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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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