then use an inline fan to vent the heat from the A/C unit outside. I was also able to vent my lights into the surrounding basement.

My basement was humid. My humidifier generated unexpected heat and at one point I even built a box to catch the exhaust from the dehumidifier and vent it out of the room, but I think this over-taxed the dehumidifier and did not as effectively dry out the room. I'm jealous, basements are stable even if they are usually damp. Use plenty of light!

Here is a picture after my husband and I pretty much cleaned her out. There is some patching and painting to do....but I have all the stuff already here. This picture doesn't show the built in cabinets to the left of the frame. I'm going to get a cheap slop sink to throw in too. I'm also going to pick up a 15' hose for that faucet. On that left hand wall is a line of functioning outlets with an on-off switch.

Get yourself some Kilz or an equivalent mold/mildew resistant paint and thoroughly coat all surfaces. I think I saw a recipe for DIY paint in the Uncle Ben thread. Good luck and happy growing

Commercially I clean with Physan 20 / Orthene tank mix. In my home I use bleach solution.

hi there if you can get it in the usa have a look for a product called microbial it kills everything an i mean everything from mold, gnats, powdery mildew,fungas gnats maggots YET its 100%safe on plants pets humans well well a look at if ya can find

If you havea sunken drain or sub you got it made as then you can flush down there too...lol

I have done basement clean up/sanitizing/mold abatement professionally, everyone here haying bleach is correct; I also recommend using a product called "Mold Blaster" the first time you clean (you can find it at The Home Depot).


If it's possible, you should heat up and dry out the area by running a space heater and/or dehumidifier in there for a few days, keep the temps as high in that room as you SAFELY can. If you can bring the temp past 105 f (40 c) and the humidity below 20% for 24 hours you will have substantially discouraged growth of shit that attacks cannabis, if you can bring temps higher and humidity lower for longer you'll be even better off.

I've built a temporary grow tent upstairs. I will move into the basement come the warmer temps. It is just too cold down there with 20+ degree swings.

I can not in good conscience run a space heater down there. If I can't see it, I don't want to run it.

Here is to hoping it warms up enough down there for summer.

~sigh~

It is all cleaned out and washed thought. I'm so sad it is so cold down there. The space and humidity is perfect.