Hole is dug for our new wine cellar

[Sammyk]

We had an offer we could not refuse! They started digging this past Saturday. It will be 10 by 10 and 6'5" tall.

I will add new photos as progress is made. Rained out today hopefully more digging tomorrow.

Hole is partially dug. Sammy and Ginger are checking out the trench for drainage is dug. Mounds of dirt! Cement blocks were delivered here today.

In the top photo where the grass is on the right side - there will be steps going down the slop to the where the door will be placed.

 

[Stefani]

I'd like to see photos as it progresses!

Thank you for putting this post up!

 

[Sammyk]

Full Trench

This is a photo of the full trench. This is looking from the back of our property to where the door to the cellar will be facing. It will not be visible from the road the front side of our property

 

[ibglowin]

Looking good, is the trench for utilities? Keep the pics coming!

 

[Sammyk]

No the trench is for drainage. The door side of the cellar is at ground level so there will be stairs going do into the cellar. There will be a french drain all around the cellar because top of the cellar sits higher ground.

It is being built into a 3' high hill but will be dug deeper than the ground level. This will keep run off from rain from seeping inside around the outsides near the ground level. There will be a drain placed under the doorway so that rain will flow from the higher ground to the lower ground and into a pipe in the trench.

We have electric outside the garage so the plan is one outlet and one light fixture of some sort but we have not got to that part yet.

 

[Sammyk]

Side View

This is the side view so you can see the hill where the cellar is being dug.

 

[tfries]

Good looking start to your cellar. I know what you are going through as we undertook a similar project a couple years ago. Keep the pictures coming.

 

[Sammyk]

tfries would you share some thoughts on how you did yours, please?

 

[ffemt128]

Looking good. Can't wait to see more pics as the work progresses.

 

[JohnT]

One thing that I would suggest is this..

You seem to be concerned with drainage. I would say you should install a sump well as you build. It can be far more effort if you find that you need one after the thing is built.

Looks great. Wish I could do the same, but it just would not work on my property.

 

[Sammyk]

We don't generally get a lot of rain at one time. We are 6 hours from the coast and if a hurricane comes across the state of NC or SC we could get a lot of rain. That has happened one time in the 13 years we have lived here.

The dirt is red clay and clay does not drain but seeps in over a few hours or it mostly runs to the lowest part of our property.

So we are not overly concerned but trying to prepare for the worst case scenario.

Roof will be corrugated metal with cement poured on top of that and then followed by dirt. Does anyone have any thoughts about the roof construction?

 

[joea132]

With that kind of construction you can double as a bomb shelter! Solid plan to encase it in concrete. Might as well build it the right way the first time. Have you considered ventilation as well?

 

[DaveL]

Waterproof the roof just as you do the walls. Even though its underground some slope would be wise as well.

 

[Sammyk]

There will be ventilation in the front side. The contractor is reluctant to put ventilation in the top because he was concerned that the pipe may leak over time.
I may sell tickets for entrance in the event of a bomb! And if that happens there will be plenty of "beverages" down there to drink so we may not know what hit us.

 

[Sammyk]

DaveL top and sides will be waterproofed inside and out. There will be gravel then a plastic under the cement floor. I am thinking we will carpet and padding the floor in the event that a bottle falls on the floor. Probably pick up some remnants of carpet and padding.

Last week I dropped full 2 bottles on the closet floor and the carpeting kept both bottles from breaking.

 

[tfries]

Sammyk, here are some thoughts based on what we did. Good that you are planning on drainage around the base. You should also think about how the roof will drain. Our roof is slightly sloped with a rain gutter attached. The roof was made from plywood covered with a waterproof membrane. You could then put your corrogated metal over that. A cement roof would be expensive and for safety, you would want that to be designed by an engineer.

Think about maybe adding a drain inside the cellar so that if you drop a carboy or something, you can hose it out into the drain. That drain could be connected to your french drain.

Electrical inside is good for lights and depending on how humid it gets, you might need to run a dehumidifier. Our cellar would get up to 90% with out the dehumidifier.

If you can make it bigger do it. We started out 10x10 and upped it up to 13x10 and glad we did.

I'll share more thoughts as they come to me. Here is a link to some photos of our build.

http://www.winepress.us/forums/index.php?/topic/51677-our-cellar-project/

 

[ibglowin]

Tom,

All I can say is w0W! Like someone else said, nice deck and that thing below is pretty cool as well!

So the question that is on everyones minds......... How much? It's beautiful!

 

[Sammyk]

Wow Tom! Very nice indeed. Ours will be different in that we will not be making wine in ours. It will only be used for storage and aging.
It will not much more than the old root cellars.

 

[DaveL]

If you add a drain inside I would not attach it to the french drain. critters can sometimes clog these up. Then it could backup into your cellar. I would slope the floor towards the door and wash down to drain outside. just my 2 cents.
If your roof is 6 inches thick with #5 rebar 1ft on center each way, you could drive a truck on it.

Carpeting and that humidity might be a issue. Possible solution might be rubber stall mats sold for horse stalls. Or cork tiles.
Jealous. Cant wait to move ahead with my own

 

[Runningwolf]

Tom that is totally awesome.