I’m sure this has been discussed ad nauseam, but can someone point me to info on the board for building a basement wine cellar? Having problems with searching, “cellar” isn’t the best keyword to use on a wine forum.
I have the Gold book, but even it doesn’t do a step by step on how it should be built. Any help/direction would be great!
Here you find a lot about building a winecellar.
If you just treat the cellar wall as though it were an EXTERIOR wall, then you’ll be fine.
On the cold side [the cellar side], use exterior grade Hardipanel and exterior grade spackling/plaster and exterior grade paint.
For the wall itself, use pressure treated studs and pressure treated plywood and stainless steel screws. [You’ll also want to hang your Hardipanel with stainless screws.]
Put your insulation with the vapor barrier facing the WARM side of the wall, and then you can use interior grade products to seal up the rest of the warm side - interior grade sheetrock, interior grade spackling/plaster, interior grade paint [except that the screws for hanging the sheetrock still need to be stainless if they’re being screwed into pressure treated studs].
Just think of it as “weatherizing” your house against an interior incursion of wintertime throughout the summer.
People only get into trouble when they try to cheat and save a few bucks by using interior grade products.
It depends, where will it be in your home (basement, on/above grade, garage, etc.)?
Where are you? How big are you thinking? Utilitarian or showpiece?
The key to building a successful cellar is to build it air tight with good insulation.
Unless you plan on building a passive cellar I’d recommend you forget about the Gold book.
Seems like massive overkill and a huge waste of $. Pressure treated bottom plates should be more than sufficient. Moisture resistant sheetrock is just fine.
Agree with Chris. No need for all that stuff other than the p.t. bottom plate if one just vapor barriers and seals correctly.
Thanks for the responses.
I have a modern house with 9 ft basement. I’m thinking the exterior walls will by 14x12, so looking at an interior of roughly 1,200 cubic feet. A couple of questions I’ve run into during the planning process:
How air tight for the vapor barrier? Should I run it underneath the bottom boards (basically wrap it around them)? Do I need to seal it with some kind of silicon? What about sealing punctures from the drywall/sheetrock/greenboard screws?
What kind of cooling unit should I buy? The through the wall seems easiest, but then I see some of the “pros” of having a split system. My HVAC guy has likely installed a grand total of ZERO wine cellars in his life, are these split systems foolproof for any normally competent HVAC guy? Which brand is “best”, or all they all kind of the same?
Doors and windows: I know I need an exterior door. Does any old wood exterior door work or so I need to look for doors w/ extra insulation properties? I’d also love a window(s) into the cellar. How much more will I be taxing my cooling unit with windows?
What does a cooling system do to my electric bill? Assuming I have a 1,200 cu ft cellar that’s well built to proper specs in a basement that’s naturally under 65*.
Humidity: Should I buy a cooling unit with humidification built in? I’ve been looking at WhisperKool units mainly.
I have a Cellar Pro split system and it has been great in every regard. Terrific customer service. It also has advanced humidity settings.
Clint, regarding question #2, and having just gone thru this, you don’t want to use a “HVAC” guy, you want to use a refrigeration guy. I’ve found they are very different disciplines.
Clint, Listen to what Chris Kravitz has to say on this subject. He’s the expert here.
Has anyone used Icynene on their cellar? I’m intrigued by not having to use vapor barrier and possibly shedding a step if Icynene is truly better than vapor barrier/insulation combo.
+1
People have used closed cell foam spray, open cell no good.
I used closed cell in walls and ceiling and spent a few hundred dollars to wrap the outside in Tyvek.
Granted it would be expensive, but has there ever been a lower level cellar built utilizing a passive geothermal cooling system?
Is Icynene open or closed cell? Or does it come in both?
I don’t think it would take too much creativity to argue basically all passive cellars are utilizing “a passive geothermal cooling system”… right?
It is available in both. You need closed cell as it acts as both insulation and VB. you need at least 2 inches but I filled my studs. I know some who have bought the icynene kits and done it themselves. Everyone regretted not having a pro do it instead. Messy stuff but woth the cost for sure. I filled the walls, ceiling and floor joists. Tight as a gnats ass and my cooling unit hardly cycles. Used MR sheetrock and painted with a low VA latex primer and paint. Make sure to run your wall material all the way to the flooring, no baseboards. Installed led can lights and put them on a motion timer. Have fun. I know I did.
I was thinking more along the lines of buried underground tubing allowing cool air to be vented in.
Use this.
Then you don’t need to worry about a vapor barrier. It is its own vapor barrier. And if you use enough of it, you don’t get condensation either. I haven’t had any condensation problems anywhere in many years. And it maintains its insulating capacity better than any other insulation I’m aware of. If you ever have flooding, you don’t need to worry. You can build your cellar in an afternoon and then spend your time worrying about making it look pretty.