# Wine Cellar Build Thread



## joeycannoli (Jan 30, 2018)

Thought I would take the time and share with you all the wine cellar I recently completed over at my neighbors house. I am fortunate enough to have bought a house next to my best friends parents, so with the passion with both have for wine we decided to build a cellar to store it all. The entire cellar took about 4 months to complete. We mostly worked during the weekends and occasionally after work during the week. 

This is a passive wine room as the basement is under ground level. The room pretty much stays mid-60's year-round without any major temperature swings. Racking is made by Vinotemp in Premium Redwood. Capacity is around 1200 bottles or so. We also fitted a 800cfm Hyperfan into the ceiling for smoking cigars. 

It didn't take my neighbor long to get the racks filled up! He is almost at capacity and uses his own custom excel sheet to keep track of all the wine in the cellar. 

Enjoy the pictures and let me know if you have any questions! 




Starting to frame out the cellar. The ceilings are just under 8 ft tall. 



Another framed out wall. Outside walls were already insulated. 




Starting to get an idea on how the racks are going to be fitting once the room was complete. 




We framed in a nice french door for the entrance into the cellar. 




Rest of the wall framed in with the french doors and some of the electrical run. All electrical boxes are in at this point.




We went with 9 total LED recessed lights for the ceiling that we placed on a dimmer. Plenty of light to fill the room. 




Some more electrical being run to the switch box. We have a switch for the recessed lights, one for the hyperfan, and one for strip lights placed above the display section of the wine racks. 




We then wrapped all of the walls / ceiling with Tyvek to help keep air and moisture out. 




Next step was to throw up the drywall. Thank goodness for the drywall jack we used for the ceiling. Made things a lot easier to get those large sheets into place. 

The only part of the room build that I didn't do myself was the spackle and sanding part. I absolutely loathe doing it so we hired an excellent contractor to take care of this step for us. Bless anyone that does this type of work because it really is an art (and a pain in the ass). 




Fast forward to this picture where the walls are painted, outlets are installed, lights connected and the vent fan done. Don't mind the dark spots of paint on the walls. We had to go back and touch up right before the picture was taken so it was still wet. 

We ended up selecting an olive green for the walls and a very earth-tone colored tile because this color combo we felt went extremely well with the natural finish of the wine racks. We were originally thinking of staining the racks a dark colors and doing a more toscan yellow on the walls, but didn't want to take away the natural beauty of the racks.


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## joeycannoli (Jan 30, 2018)

Test fitting some of the racks. Unfortunately, the racks were 96" tall, which were a little bit too large for the height of the room. We had to but down about 4 inches on every rack to get them to fit properly. 




Final fitting before securing the racks. Racks were secured to the studs in the wall and also into one another. Wall plates and some of the base molding are installed at this point.




More test fitting and a better shot of the finished floor tile. 




Final product of the racks with many of the cubes already being filled. Some wall decoration and furniture purchased for the room. 




Another angle of the finished cellar. 




Last one for now. I have to add some more pictures later. Since this picture there has been a granite top placed on top of the x-bin, couch setup on the opposite side of the room and nearly all of the cubicles have been filled!

In all, it was a fun project and I think the final product came out well. I have the other half of the wine racks at my house for my planned cellar. Not sure when I am going to start it, but this project taught me a lot and gave me some ideas for when it comes time to build mine. I do think I am going to make my cellar a little smaller and do more of a "cellar feel" with stone and a rustic look. 

I am happy to answer any questions. Hope you all enjoyed!


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## Boatboy24 (Jan 30, 2018)

Looks great! Nice work.


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## Redbird1 (Jan 30, 2018)

That looks fantastic!


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## sour_grapes (Jan 30, 2018)

Awesome work!


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## ibglowin (Jan 30, 2018)

Very nicely done!


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## Johnd (Jan 30, 2018)

Looks great!


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## pillswoj (Jan 31, 2018)

Very Nice


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## balatonwine (Jan 31, 2018)

As far as I know, reflective "insulation" only needs one inch of air space. Why use a 2x4? Not even sure if that amount of airspace is efficient. But of course, I am no expert. Only repeating what I have read. So may be wrong.


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## bkisel (Jan 31, 2018)

I'm continually amazed by the talent(s) so many on this forum are blessed to have, use and share with the rest of us. Thanks.


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## JohnT (Jan 31, 2018)

Now that is one awesome cellar! I like the way you think, right down to the fan for stogies! 

One question I have is this.. The cellar is in you neighbor's house. Do you store your wine in it too? If so, are you at all worried about what would happen if you had a falling-out with your neighbor?

Sorry to ask, but I have learned that self - reliance, especially when it comes to wine, equals freedom.


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## balatonwine (Jan 31, 2018)

JohnT said:


> Sorry to ask, but I have learned that self - reliance, especially when it comes to wine, equals freedom.



I have learned that self-reliance equals freedom.

I do not need qualifiers.


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## joeycannoli (Jan 31, 2018)

JohnT said:


> Now that is one awesome cellar! I like the way you think, right down to the fan for stogies!
> 
> One question I have is this.. The cellar is in you neighbor's house. Do you store your wine in it too? If so, are you at all worried about what would happen if you had a falling-out with your neighbor?
> 
> Sorry to ask, but I have learned that self - reliance, especially when it comes to wine, equals freedom.



No, that is all his. I keep my wine at my own home in the unfinished basement / wine refrigerator for the time being until I finish my own cellar.

As you have seen from other posts, we just started making our own wine together. All of the equipment IS located at his house, but never in a million years would i imagine we would have a falling out. They are my best friends parents and considered family so it never crosses my mind.


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## joeycannoli (Jan 31, 2018)

Thanks for all of the comments and kudos! Anything you all would have done differently? I did his cellar first so I could learn from the mistakes we made over there... lol


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## we5inelgr (Feb 7, 2018)

Beautiful wine room!
So many advantages to having a basement in which a cold room can be built! Ambient temperature, space, etc.
Awesome.


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## mainshipfred (Feb 7, 2018)

Really nice job.


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## RaginCajun (Feb 20, 2018)

Did you build those racks or purchase them? The room looks really nice!!

I hope to finish my passive cellar in the next few weeks.


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