To say that this is
merely a basement cellar is a huge understatement. Once again Betsy
says .. How come ours can't look like that ??
Note: click on any image for a larger version
Richard writes ...
Here is the story of my wine cellar. I'll try to
keep in short. By the way, your website was a huge help! So I documented
with my digital camera and will be happy to answer any questions
anyone has regarding my construction woes and successes.
I have a 80 year old, brick, someone what cramped house in the
heart of Washington, DC. The back of the basement was unused (except
for my workbench, relocated to the garage). I was using a closet
as a passive storage facility, but as you can see from my pictures,
I outgrew it very quickly. The concrete below grade floor was perfect
and kept a nice even temp all year long. My plans to finish off
the back of the basement made me think I needed to upgrade to a
chilled and controlled cellar. I had major scope creep!!! It finally
ended after 4 months of work. I kinda like the finished product
though.
The room itself is relatively small after the green board, insulation,
space behind wall for mechanical equipment, etc. All told its only
8 1/4 ft x 6 1/2 ft by 7 ft high. I used the heaviest insulation
I could fit in the walls and even with that we had to stuff it
well and about R30 on the ceiling. I used IC lights (insulated
cans) recessed lights to keep heat away from the room and a 6 mm
vapor barrier and green board to resist mildew. The ceramic tile
floor is set on top of water sealed concrete 6 ft below house grade.
I purchased a pre-hung exterior grade 15 light door and calked
the heck out of it prior to installing. I also used a Sauna timer
as the light switch, just in-case after one of the long dinner
parties I don't forget and leave the light on and heat up the room!
I have 5 total recessed lights (40 W each)
and that's over kill. The cellar keeps a perfect temp! The chiller unit is
the Whisperkool 3000 and is overkill for the space, but works great.
I saved some money on the wine racks and purchased them on-line.
The custom estimates I received were for upwards of $6-8K! and
to me that's futures money I am wasting. Not to mention my wife
(the voice of reason) was looking over my shoulder to make sure
I didn't gold plate the room. I am not happy with the company nor
the racks, so I won't go into specifics about the name because
I am still trying to get them to follow-through on some promises.
Take this for example, I purchase the entire set of kits of Mahogany
racks for $2,300 and unknown to me, until after assembly, on the
front of each kit were the words of the manufacturer burned into
the wood! I am still upset because they have yet to send me the
replacement pieces. Am I being odd? If I buy a chair at Ethan Allen
I don't want the name burned into the wooden arm and at $2,300,
that's furniture to me. Also, the racks had to be significantly
modified because the sizes were drastically different from the
sizes I ordered. In some cases off by as much as 5 inches. I will
share all details with you so we can warn other potential buyers
if you want, but only after they send me my replacement parts.
All told I have capacity, that's is very attractive, for approximately
1000 +/- 15 to 20 depending on what type I keep. I hope you enjoy
and your readers enjoy the pictures. As you can see in one of them,
I have all my filled cases lined up for storage. Man was my wife
upset about me keeping
those in the living room for 4 mos. I also included the pictures of my new
bar I installed.
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