Beaverton Wine Cellars closes in and cools the sloped pocket below a staircase, creating under-stair wine cellars for Beaverton homes. Stepped racking tracks the stringer from the tall end to the short one. Insulated glass across the opening leaves the collection visible from the hall, and the stair’s underside, once insulated and sealed, does duty as the ceiling.
We build them throughout Beaverton and in Aloha, Raleigh Hills, West Slope, Cedar Mill and Bethany, on main-floor stairs and on stairs that lead down to a lower level.
The tight footprint leaves little room for a through-wall unit and a ventilated space behind it, and Breezaire lists closets among places not to exhaust warm air, which rules out a coat closet beside the stair. Alternatives are a ducted unit in a nearby utility room or basement, or a split system with an outdoor condenser. A Vigilant case study of an under-stairs wine room used a remote ducted system in the basement below and an argon-filled insulated glass door.
Enclosing a stair void adds walls. Oregon’s Building Codes Division requires a building permit for adding walls, exempting non-bearing interior walls except when they create habitable rooms, and an electrical permit for installing permanent wiring such as a cooling unit’s circuit. The City of Beaverton Building Division issues both, and we confirm the specific scope with it before building.
In a two-story house the stair void can sit off the entry or living area, where a glass front works as a display. When the stair descends to a lower level, the void is below grade and the moisture checks on our basement wine cellars page apply. Either way, the exhaust location settles the cooling type before the glass is ordered.
Only into a space that meets the unit’s conditions. CellarPro requires a through-wall unit’s exhaust space to be at least as large as the cellar, and WhisperKOOL’s XLT guide says that room must not rise above 85°F; a stair footprint may also leave no room for the unit and its rear clearance. Where those conditions can’t be met, an under-stair cellar can use a ducted unit in a utility room, attic or basement, or a split system with its condenser outdoors.
Yes, when bottles are meant to age. Purdue Extension puts long-term storage at 50–60°F, and the void under a stair shares the temperature of the living space around it.
Yes, with insulated double-pane glazing and a sealed glass door. Glass raises the cooling load: Breezaire leaves it out of its sizing, and WhisperKOOL advises the next larger unit when glass doors are used near rated capacity, so glazing and cooling are specified together.
Tell us what kind of staircase it is (open risers or closed), whether it climbs from the main floor or drops to a lower level, and the property address. We'll get back to you soon with an estimate or any questions we have. Estimates are free and there's no obligation.