Example Wine Cellar Projects in Beaverton

Scope of work

Old shelves out, the back wall skimmed with plaster, metal pegs fixed into the studs in rows, dark wood trim around the opening, an LED strip under the head on a wall switch, and touch-up paint.

Project overview

In this example, the owners of a 1980s house drink most of what they buy within a few months. They want those bottles in the dining room, where guests can see them, instead of in boxes in the garage.

Because the wine is for drinking soon, the alcove needs no cooling, door or insulation, which keeps the cost low. The pegs hold each bottle on its side with the label facing out, and the light sits behind the trim so it washes the wall rather than shining into the room.

The goal

The goal is a wall of about 200 bottles that the family drinks from every week, on show in the dining room, for a small part of the cost of a cooled wine wall.

Process

1. Design Alcove measured and peg rows spaced for standard bottles, with a few wider rows for Champagne.
2. Ordering Pegs and trim ordered, about three weeks.
3. Day one Shelves removed, back wall skimmed, wiring run for the light.
4. Day two Pegs fixed into the studs and the trim fitted.
5. Day three Light connected, paint touched up and the bottles loaded.

Planning right

• Keep an open wall away from a sunny window, a heat vent or the back of an oven.
• Fix the pegs into studs or solid blocking. A full row of bottles is heavier than it looks.
• Pegs show every label but hold fewer bottles per foot than bins.
• Wine you want to keep for years belongs in a cooled cellar, not on an open wall.

Scope of work

Damp readings on the foundation walls and the slab, framing set an inch off the concrete, insulation and a vapor barrier on the warm side, an insulated exterior-grade door, wood racking with slots, display shelves and an arched niche, a stone-faced bar and stone-veneer piers, a wood floor over the sealed slab, low-heat lighting with the pendant on a dimmer, and a split cooling system with its own circuits and a drain.

Project overview

In this example, the owners of a 1970s house have a basement rec room they hardly use and a collection that has outgrown two wine fridges. They want a cellar for about 2,000 bottles, with a bar where friends can stand and taste.

At this size the work starts with water. The walls and slab are checked for damp after a spell of heavy rain, and the new walls stand an inch off the concrete so air can move behind them. The stone is a veneer on framed piers and on the bar front, so it looks like an old cellar while the walls behind it stay insulated. A split system puts the noisy part outside, which keeps the bar quiet.

The goal

The goal is a basement cellar holding about 2,000 bottles near 55°F, with a stone bar to taste at and no machine noise in the room.

Process

1. Before design Damp readings on the walls and slab, taken after heavy rain.
2. Design Racks, bar and niche drawn, and the cooling sized for the room and its concrete floor.
3. Weeks one to three New walls framed clear of the concrete, then wiring, the line set, insulation and vapor barrier.
4. Weeks four and five Wall finish, floor, stone veneer and the bar.
5. Weeks six and seven Racks, door and lights, then the split system set and started.
6. First week The room is brought down to about 55°F slowly before the bottles move in.

Planning right

• Damp walls or a damp slab mean drainage work comes before any framing. A cellar wall only hides the water.
• Stone veneer on framed piers gives the look of old masonry without leaving bare concrete in the room.
• A pendant over a bar adds heat. Put it on a dimmer and a switch by the door.
• The outdoor part of a split system needs a level pad away from bedroom windows.

Scope of work

Food shelving cleared out of the 5 by 6 ft pantry, racks with single slots on three walls and diamond bins for cases, insulation and a vapor barrier behind new drywall, pipes and outlets sealed, a solid insulated door, a unit set in the shared wall with its warm side in the family room, a drain and a dedicated circuit, a low-heat light and paint.

Project overview

In this example, the owners of a 1990s house want to keep about 400 bottles near 55°F, and the walk-in pantry next to the kitchen is the only space they can spare. It shares a wall with the family room, which is far bigger than the pantry and stays cool enough to take the unit's warm air.

The pantry already has walls and a door opening, so most of the work is sealing it. The walls and ceiling are insulated, the door is replaced, and every outlet and pipe through the walls is sealed. Single slots hold the bottles opened one at a time, and the diamond bins take wine bought by the case.

The goal

The goal is a former pantry that keeps about 400 bottles near 55°F a few steps from the kitchen, with the unit's warm air going into a room that can take it.

Process

1. Design Pantry measured, racks drawn, and the unit chosen for the room size and the family room it vents into.
2. Week one Pantry emptied and the unit opening cut, wiring, then insulation, vapor barrier and drywall.
3. Week two Racks and diamond bins fitted and the new door hung.
4. Week three Unit set and connected, light fitted, paint and start-up.

Planning right

• A through-the-wall unit needs a large room on its warm side. Another closet or the garage will not do.
• Keep the family-room side of the unit clear of furniture and curtains.
• Diamond bins hold more bottles per foot than single slots, but a single bottle is harder to find in a bin.
• Food goes somewhere else for good. A door opened all day lets warm air in.

Scope of work

The coat closet opened into the space behind it and reframed, insulation and a vapor barrier on the walls and ceiling, a tall steel-framed door with insulated glass and seals on all four sides, metal peg racking on the back wall with a shelf for standing bottles, plaster to match the hall, sealed low-heat ceiling lights, and a small split system sized for the glass, with its own circuits and a drain.

Project overview

In this example, the owners of a 2000s house want their wine where guests come in. The coat closet off the front hall and the dead space behind it make a room about 4 by 6 ft, too small to walk around in but big enough for a wall of about 200 bottles behind a glass door.

The door is the hard part. A tall glass door lets in far more heat than an insulated wall and has to seal like an outside door, so it is ordered with insulated glass and seals on all four sides, and the cooling is sized for it. Afternoon sun reaches the hall floor in front of the door, and the heat check counts that too.

The goal

The goal is a small cellar off the front hall that keeps about 200 bottles near 55°F behind a glass door, with no fog on the glass and no machine noise in the hall.

Process

1. Design Closet and the space behind it measured, the door drawn, and a heat-load check for the glass and the sun.
2. Ordering Steel-framed glass door made to measure, about eight weeks.
3. Week one Hall closet opened and reframed, wiring and the line set route, then insulation and vapor barrier.
4. Week two Plaster, pegs, shelf and lights.
5. Week three Door hung and sealed, split system started and the temperature watched before the bottles go in.

Planning right

• A tall glass door weighs far more than a wood one. The frame and hinges are chosen for it.
• Sun on cellar glass adds heat. Note where the light falls at different times of day before choosing the spot.
• Recessed ceiling lights leak house air into a cellar unless they are sealed fixtures.
• One glass wall still leaves the other walls and the ceiling to insulate in full.

Scope of work

A heat-load check of the room, door seals and gaps checked and fixed, a ducted split system with the indoor part in the storage room next door and short ducts into the cellar, the outdoor part on a pad beside the house, refrigerant lines connected by a certified technician, two circuits, a drain, a wall control, and a start-up check that the room holds about 55°F.

Project overview

In this example, a 1960s house has a lower-level cellar that an earlier owner framed, insulated and sealed but never cooled. It stays cool in winter, but a thermometer left in it through August reads 64 to 66°F, too warm for wine meant to age.

Because the room is already insulated and sealed, the price covers the cooling only. A ducted split system keeps the noise out of the cellar and the family room beside it, with the indoor part in the storage room next door and the outdoor part outside. The door seals are checked before anything is ordered, since a small gap can undo a new system.

The goal

The goal is a lower-level cellar that holds about 55°F through August, with the cooling machinery out of earshot of the family room.

Process

1. Summer before A high-low thermometer in the cellar through July and August.
2. First visit Heat-load check, insulation and door seals looked at, routes for the ducts and lines found.
3. Day one Indoor part set in the storage room and the ducts cut through to the cellar.
4. Day two Outdoor part placed, and a certified technician joins the refrigerant lines.
5. Day three Power, drain and the wall control hooked up, then the first run.
6. Following weeks Readings taken again after the room settles.

Planning right

• Measure first. A lower-level room that stays near 55°F through August may not need cooling at all.
• If the room is not insulated and sealed, that work comes first and is priced as a cellar build, not as cooling.
• Slope the drain line away from the racks and test it before the indoor part is closed in.
• Check the door sweep and weatherstripping every year. Worn seals make any unit run longer.

Scope of work

The closet's shelf and hollow door out, the stair underside and the walls insulated and sealed, a vapor barrier on the warm side, insulated glass panels cut to the stair line with a framed glass door, wood racking with single slots stepped to the slope, a low-heat light, and a through-the-wall unit in the low end wall on its own circuit with a drain.

Project overview

In this example, a 1970s two-story house has a coat closet under the stair that rises from the entry hall to the second floor. It holds coats and a vacuum cleaner, and the owners would rather see about 240 bottles there as they come in the front door.

The closet wall becomes glass panels that follow the stair, with a glass door at the tall end, so the cellar is on view from the hall. The stair above becomes the ceiling, insulated and sealed like any other wall, gaps around the treads included. The hall opens into the dining room, so a small through-the-wall unit in the low end wall has a large space to send its warm air into.

The goal

The goal is a glass-fronted cellar under the stair that holds about 240 bottles near 55°F and turns a coat closet into something worth looking at.

Process

1. Design Stair measured, racks drawn to the slope, and a heat-load check for the glass.
2. Ordering Glass panels and door cut to fit the stair, about four weeks.
3. Week one Closet cleared, stair underside and walls insulated and sealed, wiring and the opening for the unit.
4. Week two Racks and light in, glass panels and door set, then the unit runs a few days before any bottles arrive.

Planning right

• Treads and risers leak air. Seal the underside of the stair, not only the walls.
• Glass that follows a stair is cut panel by panel, so it is ordered only after the stair trim is on.
• A through-the-wall unit only suits a stair with a large, open space on the unit's warm side.
• Keep the grille in front of the unit clear of coats, shoes and furniture.