I am decking over an indoor pool(concrete in-ground)and would like to turn the space below into a wine cellar. The room above is 44 Ft. by 20 ft. and would make a great living room dining room combo, and rather than waste all that space below I thought what about a wine cellar. any ideas on what’s involved in putting one in, any pitfalls to worry about. I’ve thought about adding fresh cool air from the outside to keep the room(cellar) cooler than the rest of the house but do I need to keep it circulating? This is a new idea to me and as it’s my own house I’m willing to experiment a bit more than with a client but I don’t know if I’m better off just decking over the space and forgetting about it, but it could be a cool thing to do…any help or ideas that some of you have run into would help. I should add I have worked on many homes with the big expensive pro wine cellars and that’s not really what I’m in too but I’m thinking for resale it’s better than not using it and I intend to leave the curved concrete walls intact.Thanks Larry (who drinks beer)
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Sounds like it should be a beer cellar! That said, if you've seen the pro-wine cellars, you're aware of the great lengths that are gone to to keep temp. and humidity near ideals for wine. On top of that, most white wines have different storage requirements than reds. Main thing I know( Mostly a beer drinker, but sort of a wine collector) is to avoid U.V. light, and keep it relatively cool. A simple outside vent-makeup air system, controlled by a temp sensor is probably enough, depending on your climate. Unless you're going to buy expensive wine, then get your self one of those mini-fridge wine captains. They have controlled environment for probably 24 to 30 bottles. Some even have different areas of control, for reds, whites, etc. They cost a few hundred dollars. That space would alsomake a good root cellar. Boy,I wish I had that space to use for those types of things!
Brudoggie
I would think carefully before making any changes that would make it very expensive to change back to a swimming pool.
Hello, Thanks for all he great suggestions, to add just a bit of info, the pool/house are built up on a hill and as we are on a well system I know the water table is about 80 ft. down, so heaving isn't likely a problem(with the pool I mean).And it's true that the better the climate control the longer wines will keep but I'm not interested in collecting some for twenty, thirty yrs. etc. but more into having a workable space that maybe one day could be upgraded.Just as a final note we live in a cooler northern Canadian climate keeping it cool isn't a problem, and as it will be completely underground UV light is not an issue.
If it were up to me only, I'd put a large screen T.V. full surround sound and two Lazy-boy chairs.with a beer fridge between them...now that would be a room!....but that won't happen.
Having said all that I'm still interested in opinions out there regarding how simple an air exchange system I can get away with.I plan to re-route cold air into the room from the outside of the house using the old 2" water lines that once fed the pools circulating system, and a 6" duct from the outside with a controlled damper(electric likely)during the summer.Thanks again, I love the suggestions and again any more would be appreciated as this is a little unusual for me.Larry
Have you ever seen an empty pool "pop" out the the ground? Not a pretty sight but it can happen after a good rain if your soil is clay. The water builds up under the empty pool and it literally floats. Remember, they built ships from concrete in WWII!
Why don't you check with a structural engineer before you go too far.
If its in ground, you really want to make sure that you find out what level your winter ground water is at its highest recorded point. This is the same reason that most Winerys with in ground cellars have them in the sides of mountains and hills. That wine cellar of yours could turn back into a swimming pool during the winter or worse yet, pop right up out of the ground.
Steve - in Northern California