Colin C. of Colorado writes:

Note: You can click on any image to see a larger version.

I wanted to send you a few pictures of my basement cellar that I recently completed.

Great site! Your site and the book “How and Why to Build a Wine Cellar” by Richard M. Gold gave me the inspiration to build my cellar.

My house is a 1928 brick Tudor in Denver, Colorado. The placement of my cellar was originally a 3ft by 8ft walk-in closet in my basement that had once been used as a makeshift wine cellar – racks only, no insulation, cooling, etc. After seeing the temperature in the current cellar/closet peak around 68 in the summer and drop to 50 in the winter, I decided I had to do something.

Having no experience in home construction of any kind (until this project I had never even used a miter saw) I knew this might be a challenge. However, after obtaining information on basic wall construction and electrical I found that the only hard part was finding free time.

A few notes:

- Demo: After tearing out the old walls and carpet, I sealed the cement walls and floors to avoid any excess moisture.

- Walls: Standard 2x4 construction with 3 stud corners. I used pressure treated board for the sills.
Greenboard sheetrock was used on all walls with mildew resistant primer/paint.

- Insulation: All walls are insulated with unfaced R13 fiberglass. I used two layers of unfaced R13 3.5” batts in the 2x8 ceiling.

- Vapor barrier: The vapor barrier I used was a product called “rfoil” which is basically 1/4 inch
bubble-wrap sandwiched between two layers of aluminum. The manufactures claim an R value of R14 when used on the ceiling and around R8 when used on a wall. I’m not sure I believe their claim but I figured it would at least give me a little more insulation. Using their numbers, my ceiling is R40 and walls are R21. I stapled the vapor barrier to the ceiling joists after I installed the insulation. From what I read in Dr. Gold’s book, the rule of thumb is to place the vapor barrier on the “warm” side of the wall as when warmer more humid air reaches colder less humid air, condensation can occur. However, here in Denver the climate is dry with very low relative humidity. The humidity level in the cellar (60-70%) should always be higher than the humidity of the air above so the chances of any condensation on the joists are very low. For the walls I placed the vapor barrier on the warm side.

- Door: Is his book, Dr. Gold recommends against the use of glass doors. With all the time I was putting into the construction of the cellar I decided that I really wanted the look of a glass door even if it meant my insulation would be less efficient. Due to the low ceilings in my basement, I had a custom 2’4”x6’8” exterior grade door built. For $289 through Lowes I felt it was a very good deal.

- Lights: Recessed air-tight IC cans. Florescent lights are much more practical in a cellar but I prefer
the look of recessed lights.

- Floor: Sealed glueless laminate flooring.

- Cooling: Koolspace 300. It seems to do the trick. I have it set at 58 (1 degree above default) which
according to the min/max of my gauge it fluctuates between 55.5 and 57.5. I will probably purchase
another gauge just to make sure the readings are correct.

  
- Racking: I cleaned and reused the diamond racks (1x10 pine) that were in the old closet/cellar.
Eventually I would like to purchase a set of custom racks but I decided to invest the money into additional wine for now.

I am very pleased with the outcome. The final size is roughly 7’x8’ and should allow me to expand my
collection for years to come.

Cheers,
Colin

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