# My cellar in progress - DYI



## LeChat

Hello all,

I wanted to share the construction of my cellar with you guys. 

It is still in progress and much needs to be done, but all was all DIY work. I hope these pictures will be useful to people that are contemplating making a cellar room.

The specs:
 
6x12 room
r20 insulation
ceramic floor
Climate control and humidity control rough in

Ongoing:

Cherry wood 500-800 bottles ladder wine rack (right hand side of the cellar)
2x8 feet by 4 feet storage units (each as room for 6-8 carboys at the bottom and lots of space on top)
4 feet by 2 feet counter top


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## LeChat

Second batch of pics:

I am waiting for warm outside temperatures before trying to build the cherry rack.

As I recently found out, working with power saws makes A LOT of dust everywhere when you work inside!


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## Wade E

Looking awesome, keep this thread updated please!


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## ibglowin

Looking fantastic. What color is the paint? Maroon (wine)? Hard to tell with flash sometimes. Gonna be a great space once the racks are built/installed!


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## grapeman

That is turning out really nice. It will be awesome when all done.


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## Runningwolf

Looks great. I agree keep this thread going with updates. I like the color.


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## ColdClimateWines

If you are bored when your done I have this small project in mind.... Looks great!


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## btom2004

I love it. You should have went with some type of smoked glass door though. It is to be used for storage of wine and not a work area correct? It would have been so nice to just look in there at will to see the wine.


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## Rocky

Very nice work, Lechat. Just wondering, did you insulate the walls between the wine cellar and the weight area and the wall with the door?


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## tonyt

Great job. Love the clock on the wall so you know when to go back to the real world.


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## Pumpkinman

Very nice!


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## LeChat

ibglowin said:


> Looking fantastic. What color is the paint? Maroon (wine)? Hard to tell with flash sometimes. Gonna be a great space once the racks are built/installed!



Thanks! The color is somewhere between wine and port in color. It is actually called "red maple" but I don't think it really looks like red maple...



Runningwolf said:


> Looks great. I agree keep this thread going with updates. I like the color.



I put up the shelves, I am going to post a picture later.




btom2004 said:


> I love it. You should have went with some type of smoked glass door though. It is to be used for storage of wine and not a work area correct? It would have been so nice to just look in there at will to see the wine.



It is going to be partly storage, partly work area and partly wine cellar. I wish management (SWMBO) would have approved the request to go with 100% wine cellar, alas it will not be!



Rocky said:


> Very nice work, Lechat. Just wondering, did you insulate the walls between the wine cellar and the weight area and the wall with the door?



All the walls and ceiling are insulated with fibreglass batts. The only thing non insulated is the door. My plan was to test the room as-is with the non insulated door and if it requires more insulation, I would open the corrugated cardboard door and slip in some foam boards in there (r4-9). 

Temperature is currently 14.5 C with humidity around 50%.


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## winemaker_3352

I like it - very nice!!!


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## SpoiledRotten

Very nice work! Looking good.


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## BobR

Looks great LeChat! The only problem that I see is, once you invite all of us over for a wine tasting, the room might be a little small for all of us to fit, but you can always expand and take over your weight room. Nothing wrong with doing curls with full wine bottles.


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## tonyt

BobR said:


> you can always expand and take over your weight room. Nothing wrong with doing curls with full wine bottles.


My weights:


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## Redskins

Great work!


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## LeChat

UPDATE:

I had time to install the shelving today. Coming up, I will need to find appropriate containers for my beer bottles. Ugly cardboard boxes are not really fitting in with the surroundings.

I did not speak about this before, but for those interested, I built the cellar room from the ground up for about 800$-900$ including everything (including the cherry wood for the rack). Pretty cool.


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## Runningwolf

Two words..Just Beautiful!


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## BobR

Turned out NICE!


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## twistedvine

What are you using for temp/climate controls and is that unit factored into the $800-900 that you had mentioned?


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## twistedvine

It looks great btw


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## LeChat

twistedvine said:


> What are you using for temp/climate controls and is that unit factored into the $800-900 that you had mentioned?



Right now, I am just relying on passive cooling from ground and good insulation (r20) for temperature control. If that is not good enough, I might go with an active unit.

Given that costs are much higher for a climate controlled area (both initial construction and ongoing), I wanted to see what I could achieve passively first.


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## btom2004

Great job! You know with all the heavy lifting of items to brew with, you really don't need that weight room. You're getting a good work out as it is while brewing.


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## LeChat

Ok, I have started building my ladder rack. In the end, it should hold between 400 and 600 bottles.

It is my first time working with wood (cherry) and I must say it is a learning experience. It is taking a bit more time than I expected!

Hopefully it will turn out nice.

Here are a few pics in my garage...


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## LeChat

UPDATE!

Finally installed my racks. I have room for about 440 bottles !  

I only need to add the middle front bracing and the rack will be done. The cherry smells insanely good!


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## jamesngalveston

beautiful....that is very nice indeed.


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## WI_Wino

LeChat said:


> UPDATE!
> 
> Finally installed my racks. I have room for about 440 bottles !
> 
> I only need to add the middle front bracing and the rack will be done. The cherry smells insanely good!



How did you attach the runners to the vertical braces? Screws? Nailgun and glue?


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## Boatboy24

Beautiful!


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## JoyofWine

LOVE IT! I want one! Lol


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## bakervinyard

Very nice indeed. I need to make one like that. Problem is not enough room. Bakervinyard


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## Chiumanfu

Unbelievably jealous.


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## LeChat

WI_Wino said:


> How did you attach the runners to the vertical braces? Screws? Nailgun and glue?



I used regular carpenter's glue to attach the rungs to the ladders. The ladders are screwed into support braces at the back at 3 places and 3 front cherry wood planks at the front.


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## LeChat

bakervinyard said:


> Very nice indeed. I need to make one like that. Problem is not enough room. Bakervinyard



Well my cellar is pretty small, it is 6x12. You could even cram this into a smaller space.


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## Thig

Very nice job, looks like it would require a lot of time to build racks like those.


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## LeChat

I am not a woodworker by any means. In fact, this was my first project ever.

It took me about 5 days to complete the project, from ripping the wood to gluing the rungs to assembling it. I did a few hours each day after work for about a month.

If I had to redo it, I think it would take me a lot less time. An experienced wood worker could probably do it in half the time it took me.


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## jswordy

Very nice result on an ambitious project for a first-time woodworker!


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## JohnT

Now fill it!


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## J-Gee

Exceptional work on the entire project.


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## LeChat

JohnT said:


> Now fill it!



Haha! Yes, I am already 60% filled in... Maybe 450 bottles was too little!

I will post a picture with the bottles soon


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## JohnT

LeChat said:


> Haha! Yes, I am already 60% filled in... Maybe 450 bottles was too little!
> 
> I will post a picture with the bottles soon


 

Please do! I really have to say that it looks very impressive. Your choice of all color and flooring really go with the stained wood. I need to keep a picture of this for future planning!


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## wood1954

Wow! very nice, sure puts to shame my cardboard boxes on their side.


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## LeChat

JohnT said:


> Please do! I really have to say that it looks very impressive. Your choice of all color and flooring really go with the stained wood. I need to keep a picture of this for future planning!



Actually, I did not stain the wood, the cherry comes out this color naturally. 


Here are a few pics at 60% capacity. Next stop, full as can be!

I have a Cellar Craft Red Mountain cab that is dying to fill a row....


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## LeChat

wood1954 said:


> Wow! very nice, sure puts to shame my cardboard boxes on their side.



Don't worry, we all start somewhere. I still have quite a few of those that I need to figure what to do with now that I have the rack....


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## Boatboy24

LeChat said:


> Actually, I did not stain the wood, the cherry comes out this color naturally.
> 
> 
> Here are a few pics at 60% capacity. Next stop, full as can be!
> 
> I have a Cellar Craft Red Mountain cab that is dying to fill a row....


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## Tess

Very, Very nice indeed!!!


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## vacuumpumpman

WOW !! That is really great craftsmanship !!

keep it up - looks great


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## Pumpkinman

Wow! Fabulous!


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## tonyt

Love the color coded capsules.


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## TheGoodLife

Great work!


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## RedRockGirl

*Beautiful*

I have been trying to figure out dimensions and wood sizes to knock off a version of these 
http://www.wineracksamerica.com/instacellar/standard/
and here you have already done it. Do you have any plans you built from that have measurements or spacing that might help me?
Thanks!


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## TonyR

Very nice. This is what I did for storage and it took part of a day's time.


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## Olbuscap

Red Rock Girl,
If you set the dimensions at 4 1/8" between vertical members and between bottle support members, you can use both 750 ml and 1.5 liter bottles.


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## sour_grapes

@TonyR : That is really nice. Are you saying you built those racks in less than a day?! I am seriously impressed. That would have taken me days!


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## jayhkr

TonyR said:


> Very nice. This is what I did for storage and it took part of a day's time.



What's the garlic for?


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## JimmyT

jayhkr said:


> What's the garlic for?




To keep the vampires away from his dragons blood!!!!


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## TonyR

Garlic is from the garden. Nice cool dark place to store till I use it. Keeps the vampires out of my wine


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## Putterrr

Very nice my friend. Now I know why you needed all that tannin.

(cherry will darken over time)

cheers


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## hardworkin

Both racks look great. I need to stop making wine long enough to work on some racks myself. I'm afraid that I will have more bottles than I will rack space though.


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## toneill

LeChat, very nice, now that it's been a while since completion of your project, can you update us? I'd really like to know what you and others do for a fermentation area. I'm in Ohio, winters can get pretty cold. I need to build a separate room to accommodate about 8 carboys at once in controlled temps. Basements are hard to regulate unless you confine the space with separate heating. What's everyone else doing?

Thanks


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