Building a home wine cellar in your basement is one of the best methods to keep wines in storage and maintain their quality over time. Before beginning any project, it is essential to acquire the knowledge necessary to successfully construct a wine cellar in your basement. The significance of doing so cannot be overstated. It will be easier for you to prevent complications in the building of the wine cellar later on if you plan things out beforehand.
When constructing a wine cellar in your basement, there are several factors that need to be taken into mind, including the following:
The amount of space available in the wine cellar. Because wine cellars usually wind up being too small for their owners’ demands, I would suggest that you design the biggest cellar you can fit into and manage, but this recommendation is contingent on the amount of extra room that is available in your basement.
The ceiling has to have a steam barrier and a heat-retaining material that is at least R-19 in order to function properly.
Flooring: The floor of the cellar in the basement has to be insulated as well, unless the floor is made of concrete. If this is the case, then further insulation is not required. Only vapor barriers are required for concrete floors that have a surface (sealed with concrete sealant). Any floor surfaces that are above ground level need to have an R-19 rating and a vapor barrier.
To create the walls of your basement wine cellar, use timber measuring 2 by 4 or 2 by 6 and space it 16 inches apart. If you want to build a wine cellar in your basement. Insulation made of extruded polystyrene or fiberglass is often used in the construction of wine cellars. Insulation is required for the ceiling in the same way as it is for the walls of the cellar.
Vapor Barrier : The vapor barrier, which should be a plastic sheeting with a thickness of 6 or 8 mils, is required to be put on the warm side of the heat insulation. If the wine cellar is on the cold side, then the warm side indicates that the vapor barrier is protected from the cold side by insulation. If you install the vapor barrier on the side of the insulation that faces the wine cellar, condensation from the room’s high humidity will form on the barrier, which might lead to damage to the wall surfaces. Either the outside walls and ceiling, or the vapor barrier itself, has to have an application. If it is impossible to access the outside of the home, the plastic material must be applied from inside the basement. This is the only option. The way that is used the most often is to cover the whole room with plastic, but to leave the plastic loose in the stud cavity so that insulation may be installed in the spaces between each stud. In order to create an effective vapor barrier, it is necessary to cover the ceiling and all wall surfaces with plastic.
Electricity: When you are beginning the process of planning how to construct a wine cellar in your basement, it is important to keep in mind that the cellar will need illumination and, ideally, a cooling unit. As a result, you should position the power outlet so that it is above the area designated for the cooling unit, where it won’t get in the way of storing wine bottles.
Cooling unit: The size of your wine cellar will determine the capacity of the cooling units you need for your wine cellar. When it comes to positioning the cooling unit in your underground wine cellar, the dimensions and layout of your space will determine how much leeway you have in terms of where you may put it. Since the majority of cooling units are intended to exhaust into an open area, enough ventilation is required in order to remove heat from the vicinity of the unit that does the cooling.
Lighting: Lighting is an essential component of the overall atmosphere of a wine cellar. In residential wine cellars, lighting options such as low-voltage track lights or recessed ceiling lights may be quite useful.
Here is how I built my wine cellar under our house:
We were able to make use of the area below a portion of our home in Sydney since it was constructed on a sloped lot. We entered this area of the home through a passageway that led up from the basement. Before building on the wine cellar could begin, this location was cleared of fifteen tonnes worth of clay and debris.
We didn’t hit rock until we were less than a quarter of an inch away from the floor of the lowest level of the home. So that’s where we called a halt to the digging! Because the structure is too ancient to accommodate jackhammers for rock excavation, the wine cellar is situated only one simple step above the ground level of the home.
Due to the fact that I do not have a basement, I was forced to construct my own wine cellar out of brick and concrete. Due to the fact that I needed to dig beneath a piece of the home, I had to take out an ancient brick footing. The brick and concrete walls of the new wine cellar were used to construct the footings for the older portion of the house that was built on top of them. To create a wine cellar in a basement or another portion of a home, the majority of people will be able to employ stud wall construction, which is described in full in my e-book.
The wine cellar has been finished up completely. Our wine collection now has a dedicated space, and every bottle has been meticulously recorded in a cellar management system. I am utilizing the cellar management software that is provided by Uncorked Cellar, and each bottle has a printed cellar tag from Vinoté.
The basement is able to preserve a temperature that is relatively consistent due to the fact that it is half underground. It becomes warmer in the summer than I am comfortable with, so I have made room to install a conditioning unit at some point in the future.
Typical Wine Cellar Conversion Steps
- Seal the concrete floor with a sealant that is water-based (Make sure if you are going to tile the floor that the sealant is compatible with tile adhesive). Walls and the ceiling should both have a vapor barrier installed.
- Strips of either 2″ by 2″ or 2″ by 4″ may be used to fur out walls. For the inside walls, use rigid paneling of the Cleotex or R-max type that has foil on both sides. For the outside walls and ceiling, use 3″ rigid. When using fiber glass insulation, you will need fur out measuring 2 inches by 4 inches and 2 inches by 6 inches in order to acquire the required R values. Insulation with rigid foam panels is recommended by our company. It is recommended that expanding spray polyurethane foam be used to fill up all of the cracks. The general rule that applies to a wine cellar is that the broader the walls are, the greater the heat insulation factor, and the more successfully the cellar can maintain a stable temperature range.
- Choose excellent exterior doors (and glass windows, though it is better not to have glass windows in a wine cellar). It is important that the door have a substantial core or be adequately insulated. The glass doors must be made of insulated glass with two panes, and the heating and cooling system must have the appropriate capacity. It is required that doors have weather stripping and be airtight. Additionally, double-paned glass had to be used in the windows. It is not recommended to make use of recessed lighting. As an alternative, you could make use of low-voltage track type lights. Keep in mind that there is no such thing as putting too much insulation in or sealing off your wine cellar.
- Drywall (preferably green board) or redwood along with other hardwoods that are resistant to mildew and mold make up the finished wall surface components. In order to get rid of any aromas in the wine room, any paints or stains that are used have to be water-based, and the wine cellar has to be well ventilated after each usage. Be wary, since scents will only get worse as soon as the system for cooling and humidifying the air begins to operate. The same considerations also apply to the flooring. Please see the following for more information on the items.
- When determining the size of your refrigerator specs, you should take into account the capacity of your wine cellar, the local climate, and the overall R-factors of your wine cellar. The formula width * depth * height = cubic area may be used to calculate volume.
- After properly insulating the wall surfaces and locating the appropriate air conditioning unit, the next thing you’ll want to do is locate some wine racks. Racking for wine is available in a wide variety of metals and woods.
- You may complete the look of your wine cellar by accessorizing it with humidifier fountains, pieces of furniture, or anything else that complements your own sense of design and taste. Create a new space in your home that quickly becomes your favorite!
Drawing your intended wine cellar on graph paper is the most effective way to begin the process of “how to create a wine cellar in your basement.“
