I’ve been asked to bid an interesting job for a previous client–they want to build a 4×8 wine room in a corner of their upstairs den. A company that sells wine racks and that sort of thing told her that it would cost in the neighborhood of 17-20 grand. The clients want me to put together a proposal. I told them that it might be more economical to buy a commercially available stand-alone wine chiller, but that I’d do some homework and get back to them.
My questions–Other than the actual racking systems, what is involved in building such a room? The clients mentioned a waterproofing membrane was part of the package the wine cellar company put together. Just how does that work? What sort of equipment do you need for temperature/ humidity control? Any other input?
Thanks for the help.
Syd
Replies
Syd-
I just finished one of these, and there is no reason it has to cost a fortune. The chiller units are self contained and are available online from http://www.iwawine.com or http://www.wineenthusiast.com and others. The chillers are all made by third parties such as Breezeaire, WhisperKool, etc. and are sized based on the number of cubic feet in the room. Chillers require a dedicated circuit. Most control both temperature and humidity and therefore require an insulated, vapor sealed room (the "waterproofing membrane") that your client mentioned. The online companies offer free design assistance via 800 numbers, but the bottom line is you need to insulate the walls, floor and ceiling to a minimum of R-13 (more is better), provide a continuous, unbroken vapor barrier over everything, and then finish walls, floor, and ceiling as the clients wish. We used greenboard on the walls and ceramic tile on the floor. Door needs to be an insulated, tight sealing one, and the everyone I spoke to recommended an exterior steel door with continuous magnetic weatherstripping- much like a refrigerator door. The chillers range from several hundred up to several thousand dollars based on how big they are and how many bells and whistles you add. The real expensive item in these rooms tends to be the racking- the commercial stuff is often redwood and pricey- but you can probably build something very functional for far less. Wine rooms become very expensive when they are designed as places to show off, rather than just store wine.
=====ZIPPY=====
Zippy--
Thanks--the links were helpful.
For the vapor barrier, are we talking about something like 6 mil plastic or more along the lines of EPDM?
It seems as if building one of these rooms is much less complicated than building a bathroom--no reason the average contractor couldn't build one with no problems.
Thanks,Syd
I've seen a nice one built round a two-piece room A/C (I think it was a Toshiba ??). They used Icynene insultation on six sides. Maybe 125 sq ft..
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
Syd-
6 mil plastic worked for me- just had to make sure all seams and holes were sealed.
=====Zippy=====
Might want to check out http://www.wineracks.com they have deals for installers.