Another option, go to a local carpet store and they might be willing to give you tubes from carpet rolls? Should be easy to cut down to size. Be careful the tube is not too small however, have to get your hand in there to reach the back bottle.
If you use S&D PVC the walls aren’t that thick.
My friend (a builder) says he can get me a screamin deal on thin walled PVC!
It’s not the PVC wall thickness that kills your space, it’s the 4" diameter, no?
As Larry said, it’s the 4" diameter that is the problem. Now, I saw that they make 3.5" PVC, but it is very uncommon. I couldn’t find any when I was doing my project. If you can get some of that, then go ahead and use 3.5" PVC.
Right, i would go with the 3.5"
If you have access to thin-wall PVC with an inner diameter of 3.5", can you buy some for me as well?
I used the same cardboard tubes as Leslie did. Loose some space vs bottle stacking, but worth it. Don’t go three deep unless you have a mechanical grabber that fits in the tube and can reach the back
Or a coat hanger. 
I use the cardboard tubes in my locker as well, and they work great. I also have a friend who uses cardboard tubes with wire shelving (from Costco) in his cellar at home.
Get stainless-steel storage racks from any kitchen-supply store, or Bed Bath and Beyond. Bolt them at the
top into the wall, for stability. Fill with plastic milk crates, facing each top outward, allowing slide-in,
slide-out bottle access. Use wooden or plastic shims to tilt each crate upward slightly, to prevent bottles
from slipping onto the floor.
The results are just like me…strong, stable, and cheap.
I use a combination of the cardboard tubes and these jkadams modular wine racks for my locker:
Both are double deep. I got both used, but in great condition. I like the tubes better. Fu and I cleaned out Leslie Goldsmith of her tubes when she built her home cellar. The jkadams are like tinker toys, you can build them to whatever size you need. They’re kind of a pain in the ass to build, hence my preference for the tubes, but very stable when assembled. I think PVC piping would work well if you can get the 3.5" diameter piping that everyone recommends above.
I did the PVC pipe in my space in the basement, and really like it. I had thought about cardboard, but I was worried about moisture since it’s directly on the concrete slab and against the foundation. I also like the bright white of the PVC against the deep red wall around it (will post pics once I find them) To maximize space I used thinner walled drainage PVC on the top few rows to get the top row flush up against the top. Holds about 350 bottles, which is more than I’ll ever need to store long term. I keep the ones I want to age the longest closer to the floor which is cooler, and put them on the back row so I have to really think about what I’m reaching for before I pull it out and pop the cork.
Definitely don’t want to do more than double deep unless you have very skinny arms. Also be sure to put in some sort or boards on the side to get the tubes to line up flush with the opening, otherwise you will have dead space to fill with tubes you can’t access.
The Search Engine is your friend.
https://wineimport.discoursehosting.net/t/pvc-pipe-wine-rack-best-practices/22283/1
https://wineimport.discoursehosting.net/t/pvc-pipe-wine-rack-best-practices/22283/33
I’d vote against doing tubes as is will be very inefficient. If you want to keep it within a budget I’d build it from nothing more than 3/4" plywood. I’d make flat shelves supported by cleats that are also cut from the ply, you can vary the heights as needed.
For a small closet 2 sheets of play and a box of drywall screws and you’re in business for +/-$100.
I went the PVC route first (then cardboard then clearing out by Fu and Kim ![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
) and really did not like the PVC tube. The only way I personally would even think of going that route is if you could find 3.5, get them professionally cleanly cut (I found even the big home depot saws left them with jagged edges) and got a screaming deal on them.
Also, as someone mentioned, space is an issue. Cardboard is more compact and for me personally stacked a heck of a lot better.
Depending on where you live the company who made my tubes (ok that sounded funny) could get you a quote. Shipping is a bitch though. I just dealt with it and am happy I did. If I ever go back to offsite storage I would do it again in a heartbeat.
More than happy to answer questions, etc. I am home for a week. Can I just type that again? I am home for a week! Love my job but this season has been crazy.
Leslie
Tubes would be a somewhat inefficient use of space, certainly compared to open stacking, but they’re very user friendly for getting your bottles in and out. With plain shelving, say ply as you suggest, if there’s much of a span you’ll need to reinforce the shelves so they don’t sag; if you stack more than a bottle of two high it’s a pain to get bottles on the bottom row, and forget about getting bottles from the bottom back row if you go double deep. If you mean constructing square bins, they’re fine for bulk storage of the same wine, but, again, if you’ve got a mix of wines in a bin and want to pull a bottle from the bottom, it’s a pain.
Personally, I’d probably go for double-deep black wire grid storage, which is a reasonable compromise between least wasted space and ease of use.
Ha! Famous last words.
+1000. I went from a Le Cache wine cabinet to a 55 case locker to a 130 case locker. I have a problem…
Anytime I have said “This new space for my wine should do it. Someone hit me if I fill this up” Has led to bad bad bad.
So, I am saying nothing. Wait, maybe I should say “I so cannot wait to fill my current space and then put boxes on the floor everywhere”