Build Storage for Wine
Neither fine wines nor ready-to-drink wines that will be used soon after purchase need specialized handling. Wines that improve with age, however, might turn in under a year if they're not properly stored. Ideal conditions for fine wine, or table wines you want to store for up to a year, are a steady temperature of about 55 degrees Fahrenheit, humidity levels above 50 percent and low light. Creating these conditions in your home is moderately expensive. An average do-it-yourselfer can build storage for wine in a weekend.
Instructions
1. Select a windowless, quiet corner of your basement that is not subject to vibrations from passing traffic or construction and is removed from any heat sources or strong odors.
2. Build two walls to convert the corner into a full room. Frame the walls with 2 x 4 lumber, add insulation and cover both sides with drywall. Prime and paint all four walls with Dry-Loc. Add a doorway to one of the walls and hang a door that can be locked to protect your wine collection.
3. Install a humidifier if the room is dry. Ideal humidity for fine wines is higher than 60 percent. Close the door and wait a few days, then check the temperature in the room. It should be around 55 degrees. Install a free-standing air conditioning unit if the room is too warm, and monitor the temperature until you're certain it will remain nearly constant.
4. Select commercially made wine racks for the room or build your own wooden cubes. Square ceramic pipes that are used in chimney building are an inexpensive alternative to buying manufactured racks or building your own and are the right size to hold one bottle of wine on its side.
5. Build cubes from pieces of wood or MDF that are 1 foot on each side and at least ¾" thick. Start by gluing the pieces of wood together to form a square. Reinforce the glued sides with 1 1/2 inch finishing nails or brads spaced 3 inches apart. The number of bottles of wine you intend to store will determine the number of cubes you will need.
6. Create a base for the cubes by building triangles of the same dimensions. One side of the triangle rests on the floor and the other four-sided cubes then rest on top of them, making a diamond pattern. Nine standard bottles of wine should fit in one cube. You will need one more triangle for the base than the number of cubes you will stack in one row on top of them. Five triangles will hold four cubes.
7. Stabilize the ceramic pipes, if you're using them instead of cubes, by determining the width of the pipes when they're laid side by side. The number of pipes is determined by how many bottles of wine you'll store. Install two floor-to-ceiling planks this distance apart so the ceramic pipe will be held firmly in place between them. Lay a row of pipes side by side along the floor between the planks, then continue stacking more pipe on top until you reach the desired height.
8. Store wine bottles on their sides in the cubes once the temperature and humidity have stabilized.
Tags: bottles wine, Build Storage Wine, ceramic pipes, cubes will, fine wines, number cubes
