Example Wine Cellar Projects in Tigard

Scope of work

Framing a 2 ft deep cabinet along the wall, insulation with a vapor barrier and sealed seams, black-framed insulated glass doors with gaskets, metal pegs above with oak shelves and drawers below, LED strips on a dimmer, a split cooling system made for wine walls with its own circuits and a drain, and end panels matched to the kitchen.

Project overview

In this example, the owners of a 2010s house want the wine in the room where they cook and eat. The wall between the kitchen island and the dining table is about 12 ft long, with a window onto the hillside at one end.

Twelve feet of glass brings in a lot of heat for a cabinet only 2 ft deep, and late sun through the dining-room window adds more in July and August. The cooling is sized for the glass and that sun, and a split system puts the compressor outside, so dinner is not spent listening to a fan. Pegs show the labels at eye level, and the drawers below hold wine kept by the case.

The goal

The goal is a 12 ft wine wall that holds about 500 bottles near 55°F, looks like part of the kitchen and stays quiet at the table.

Process

1. Design Wall measured, bottle count and door layout settled, and a heat-load check for the glass and the late sun.
2. Ordering Doors and racks built in the shop over eight to ten weeks.
3. Week one The 2 ft cabinet framed and insulated, power run, vapor barrier on and the refrigerant lines routed.
4. Week two End panels, shelves, drawers and pegs installed.
5. Week three Doors hung and lights wired; the split system runs for a few days before any wine goes in.

Planning right

• A cooled wall is a small cellar. The cabinet behind the glass is insulated and sealed like a room.
• Low sun on cellar glass can matter more than the size of the wall. Blinds or a deep overhang help.
• Drawers suit wine kept by the case. Pegs suit bottles you want to see.
• Choose the spot for the outdoor part before the kitchen plan is final.

Scope of work

Pantry shelving and one short wall removed, framing, insulation and a vapor barrier on both solid walls and the ceiling, black-framed insulated glass on two sides with a sealed glass door, black metal racking, a wood counter with drawers and cubbies, low-heat lighting, a ducted cooling unit in the attic with its own circuit and a drain, and flooring carried through from the kitchen.

Project overview

In this example, the owners of a 2000s house rarely use the butler's pantry between the kitchen and the dining room. They want a wine room there that they can walk into and see from both rooms, holding about 600 bottles.

Opening the pantry to both rooms means two walls of glass, so most of the heat the cooling has to remove comes through the glass rather than the two solid walls. The glass is insulated and sealed into its frames, the ceiling and both solid walls are insulated with vapor control on the warm side, and the cooling machine sits in the attic above, out of sight and hearing. Glasses live in the cubbies, where the cold does them no harm.

The goal

The goal is a wine room the family walks past on the way to dinner, holding about 600 bottles near 55°F behind clear glass.

Process

1. Design Room drawn, glass layout settled, and a heat-load check that counts both glass walls.
2. Ordering Glass panels and racks built to order, about eight weeks.
3. Weeks one and two Pantry cleared, framing, wiring, ducts up to the attic, insulation and vapor barrier.
4. Weeks three and four Ceiling and both solid walls finished, floor laid, counter and racks fitted.
5. Week five Glass walls and door installed and the ducted unit switched on, with readings for a few days.

Planning right

• Two glass walls bring in far more heat than one. The cooling is sized for the glass, not the floor area.
• Fog on glass comes from warm, damp room air meeting a cold pane. Insulated glass keeps the room side warmer.
• A ducted unit in an attic must be rated for attic heat, and its ducts insulated and sealed.
• Keep only things that are fine in the cold inside a cellar, such as glasses and decanters.

Scope of work

Removing the air-conditioning head and its outdoor part, a heat-load check that counts the glass, a ducted split system made for wine cellars with the indoor part above the pantry ceiling next door, the outdoor part on the shaded side of the house, refrigerant lines connected by a certified technician, circuits, a drain, a wall control and a start-up check that the room holds about 55°F at steady humidity.

Project overview

In this example, a 1990s house has a glass wine room from a kitchen remodel, cooled by a small air-conditioning head of the kind used in bedrooms. On summer afternoons the room sits in the mid-60s, and the air is so dry the owners worry about the corks.

Home air conditioners are made to keep people comfortable and to dry the air, not to hold wine at 55°F. The fix is a split system made for wine cellars, sized for the glass and for the light that reaches it from the great-room windows. Nothing about the room itself needs to change, since its glass, walls and ceiling are already insulated and sealed, so only the cooling is priced.

The goal

The goal is a glass wine room that holds about 55°F and moderate humidity on the hottest afternoons, with nothing humming in the kitchen.

Process

1. First visit Temperature and humidity logged, heat load checked, door seals and glass edges looked at.
2. Day one Old air-conditioning head and outdoor part removed, wall holes patched and sealed.
3. Day two Indoor part set above the pantry, ducts run to the wine room, outdoor part placed on its pad.
4. Day three Refrigerant lines connected by a certified technician, circuits, drain and control, then start-up.
5. Following weeks Readings checked again once the room has settled.

Planning right

• A bedroom air conditioner cannot hold a wine room at 55°F, and it dries the air too much for corks.
• Size cooling for a glass room from a heat-load check. Floor area alone gives too small a unit.
• Every hole the old unit leaves is a leak until it is sealed and insulated.
• A peg wall with empty pegs costs the same to cool as a full one. Plan the cooling for the room, not the bottle count.

Scope of work

Closed-cell foam sprayed into the walls and ceiling of the 3 ft coat closet, insulating and sealing in one layer, then drywall and paint. Slate on the floor, an exterior-grade door painted to match the hall, a small unit through the wall into the open kitchen and family room on a dedicated circuit, redwood single-slot racks floor to ceiling with a column of flat shelves, and a ceiling light on a door switch.

Project overview

In this example, a 1970s single-story house has a coat closet in the short hall between the kitchen and the family room. The owners keep about 140 bottles in a fridge and on the counter, and want them in one cool, dark place close to where they cook.

Walls and a door opening are already there, so the job is mostly about closing the closet up. Closed-cell foam insulates the walls and ceiling and doubles as the vapor control, the hollow door gives way to an exterior-grade one that seals on all four sides, and a small unit sends its warm air into the family room, which is large enough to take it.

The goal

The goal is a hall closet that keeps about 140 bottles near 55°F a few steps from the kitchen, behind a door that looks like the others in the hall.

Process

1. Design Closet measured and racks drawn; the unit is sized for the closet and checked against the family room it vents into.
2. Days one and two Closet emptied, wiring and the wall opening for the unit, foam sprayed and trimmed.
3. Days three to five Drywall, paint, slate floor and the new door.
4. Days six to eight Rack fitting, light wiring and unit hook-up, then start-up.
5. First week The unit runs long hours while the closet cools down, then the wine moves in.

Planning right

• Venting into another closet or a garage does not work. The warm side needs a large room.
• Foam that insulates and seals in one layer suits a small space where every inch counts.
• Single slots fit about 140 bottles in a 3 ft closet and let you see what you have.
• A door switch keeps the light off whenever the door is shut.

Scope of work

Measuring the stair, oak racks cut to the slope and fixed to the wall and floor, a row of diamond bins along the bottom, a tall rack cabinet and a small counter with cupboard doors at the tall end, and trim to finish the edges against the stair.

Project overview

In this example, a 1980s two-story house has an open triangle under the entry stair that collects shoes and bags. The owners want their everyday wine there, about 200 bottles they drink within a few months, and a counter where a bottle can be opened.

The space sits on an inside wall away from sun and heat vents, which matters because these racks have no cooling, door or insulation. That keeps the cost low. Wine bought to keep for years still needs a cooled cellar, and the racks can be closed in with glass and cooled later if the collection grows.

The goal

The goal is a tidy, stepped rack of about 200 everyday bottles under the stair, for a small part of the cost of a cooled cellar.

Process

1. Measuring Stair angle and floor measured, rack sizes drawn.
2. Making Oak racks, bins and the counter made to the slope, about three weeks.
3. Day one Old shelving out, wall and floor checked, the diamond bins fixed.
4. Day two Stepped racks and the tall cabinet fitted.
5. Day three Counter and trim, then the bottles go in.

Planning right

• Open racks follow the temperature of the house. Keep them away from heat vents, sunny windows and the back of a fridge.
• Fix tall racks to the wall so they cannot tip.
• Diamond bins along the bottom hold cases and odd bottle sizes without wasting the low space.
• If glass and cooling may come later, leave room for framing around the racks.