Spicy Chickens Cellar Grow Room Extreme Makeover Home Addition

Spicy Chicken · Feb 7, 2012

I thought that I would start a new thread for this one.
I have come to realize that the Pepper Shack will not be large enough to handle all of the seedlings once transplanted to their larger containers.
So Here we go again, but this will happen very quickly in comparison to the Pepper Shack.
Anywho, I have this old cellar that is 20ft x 12ft on the inside, the walls are 16 inches and the ceiling 24 inches thick solid concrete. The out side is covered with large boulders and dirt another 24 to 30 inches deep; never freezes in there.

The whole thing is buried about 30 inches deep, 4 steps down, it has one small door on one end and a drop shoot in the ceiling with a concrete lid. I put some wiring in 8 or 9 years ago. Now it has just become a collect all and need to put the space to better use.

2x4 walls, insulation, OSB, a little bit of wiring and shelves with more lights. maybe another transplant table.

Good Idea or not? Comments or questions welcome.

Thanks for looking, Jeff

ajijoe · Feb 7, 2012

very impressive cold celler

it would be too cold to germinate your seeds in it unless you heat it

your elecric bill would be throught the roof, do my eyes deceive or does it have a hole for a chimney?? if so you could put a small stove in, but for the size of your space it might get too hot

im not really sure and dont wanna sound like a naysayer, im wondering what other might say

thanks your friend Joe

Burning Colon · Feb 7, 2012

Good Idea or not? Comments or questions welcome.

why do i have a feeling that every member could say don't do it and it wouldn't matter? i have a feeling you have a project on your mind? go for it!

do my eyes deceive or does it have a hole for a chimney?

spicy wouldn't care, he would just make a new one. "honey, would you be so kind to bring me my chainsaw?"!!! i would also bet he has the perfect antique woodstove lurking about or knows where to get one. "honey, guess what your spicy sugar daddy wants for valentines day?".

MGOLD86 · Feb 7, 2012

Here we go again :jealousy: :envy: :wishiwereyou: :thisisgoingtobeamazing:

ajijoe · Feb 7, 2012

well if thats the way its gonna be im out (LOL)

LanMan · Feb 7, 2012

I don't know about growing but if that was mine I would put all my brewing/winemaking equipment :beer:

Spicy Chicken · Feb 7, 2012

ajijoe said:
very impressive cold celler

it would be too cold to germinate your seeds in it unless you heat it

your elecric bill would be throught the roof, do my eyes deceive or does it have a hole for a chimney?? if so you could put a small stove in, but for the size of your space it might get too hot

im not really sure and dont wanna sound like a naysayer, im wondering what other might say

thanks your friend Joe

Think your right Joe, a stove would be to hot for sure in such a small space.

On the inside there are no cracks anywhere. I am thinking that once I frame out the inside I might have the local insulators come and spry foam 4 inches thick between the studs, that will give me an R28

I would like to keep the ceiling arched but thats a lot of work, so maybe pitched. Also thinking that I could incorporate one of those light transfer domes in the round access hole in the ceiling, giving me some natural light.
I will have a ton of 4 bulb t8's from the school salvage and they are only 16 inches wide, shelves down both sides should give me the extra room for lots and lots of plants. should also be easy to heat with a small electric heater.

Burning Colon said:
why do i have a feeling that every member could say don't do it and it wouldn't matter? i have a feeling you have a project on your mind? go for it!

spicy wouldn't care, he would just make a new one. "honey, would you be so kind to bring me my chainsaw?"!!! i would also bet he has the perfect antique woodstove lurking about or knows where to get one. "honey, guess what your spicy sugar daddy wants for valentines day?".

BC your have one vivid imagination, don't ever lose that! lol

MGOLD86 said:
Here we go again :jealousy: :envy: :wishiwereyou: :thisisgoingtobeamazing:

O come on now MG its just some 2x4's and osb in a 72 year old bomb shelter, nothing fancy is going to happen here, but I thought I would put it on here in case someone is thinking of building one; they could learn from my mistakes.

ajijoe said:
well if thats the way its gonna be im out (LOL)

Don't you dare! just what I'm looking for, pros, cons, and ideas, and how to. stick around this could get interesting. ;o)

LanMan said:
I don't know about growing but if that was mine I would put all my brewing/winemaking equipment

That's a hell of an idea and one I thought about myself, nice thing about it there are 3 cellars like this one on the property and seriously considering your thoughts. :drunk:

Did any one notice the bats in the last pic?

AlphaHydroponics · Feb 7, 2012

Spicy Chicken said:
Think your right Joe, a stove would be to hot for sure in such a small space.

On the inside there are no cracks anywhere. I am thinking that once I frame out the inside I might have the local insulators come and spry foam 4 inches thick between the studs, that will give me an R28

I would like to keep the ceiling arched but thats a lot of work, so maybe pitched. Also thinking that I could incorporate one of those light transfer domes in the round access hole in the ceiling, giving me some natural light.
I will have a ton of 4 bulb t8's from the school salvage and they are only 16 inches wide, shelves down both sides should give me the extra room for lots and lots of plants. should also be easy to heat with a small electric heater.

BC your have one vivid imagination, don't ever lose that! lol

O come on now MG its just some 2x4's and osb in a 72 year old bomb shelter, nothing fancy is going to happen here, but I thought I would put it on here in case someone is thinking of building one; they could learn from my mistakes.

Don't you dare! just what I'm looking for, pros, cons, and ideas, and how to. stick around this could get interesting. ;o)

That's a hell of an idea and one I thought about myself, nice thing about it there are 3 cellars like this one on the property and seriously considering your thoughts.

Did any one notice the bats in the last pic?

Bat Cave, sweet.
I'm so jealous every time I see your farm. Didn't you say someone abandoned it at one point?
Anyway, knowing your skills, this is going to be awesome.

ajijoe · Feb 7, 2012

im not going anywhere LOL

SuperHot · Feb 7, 2012

My wife would love to have a cold cellar like your!!

Spicy Chicken · Feb 7, 2012

AlphaHydroponics said:
Bat Cave, sweet.
I'm so jealous every time I see your farm. Didn't you say someone abandoned it at one point?
Anyway, knowing your skills, this is going to be awesome.

Just might have to keep the bats around, guano ferts, woohoo
Ya the farm was abandon when I bought it, no one had lived here for more than 18 years, the place was an absolute wreck, like a train wreck maybe. lol

ajijoe said:
im not going anywhere LOL

SuperHot said:
My wife would love to have a cold cellar like your!!

She Could have one of these but I'm sure they weigh like 40 - 50 tons each, I take it she does a lot of canning?

megahurts · Feb 7, 2012

I vote wine/beer/cheese making.... You have 3. One for each

catherinew · Feb 7, 2012

I'm with SuperHot's wife - I'd LOVE to have a cold cellar like that - or even a cold cellar with lots of shelves for canned food. Good choice to use for your larger seedlings. Constant temp. Spraying insulation would be a good decision.

Burning Colon · Feb 7, 2012

ya see, i'm with lanman and mega, the place needs wine, beer and cheese. but you do what you want!.............. feeling guilty yet!....... nope, didn't think so!

stc3248 · Feb 7, 2012

"learn from my mistakes" yeah...right.

Ummmm...I really want to follow another kick ass SC makeover thread, BUT how many seedlings could you put in the greenhouse if you FINISHED that one??? Just sayin. I know the $$$ and time would be much more extended up there, so I understand the reasoning...

I guess what I'm really saying is I really want to see your version of a greenhouse!

Spicy Chicken · Feb 7, 2012

megahurts said:
I vote wine/beer/cheese making.... You have 3. One for each

That would be very cool, I bought a hundred year old school and it must have at least a quarter million old brick on it, they would look really good inside the cellars, a person could deck it out pretty nicely, even arching the brick to match the contour of the ceiling.

catherinew said:
I'm with SuperHot's wife - I'd LOVE to have a cold cellar like that - or even a cold cellar with lots of shelves for canned food. Good choice to use for your larger seedlings. Constant temp. Spraying insulation would be a good decision.

Thanks Jane. I'm hoping that it will be usable for plants, kinda still waiting for someone to point out why I shouldn't and kill the idea. crossing my fingers.

Burning Colon said:
ya see, i'm with lanman and mega, the place needs wine, beer and cheese. but you do what you want!.............. feeling guilty yet!....... nope, didn't think so!

You know me to well. LOL

stc3248 said:
"learn from my mistakes" yeah...right.

Ummmm...I really want to follow another kick ass SC makeover thread, BUT how many seedlings could you put in the greenhouse if you FINISHED that one??? Just sayin. I know the $$$ and time would be much more extended up there, so I understand the reasoning...

I guess what I'm really saying is I really want to see your version of a greenhouse!

I know, I know, time is a real issue for me right now, too many irons in the fire. I will get to that green house hopefully soon, but I will be potting up 4 of 5 hundred plants in the next 3 weeks or so and no way have time to build the GH like you said in that period of time, plus would have to try and heat it. big advantage will be the natural light instead of paying for electricity on 25 or so 4 bulb 4ft flors. and there are another dozen in the peppers shack running now. my wife is going to kill me! so if I stop posting you'll know why. :halo:

stc3248 · Feb 8, 2012

SC...above all else. Make sure you notify me if you ever want to move and I will buy your place! Better yet since I don't want to live on the tundra...I'll sell you the 150 acres I have set aside for my retirement in TX then when I retire you can sell it back to me!

megahurts · Feb 8, 2012

SC - Sorry if this is a hijack, but can you point me to the article about the instruction of your raised beds? I couldnt find it in searching. I get the basic principle, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything. It seems that it would be an easier way when you dont have level ground to work with. You dont know the materials cost off hand do you?

Thanks
MHz

Justaguy · Feb 8, 2012

megahurts said:
SC - Sorry if this is a hijack, but can you point me to the article about the instruction of your raised beds? I couldnt find it in searching. I get the basic principle, but I want to make sure I'm not missing anything. It seems that it would be an easier way when you dont have level ground to work with. You dont know the materials cost off hand do you?

Thanks
MHz

MXz I was hunting for it awhile back and bookmarked it.
http://driedhotpeppe...le_Beds_001.JPG

Spicy Chicken said:

I see you have the pole greased. Can we see some pictures for the stripper tryouts???? :rofl:

Emu · Feb 9, 2012

I am soooo looking forward to watching this happen!