WITH POTENTIALLY HUNDREDS or thousands of bottles of wine, every winemaker needs a place to store the bounty. The basic purpose of a cellar is to provide storage that is accessible, with controlled and relatively constant temperature and humidity. Ideal temperatures are around 55 to 60°F, and ideal humidity of around 65 percent. Your cellar can be part of your winery or totally separate from it. But because your winery will be a hub of activity, requiring various temperature changes for fermentation, for example, if you’re able to allocate a separate space for your wine bottle storage, you’ll have better cellaring success.
Q If your cellar area tends to have very low ambient humidity, you can install a small bubbling water fountain in your cellar. Set it on a bucket of water and cycle the water through the bucket so it does not dry up. Change the water in the bucket regularly to keep algae and other growth from occurring. And don’t use chlorinated algae treatments, to avoid the potential of cork taint (TCA).
Q If your cellar area tends to have high humidity, you may need to install a small dehumidifier to maintain the proper range.
Every home has someplace that would be a good candidate to serve as a cellar. Think about the possibilities. Look through the clutter in a corner of a room and visualize stacks of wine bottles there. What about the area under the stairway? A broom closet? Some other places I’ve known winemakers to successfully convert or build into nice wine cellars include:
» Crawl space
» One wall in the garage
» Storage room
» Unused bathroom
» Outdoor storage shed
» Cave
» Root cellar
» Oil-change pit in the garage floor
» Swimming pool!
Once you’ve taken inventory of all the options, consider the pros and cons of each space. How hard will it be to convert it to a cellar? How much might the conversion cost? Will you be able to keep it at the proper temperature without expensive temperature-control units? And do you want this to be a purely functional wine storage room, or will it also serve as a tasting area, and for how many people at a time?
Once you settle on the best location and function for the cellar, then you can start laying out the plans. Start by sketching up the layout of the space on a piece of graph paper. Take careful measurements from wall to wall and of ceiling heights, and mark the locations of light fixtures, outlets, windows, doors, switches, posts, beams, pipes, wires, and any other features. Note whether the walls are interior or exterior walls, and whether there’s air or backfill on the outside of exterior walls. If any of the walls or floor is in contact with earth, note whether it leaks.
Now that you’ve mapped out the space, you can decide whether you want to make it bigger or smaller by adding or removing walls. Before taking out any wall, however, it’s very important to determine if it is load-bearing. If it is, can the load be transferred to a beam and posts or another wall without affecting the rest of the structure? This is obviously a question for a qualified building professional.
This cellar includes ladder racking, a curved corner rack, and double-sided waterfall racks with a display end cap. Low-voltage lighting highlights the bottles set on a slight angle.
WITH PRELIMINARY CONCEPTUALIZING DONE, it is time to draw up your final plans. If you’re able to draw to scale on a computer, more power to you, but graph paper will work just fine.
1. Sketch out the final shape and configuration of the cellar to scale.
Most architects draw floor plans with a scale of ¼″ equals 1 foot (1″ equals 4 feet), and with that scale most cellar plans will fit on an 8½″ × 11″ sheet of paper. Plan on all walls being constructed from 2×6s, which will allow for plenty of insulation, unless your walls are backed up against a foundation that is backfilled with earth. In that case the wall can be left as concrete or block to let the earth act as a heat sink. More on that later.
2. Locate the door.
Once you’ve located all the walls, indicate the location of the door. Typical residential doors are sized in even increments from 28″ to 36″ wide (except 34″) and 80″ high. If possible, plan on a 36″-wide door or as close as possible to it, as the greater width will make moving wine into the cellar easier. And if possible, have the door swing out of the cellar, rather than into it, to maximize the storage space in your cellar.
3. Locate the wine storage racks.
Cut some strips of paper to scale to represent racks at 11″ in width, and cut a circle to scale to represent the 30″ in diameter you’ll need for working space in the cellar. Play with laying out the strips on the plan. Don’t limit yourself by considering placing racks only along the walls. Pulling racking into the center of the cellar will dramatically increase the amount of wine you can store. If you’re considering a table or chairs or other pieces of furniture, cut out similar pieces of paper to simulate them.
4. Fine-tune the plans.
Once you have the layout configured, consider the work you might need to do to accommodate existing fixtures and features, and whether that work will be difficult or expensive. If any particular item seems like a real headache, revisit your plan to see what might be better tweaked to deal with that pipe, post, switch, or what have you. Having established work-arounds for these issues, you can draw your final plans and get busy with building the cellar.
FIGURE 8.1 Floor Plan
Following is an overview of how to build a large dedicated cellar space, along with considerations for framing and insulating the walls and ceilings and choosing flooring materials. These are general guidelines that can help you plan and create your own cellar, whether you’re working with professionals or tackling the whole job yourself.
Layout and Framing
Lay out any new walls by marking their location on the floor. Again, walls should be constructed with 2×6s to allow for good insulation. If you’re setting the walls on a concrete floor, the “plate” set on the concrete should be pressure-treated. Even on interior concrete (and other masonry) surfaces, untreated wood will eventually absorb enough moisture to rot and attract unwanted critters and mold. Frame the walls up with 2×6 studs set every 16″. The door opening should have double studs and be framed 2″ wider than the planned door; for example, if you’re planning a 36″-wide door, the rough opening should be 38″ wide. The door header can also be a double 2×6 and the height of the rough opening, from the floor to the bottom of header, should be 82¾″ for a standard 80″ door.
Q To square your new wall with an existing wall, use the 3-4-5 rule: From the point where the new wall and existing wall intersect, measure 3 feet along one wall and 4 feet along the other wall, and make a mark. Then measure diagonally between the two marks you just made. When the diagonal measurement equals 5 feet, the two walls are square to each other.
FIGURE 8.2 The 3-4-5 Rule
If one of your cellar walls is built against a foundation and you are planning on controlling the temperature with a cooling unit, you can save a few bucks by framing the wall with 2×4s instead of 2×6s, holding the back of the 2×4s an inch away from the foundation wall, which allows you to install R19 insulation in a wall framed with studs that would typically only handle R13 insulation. In any event, your studs should not be placed directly against the concrete foundation, to prevent decay.
For the ceiling, plan on a structure that will allow for R-30 or greater insulation. If you want to use batts for insulation (least expensive), then you need about 11″ of clearance space above the ceiling.
Now is also a good time to plan for and install backing — blocks between the studs — for securing your racking. Rough out the racking layout on the floor, determine where the racks will need some support, and install the blocks. Note these locations on your drawings for future reference.
Next, install the necessary wiring for any power and lighting sources you might need, including overhead and accent lighting. Light switches should be placed on the doorknob side of the door if possible. Don’t install the finished devices or fixtures at this time. If you have any doubts about your ability to wire correctly, consult or hire an electrician to do this work.
Considering that your cellar will be consistently 55 to 65°F, determine whether the average annual temperature outside the cellar will be higher or lower than the temperature inside the cellar. You will want to install a vapor barrier on the warmer side of the wall. For example, if you live in Arizona, the warmer side of an exterior wall will be the outside, so the vapor barrier should be installed on the exterior of the wall. On the other hand, if you live in Anchorage, you’d likely install the barrier on the inside of an exterior wall. For nearly all interior walls where the space outside the cellar will be heated or conditioned, the vapor barrier should be placed on the outside of the cellar wall.
A vapor barrier is not mandatory, particularly on exterior walls that are already finished. The cost of tearing out the siding or existing insulation does not warrant the benefit of the vapor barrier, so skip it. Wherever it is cost-effective and feasible, install 4-mil plastic sheeting (such as Visqueen) to the face of the studs prior to insulating in order to prevent convection currents of air from passing through the wall. Then install unfaced insulation batts — R-30 or R-38 in the ceiling, R-19 in the walls, and R-30 under the floor if the floor is framed wood. Apply a bead of caulking along the bottom plates to seal them to the floor, eliminating drafts and heat loss/gain.
Where you’re building your cellar up against an already finished wall or ceiling, rather than tearing out the drywall to install batts, you can blow insulation into the wall with a rented insulation blower. Use a stud finder to locate each stud, and mark its location. Between the studs, drill a 2″ hole about 9″ down from the top of the wall. Blow the insulation into each stud bay following the insulation manufacturer’s directions. Once the bay is full and you’ve cleaned up the mess, patch the drywall with expanding insulation foam, which comes in an aerosol can. Make a little space in the insulation behind the drywall and then fill the hole with just enough of the foam to create a mushroom-shaped cap coming out of the hole. After it is thoroughly dry, cut the foam button off with a serrated knife, and apply drywall tape and a few coats of joint compound over the hole. Finish as appropriate to match your wall’s texture.
Passive Thermal Control
If your cellar is located in a garage or basement that has a concrete floor or an earth-backfilled foundation, you can take advantage of Mother Earth’s natural temperature control. The earth acts as a heat sink, maintaining a constant temperature below what is commonly referred to as the frost line. For most of the country, this is a steady 55°F, an ideal temperature for your cellar. Concrete is a great conductor of heat, so as your cellar warms up, the earth on the other side of the concrete will draw in and absorb that heat. Conversely, if the cellar cools too much, the earth will stabilize the temperature.
To take advantage of this effect, do not insulate any foundation walls or concrete floors backed by earth. If you want to frame a wall up against the foundation, I suggest installing a vent strip near the top of the wall and another one near the floor. With these vents installed, the space between the drywall and the foundation will create convection currents. As warm air rises and contacts the cooler foundation, it will cool and sink, flowing against the wall and continuing to cool, only to be replaced at the top by the warmer air near the ceiling. Convection is very effective in maintaining a constant temperature in your cellar without expensive equipment and eliminating temperature stratification.
Active Temperature Control
In the event that passive thermal control is not your cup of tea and you elect to use a mechanical means to cool your cellar, there are a few options. Probably the best is to purchase and install a specially designed cellar cooler. These coolers are designed with a temperature setting commonly used for cellars and also control humidity. They are fairly expensive, however.
Some folks use air conditioners or “mini-split” systems that typically cool a space down to 60°F, but no lower, unless you trick them by putting an isolated heat source like a lightbulb next to their temperature sensor. In essence you warm only the space around the thermostat until the air conditioner cools the larger cellar space to the desired temperature, and then you dial back the temperature control until it clicks off the unit. You could rig up the heat source with a thermostatic control, similar to how we wired the controller in the fermentation chamber (see page 51).
One downside of an air conditioner is that in addition to cooling the space, it also reduces the humidity in the room, which can cause corks to dry out and leak. To remedy this, you can collect the AC’s condensate, pipe it back into a bucket in the room, and install a bubbling fountain in the bucket, as described on page 150.
Install regular ½″ drywall on walls and ceilings that have framing spaced at 16″. Use ⅝” drywall for walls and ceilings with framing spaced at 24″. Waterproof or water-resistant drywall is not necessary for a wine cellar. Tape and fill the joints, corners, and fasteners to the desired finish. Prime the new drywall with an acrylic drywall sealer prior to texturing (if you plan on texturing). Then paint with your favorite color and sheen of acrylic paint.
The flooring material you choose for your cellar should help you achieve your heating/cooling goals, but keep in mind that hundreds of gallons of wine may be stored in there at any point in time. If you have a concrete slab floor that will passively help to achieve temperature stability, it is a good idea to help it out by using a hard surface like ceramic tile or other material with little thermal resistance. On the other hand, if you are putting your cellar on a wood floor with a crawl space or heated room below, besides making sure the floor framing is well insulated, use a material that will complement the insulating properties of the floor system, such as wood, cork, or other soft, thick material that resists heat transfer.
You might consider a combination of flooring materials. In my cellar, which was built in a basement with a slab-on-grade floor, I really liked the idea of using cork, but to encourage the passive cooling provided by the bare concrete, I painted the concrete floor under the wine racking in a cork color and installed cork flooring only on the walking surfaces. Bottles in the racks cover up the concrete. This enables me to benefit from the passive cooling and minimize flooring costs at the same time.
For decorative purposes, flooring can add a lot to the ambience of the room, so think about borders, medallions, or other motifs that could enhance the look and function of your floor. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s recommendations when selecting and installing any floor covering, with particular attention to how the flooring might respond to the ambient conditions.
Many winemakers like to include a tasting table and chairs or other interesting pieces of furniture or racking in their cellars. Before designing a lot of space to be consumed for a tasting room, keep in mind that the temperature in the cellar is going to be pretty low and not terribly comfortable for lengthy stays. I had an old oak antique rolltop desk that I worked into the design for my cellar. Sentimental value for the desk won out over the additional bottle storage I would have gained by not keeping it, so it sits majestically in the cellar and is the centerpiece of my Reserves Library. Friends and family continue to contribute to the cellar with wrought-iron racks, glasses, banners, and so on.
Before designing a lot of space to be consumed for a tasting room, keep in mind that the temperature in the cellar is going to be pretty low and not terribly comfortable for lengthy stays.
My wife made little ceramic placards with numbers and letters. We installed the numbered placards above the angled bottle display for each column, identifying the stacks 1, 2, 3, and so on, and we placed the letters alongside each row, giving us an easy reference as to where each bottle is stored when consulting our cellar log.
There are lots of different styles of racking you can use in your cellar, so it’s worth considering the advantages and disadvantages of each as you work out the details of your design. They include flat shelves, display shelves, ladder racking, waterfall racking, diamond bins, radiused ladders, curved end shelves, end caps, and others. You’ve laid out the locations of the racking in your plans. Now you need to decide what type of racking would be best for your cellar. Here we’ll explore some of the different options.
Ladder Racks
Ladder racks are made from a pair of floor-to-ceiling uprights with small crosspieces nailed to them. When the two racks with crosspieces are stood next to each other and tied together, they support a column of bottles. The bottles are individually supported, meaning each one is independent of the others and can be removed without moving any other bottles. The crosspieces, or ladder “rungs,” can be installed on opposite faces of the uprights, so that the racks can be lined up side by side to create a row of bottle stacks. At each end of the row, the paired uprights will have crosspieces installed on only one side.
Any number of materials will work for ladder racks, from walnut to oak, redwood, cedar, or pine. The cost of each varies widely, so some research and budget consideration should take place before you decide on any one species. I was very fortunate to find a cedar mill that was closing out its inventory of rough-sawn materials, which I was able to mill into finished pieces. The cedar smells wonderful! (I would, however, avoid aromatic or “Tennessee” cedar, which can have an overwhelming aroma.)
Depending on your cellar configuration, you might have use for a variety of ladder racking styles, including straight racks, curved corner racks, and waterfall racks. All of these use the same basic ladder construction. If you’d like to build more than a few stacks of racks, it’s well worth your time to create a simple jig that makes the assembly fast and accurate. The jig described here works for one- and two-sided ladder racks, corner racks, and waterfall racks.
THIS LADDER DESIGN assumes a ceiling height of at least 97″ for your cellar. If your ceiling height is lower, adjust the top of your jig and material lengths accordingly. The total height of the racks should be at least 1″ less than the finished ceiling height to allow you to assemble the racks on the floor and then clear the ceiling as you stand them up for installation.
• One 16″ × 96″ piece ¾″ CDX plywood
• Three 8-foot lengths 2×4 lumber, each ripped into 2″-wide strips
• 2½″ wood screws
• One 16″ length 1×4 lumber
1. Install the guides.
Lay the sheet of plywood across a pair of sawhorses or a bench. Lay one of the 8-foot-long, 2″-wide strips ripped from a 2×4 along one edge of the plywood, with its 2″ side set vertical. Screw the strip to the plywood, keeping it as straight as possible. Screw the 1×4 into the edge of the plywood on one short side, forming a stop for the bottom of the uprights. In the finished jig, the 2″ piece ripped from the 2×4 is the front edge guide, and the 1×4 is the bottom guide.
2. Mark the rung layout.
Lay out the locations of the rungs by measuring up from the 1×4 bottom guide and marking the plywood at the following points (see figure 8.3):
» 3½″
» 7¾″
» 12″
» 16¼″
» 20½″
» 25½″
» 29¾″
» 34″
» 38¼″
» 42½″
» 47½″
» 497/8″
» 57″
» 61¼″
» 65½″
» 69¾″
» 74″
» 79″
» 83¼″
» 87½″
» 91¾″
FIGURE 8.3 Ladder Racking Jig
Using a square, mark a line across the plywood at each of these marks, square to the front edge guide. Measuring from the inside edge of the front edge guide, make a mark at 15/8″ at the top and bottom of the plywood, and draw a straight line or snap a chalk line lengthwise between the marks. Make another line 77/8″ from the front edge guide in the same manner.
3. Install the blocks.
Cut the other strips ripped from 2×4s into 32 blocks at 33/8″ and 8 blocks at 41/8″. With the 1½″ dimension of these blocks against the plywood, you’ll screw the blocks through predrilled holes to the plywood, aligning them on the inside corners of the short horizontal lines and the long vertical lines (see figure 8.3). Be sure to predrill the blocks to keep them from splitting. The blocks will form a negative skeleton of the racking. Beginning at the 3½″ mark and working up, install five pairs of 33/8″ blocks, then one pair of 41/8″ blocks, and then four pairs of 33/8″ blocks.
Next, lay out the display shelf guide by marking a diagonal line between the long vertical lines, from the 47½″ mark on the 15/8″ line to the 497/8″ mark on the 77/8″ line (see figure 8.3). Cut the ends of two pieces of ripped 2×4 at 15°, cutting across the 1½″ dimension; screw these ¾″ below the display shelf line.
Starting at the 57″ mark, install one pair of 41/8″ blocks, then four more pairs of 33/8″ blocks, then one pair of 41/8″ blocks, and finally four pairs of 33/8″ blocks.
A LADDER RACK IS MUCH LIKE IT SOUNDS — a pair of “ladders” that face each other, with each opposing set of “rungs” supporting one bottle. The rungs are positioned to allow a bit of space between bottles. These racks are versatile in that they allow you to access any bottle in the racking at any time, unlike other stacking types of racks. This project shows you how to build straight ladder racking using the jig described on page 159.
See step 1 on page 162 for calculating lumber quantities.
• 8-foot lengths 1×2 lumber (for uprights, cross ties, and nailing strips)
• 10½″ lengths 1×1 lumber (for ladder rungs)
• 8-foot lengths 1×4 lumber (for baseboard and ceiling trim)
• 1¼″ brads
• 2″ brads
• 2½″ wood screws
1. Calculate quantities.
For each ladder, you’ll need two 8-foot lengths of 1×2. For rungs, the ladders use 10½″ lengths of 1×1; each single-sided (end) ladder needs 20 rungs, and each double-sided ladder requires 40 rungs.
To calculate the total number of ladders you’ll need, measure the total length of racking in inches and divide by 4.25 (the on-center spacing of the ladders). Multiply this number by 2 (the number of uprights per ladder) and add 2 (the uprights for the end racking) to get the total number of uprights you’ll need. For the rungs, count the total number of ladders, subtract 1, then multiply that number by 40.
For the horizontal 1×2 cross ties and nailing strips, you’ll need seven pieces to span the length of the racking. Four will be cross ties, and three will be nailing strips.
Similarly, the 1×4 baseboard will span the length of the racking, as will the ceiling trim, if you want it.
2. Construct the ladders.
Keep in mind that you’ll have a left end ladder and a right end ladder. For the left one, place a straight 8-foot 1×2 upright into the jig, tight against the front edge guide and the bottom guide. Place another 1×2 upright opposite, tightly against the blocking and the bottom guide. Lay 1×1 rungs in the slots between the blocks, tight against the front edge guide. Nail the rungs and uprights together with a single 1¼″ brad at each intersection. Carefully remove the finished ladder.
For the right end ladder, lay down the rungs first, followed by the uprights. Nail the pieces together, and remove the completed ladder from the jig.
For each double-sided ladder, lay in a course of 1×1s, then the uprights, then another course of rungs. Nail these together with 2″ brads.
3. Cut the ties, nailing strips, and trim.
Count the number of ladders you will be standing up. Multiply this number by 4.25 and add ¾″. This will be the length of your four 1×2 cross ties, three 1×2 nailing strips, and 1×4 baseboard and ceiling trim. Cut the pieces and set them aside.
4. Mark the supporting wall.
Mark the locations of the studs and/or backing you will screw the nailing strips to. You’ll install screws at about every other stud (approximately 32″ apart) and at 91″ and 20″ above the finished floor. Note that these are the screw locations; make your marks slightly above or below these points so you can see them when you stand up the racks, and the nailing strips won’t cover them up.
Lay the ladders facedown on the cellar floor, with their bottom ends against the supporting wall. Stack them all tightly together in the order they’ll be assembled. Then position the end ladder approximately where it will be stood up. Install the bottom nailing strip as shown in figure 8.4, flush with the outside of the upright, nailing it into the upright with a 2″ brad. Install the other two nailing strips in the same manner.
Position the first double-sided ladder next to the end ladder, spacing it 3½″ from the end ladder’s upright. (You can use a 2×4 block to set this spacing, but every fifth upright or so, measure the overall dimension to make sure you’re maintaining the 4¼″ on-center spacing, to prevent compounded errors.) Nail the three nailing strips into it at the nailing strip locations. Repeat to install the remaining ladders.
6. Mount the racking.
Once you have assembled all the ladders into a single rack, stand the racking up against the wall. Use a level to make sure the uprights are plumb in both directions, then screw the top and bottom nailing strips to the wall. (It’s easier to do this before installing the front cross ties, as the fronts of the ladders will spread apart to allow you to get your drill and hand between them.) Install the front ties, baseboard, and ceiling trim as shown in figure 8.5.
FIGURE 8.4 Ladder Racking Cross Section
FIGURE 8.5 Full-Height Ladder Racks
INSIDE CORNERS CAN BE A BIG WASTE OF SPACE for a racking system. Filling the corners with these curved ladders allows for maximum use of the space while creating a really elegant look.
• Four 51/8″ lengths 1×2s (for front cross ties)
• Two 51/8″ lengths 1×4 (baseboard ties)
• Two right end ladder racks (as described in ladder racking project, page 161)
• Two left end ladder racks (as described in ladder racking project, page 161)
• 2″ brads
• Six 5″ lengths 1×2 lumber (for back nailing strips)
• Scrap 1×4
1. Build the corner unit.
Cut each end of the 51/8″ front cross ties at a 15° angle so the angles are opposed (not parallel to each other). Nail a cross tie to the front of a pair of left and right ladders at the same height as each of the horizontal crosspieces on the regular ladder racks. Flip the ladders over and install the back nailing strips so you have two sets of ladder racks.
Create a few 30° triangle guides from some 1×4 scraps by cutting two sides at opposing 15° angles meeting at the top of the triangle. Use these guides as spacers between the uprights of the ladders to position each set together at the proper angle. Align the front crosspieces, and nail the two ladder racks together.
2. Install the corner unit.
It’s a good practice to set any corner units in place prior to mounting the straight runs of racking. To do this, mark a line on the floor 11¾″ out from each wall that forms the corner. Stand the corner unit up on the floor so the bottom front corners of its outer uprights sit on these lines. Use a square on the floor to transfer these locations to the supporting wall of the straight racking, to mark where the ends of the straight racking will terminate. Draw a plumb line up the wall at the termination point to guide the straight racking installation. Once the corner and straight sections are in place, nail the two units together.
WATERFALL RACKING CAN PROVIDE SOME REAL DRAMA in the appearance of your cellar, and if it’s set up as a peninsula extending into the room, it can add a lot of useful bottle storage without obstructing the view across the cellar. Transitioning into the waterfall from curved corners is quite spectacular. If your cellar has the room, you can use longer ladder rungs to build a double-sided rack.
See ladder racking project (page 161) and instructions on page 168 for guidance on calculating material quantities.
Calculate your materials as described for the ladder racking project (see page 161), except here your uprights will start at one height and become incrementally shorter (by 4¼″ or 5″, depending on the row). For single-sided waterfall racking, you’ll need two uprights per stack and 10½″ ladder rungs. For double-sided waterfall racking, you’ll need three uprights per stack and 23″ ladder rungs.
FIGURE 8.6 Waterfall Ladder Racks
Check your plans to see how far into the room the waterfall can extend and how high you want its lowest “step.” I like to set the shortest column so the angled display row is itself the lowest step. I install concealed lighting above the display row and an end cap shelf (see page 169) to terminate the waterfall. Once again, figure you need 4¼″ on-center spacing between uprights.
Start construction at the lowest height, beginning with the end ladder and followed by double-rung ladders, until you reach the top of the waterfall at a wall or other rack. Each consecutive ladder increases in height either 4¼″ or 5″, depending on whether there is a continuous front tie in that location. Note that each double-rung ladder does not get a rung on its upper outside end (see figure 8.6).
Cut a 5″-long 1×1 for each step in the waterfall. Use it to cap each step, nailing it to the top of the outer upright and to the top rung position of the inner upright.
For a double-sided peninsula, build the ladder in the jig as described in the ladder racking project, but let the rungs extend out past the jig. Once the front and center uprights are nailed in place, flip the whole ladder over, install another upright in the jig, and nail the other ends of the rungs to the back upright.
END CAP SHELVES PUT A NICE FINISHING TOUCH at the bottom of waterfall racking. They’re great for placing wines on display, highlighting them and reminding the cellar master of his special-occasion wines.
• Two 1×4s approximately the height of the lowest column of the waterfall racking
• Five 21½″ lengths 1×4 lumber (for double-sided racks)
• One 23″ length 1×4 lumber (for double-sided racks)
• Five 21½″ lengths small molding
• 2¼″ screws
• Finish nails
Cut the two 1×4 uprights ¾″ shorter than the final height of the shelving. Lay them together and mark the edges of the uprights at the desired spacing for four 21½″ shelves. The bottom shelf should be set about 3½″ above the floor to allow for the fifth 21½″ piece to be installed as a toe-kick. The remaining shelves can be equally spaced between the top and the toe-kick.
Install the 1×4 toe-kick at the bottom, using finish nails, then add the 23″ 1×4 at the top, nailed down into the uprights. Place the shelves on the marks and nail them in place.
At the front edge of each shelf, install the small moldings, which will keep the bottles from rolling off.
Stand the end cap shelves up against the end of the waterfall racking and toenail or screw the unit to the uprights of the waterfall racks.
DIAMOND BINS ARE GREAT FOR STORING A CASE OR MORE of the same wine in a very compact space. They don’t allow for sorting through to find a particular bottle, because only the bottles on top of the bin are easily accessible. Another thing to keep in mind is that some bottle shapes are better suited to diamond bins than others. Bordeaux-style bottles, with long straight sides, work well, but if you stack Burgundy- or Hock-style bottles in a diamond bin, it is best to store them with their necks to the wall or you may have wine bottles cascading onto the floor.
This design for diamond bins will hold about 100 bottles in 11 compartments and works with the heights of the previously described ladder racking.
• Four 8-foot lengths 1×6 lumber
• Three 32″ lengths 1×4 lumber
• Finish nails
• Four 30½″ lengths 1×4 lumber
• Thirty-six 207/8″ lengths 1×2 lumber
• Ten 11″ lengths 1×1 lumber
• Scrap 1×2 (for nailers; optional)
• 2¼″ wood screws
• 2¼″ trim head screws
1. Build the carcase.
For the uprights, set two 1×6 boards side by side. Temporarily tack two 1×2 ties across them, making an 11″-wide board, to make installing the tops and bottoms a bit easier. Remove them when the carcase of the rack is formed. Repeat with the other two 1×6 boards to make two sets of uprights.
Across the top of the uprights, fasten a 32″ 1×4 over the center, where the 1×6 boards meet, driving a finish nail into both pieces to tie them. Nail a 32″ 1×4 to either side of the center piece, leaving about a ¼″ gap between the boards, to form the top of the unit.
In a similar fashion, install three 30½″ 1×4s for the floor of the carcase, nailing through the uprights and into the floorboards. The tops of these floorboards should be 4¼″ above the bottom of the uprights. Install the last 1×4 as a toe-kick below the floorboards, setting it vertically and recessed slightly.
2. Assemble the diamonds.
Stand up one 1×2 and nail a second one into the top of the first. Rotate the 1×2s so the second one is vertical, and nail on a third. Repeat in this “pinwheel” fashion to make a square measuring 215/8″ on each side. Now make eight more of these squares.
Connect three squares by standing them up on edge and nailing a 1×1 in opposite inside corners (installing two 1×1s per triple square). On the outside of these squares, install a 1×1 on the corners that do not have an interior 1×1. Repeat to make three triple-square boxes.
3. Square up the carcase.
Lay the carcase down and measure and mark the midpoint between the top of the floor and the bottom of the top piece on each upright. Square up the carcase frame by measuring diagonally between opposing corners and adjusting the frame as needed (by racking — applying inward pressure to both opposing corners with the longer measurement) until the measurements are equal. If the frame doesn’t stay in place in a square position, tack a temporary diagonal brace from the top to an upright to keep it that way.
4. Install the diamonds.
Place one diamond into the frame with the corners that have interior 1×1s on the center marks you made on the uprights. Screw or nail through the 1×1s into the uprights to secure the diamond in place. Install the other diamonds above and below the center one, aligning the top and bottom points of the diamonds. After fastening the diamonds to the carcase frame, fasten them to each other with the 1×1s installed on the exterior of the diamonds.
FIGURE 8.7 Diamond Bins Assembly
5. Mount the unit.
If the unit is to be stood up against a wall, screw a couple of 1×2 crosspiece nailers to the back of the unit, one near the top and the other near the midpoint. Stand up the unit and anchor it to the wall by screwing it into the studs or lumber backing and fastening it to any adjacent racks.
This diamond bin assembly is easily modified to shorter heights; simply reduce the height and width proportionally. Or you can lay it on its side to serve as a counter-height rack.
At the ends of straight runs of ladder racking, you can transition from a harsh square corner to curved shelves that visually return the system back to the wall. Four or five shelves cut at an 11″ radius and installed at the last ladder rack will give you a great place to display interesting winemaking devices and gifts to adorn the cellar, helping to create a soothing and artistic space.
When planning lights for your cellar, keep in mind the three general types of lighting: ambient, task, and accent. Ambient lighting will provide general space illumination, allowing you to move through safely and reflecting the colors of the room. Task lighting will put more focused light on an area where you will need to look more closely at a specific object or function. And accent lighting will highlight something in the room to draw your eye to it or create a special effect.
As with any good lighting planning, consider all three lighting methods for your cellar. How do you want the ambience of the cellar to feel when you and your guests walk in? Big and bright? Subtle and warm? Glowing? For a big and bright feel, fill the room with fluorescent lights. For subtle and warm, use halogens or incandescents and control them with a dimmer. For a glowing feeling, consider using a lighting source that lights up the ceilings and walls without the light fixture being seen.
Task lighting will come into play if you have a table, counter, or other stand that you’ll use for keeping a cellar log or any other activity for which you might need extra light without affecting the ambient light effects. Recessed cans and track spotlights are good for this kind of lighting. Again, dimmers can help create the perfect level of light needed.
Low-voltage accent lighting helps spot a special wine, and the custom tile placards above provide row identification to note the location of your wines in your cellar log.
A good example of accent lighting in a cellar would be a strip of low-voltage or LED lights installed directly over the row of display bottles in your ladder racking. A flip of a switch turns your dark bottles into shimmering greens, ambers, rubies, and browns. And your labels are there for all to see, so you can select the perfect bottle for the moment.
