The rainwater collection is brilliant. More of us should be recycling cooling water, etc in our hobby. I like where this is going! Keep it up!
Unveiling my brewery & garage build
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OP
It's a fair point and I appreciate it. I see a lot of folks on here brewing on untreated concrete, and it doesn't seem like it's been a big concern at the homebrew level. Anyone who has brewed extensively on bare concrete care to weigh in? I did do some reading up on how commercial breweries handle this though and while some report liking 'naked' concrete, many agree with you that a sealant of some kind is essential. Some states require it for health code as well.
Rundownhouse
Well-Known Member
Yeah, commercially is the only experience with bare concrete I have, and within two years of concrete plus a sealant - but no epoxy or anything - we're already getting trouble spots in places like under the hx. Obviously if you're careful and not brewing every day, you can probably get away with it for years. Really, you're the person in the best spot to weigh the risks/costs. But even the big box sealants will provide some protection, and like I said, acids are more or less everywhere in the brewery, and can eat up concrete pretty quickly.
davidr2340
Well-Known Member
Our reputation comes from endless days of gray overcast that seems to settle in around the end of October, and stay through May.
Or the 4th of July!
My goodness... This build is amazing! Thank you so much for sharing it with us!
Cheer from about 30 minutes north of you!
Subscribed.
fall-line said:
I have bare concrete floor in my garage. It's fine after a few years of fairly active brewing. No problems. Epoxy looks much better though.
My only regret is not putting in a floor drain that ties into the subsurface drainage for the yard and gutters.
OP
OP
The time for interior paint has arrived, and with them we are ALMOST DONE! (by my definition, being allowed to move my stuff in and brew whenever I feel like without being in my own way = done)
Taped, mudded, sanded, ready for priming.
Sad to have the brew stand covered during during prime brewing season, but it won't be long now until it's in regular use.
Taped, mudded, sanded, ready for priming.
Sad to have the brew stand covered during during prime brewing season, but it won't be long now until it's in regular use.
OP
OP
One more piece of news to share with you, since the group had so much good input on this.. A decision I made earlier wasn't sitting well with me. After declaring the floor conversation closed, and that I would leave it untreated, I've changed my mind.
I'm picking up a floor polishing rental kit (diamond grinder, etc) on Sunday and going to town on my floor. I decided that while I had too many concerns with the epoxy option (welding slag, etc), one more day's work would be worth it for a beautiful shiny (and mostly waterproof) floor. So we are grinding, polishing, and sealing.
Anyone who is going to be brewing on Sunday, please raise a glass for me while I'm on step #14 of the grinding process!
I'm picking up a floor polishing rental kit (diamond grinder, etc) on Sunday and going to town on my floor. I decided that while I had too many concerns with the epoxy option (welding slag, etc), one more day's work would be worth it for a beautiful shiny (and mostly waterproof) floor. So we are grinding, polishing, and sealing.
Anyone who is going to be brewing on Sunday, please raise a glass for me while I'm on step #14 of the grinding process!
While I won't be brewing I will raise a pint to your awesome brew house/shop. Keep up the good work.
One more piece of news to share with you, since the group had so much good input on this.. A decision I made earlier wasn't sitting well with me. After declaring the floor conversation closed, and that I would leave it untreated, I've changed my mind.
I'm picking up a floor polishing rental kit (diamond grinder, etc) on Sunday and going to town on my floor. I decided that while I had too many concerns with the epoxy option (welding slag, etc), one more day's work would be worth it for a beautiful shiny (and mostly waterproof) floor. So we are grinding, polishing, and sealing.
Anyone who is going to be brewing on Sunday, please raise a glass for me while I'm on step #14 of the grinding process!
So you are not going to use my idea? ... I can live with that.
I'm brewing a Pale Ale this week end, so I will raise a glass, look at my floor, and think of the epoxy coat it will one day have.
At this rate, pretty soon we homebrewers are going to be collecting outbuildings instead of freezers.
OP
OP
So you are not going to use my idea? ... I can live with that.
I'm brewing a Pale Ale this week end, so I will raise a glass, look at my floor, and think of the epoxy coat it will one day have.
Well, you did help to inspire me to do at least something with my floor.
The epoxy finish is beautiful, but there are too many what-ifs for me with it when it comes to welding, etc on it. The polished and sealed concrete is a beautiful look as well, with less potential downside for my uses.
OP
OP
DrunkleJon, I did a serious double take when I saw your name. By way of a fortuitous freudian slip (of my making) at a gathering several years ago, my family has a "Drunkle Jon" too!
OP
OP
He does not, but he appreciates my efforts.
Well, you did help to inspire me to do at least something with my floor.
Well maybe you can return the favor, and convince me to do the same.
What is involved in polishing and staining? I have a plan to convert my existing garage to a brewery. I do not weld, so the epoxy is not an issue. But I have seen some amazing stained concrete before.
OP
OP
When I factored in all the time associated with properly preparing a concrete floor (it gets worse with a floor that has been used for years) for epoxy application, I realized it would be just as much work to epoxy as it would be to grind and seal.
The grinding/polishing/sealing operation will end up taking about 8 hours (DIY), and cost about $800 in rental and materials. The epoxy solution was looking more like 10 hours (DIY) and $500 in materials to really do it right. To me, those are about equal.
Polished concrete is more durable when it comes to stuff like welding, dropping hot/heavy things, tire traffic, etc. Both options are good for liquids, and will work with my flood drain. I believe the epoxy option is more resistant to acidic liquids, but as discussed earlier in this thread, the difference is not huge for a homebrewer.
In the end, I've seen so many beautiful polished concrete floors that I've been envious of, but have had considerably less exposure to epoxy. It's a personal decision, but I found that I liked and trusted the polished & sealed option more than the epoxy. Since it was about the same cost/effort equation, I'm going with what I know.
Here are the instruction videos for the kit I'm using, if you are interested in seeing the whole process:
The grinding/polishing/sealing operation will end up taking about 8 hours (DIY), and cost about $800 in rental and materials. The epoxy solution was looking more like 10 hours (DIY) and $500 in materials to really do it right. To me, those are about equal.
Polished concrete is more durable when it comes to stuff like welding, dropping hot/heavy things, tire traffic, etc. Both options are good for liquids, and will work with my flood drain. I believe the epoxy option is more resistant to acidic liquids, but as discussed earlier in this thread, the difference is not huge for a homebrewer.
In the end, I've seen so many beautiful polished concrete floors that I've been envious of, but have had considerably less exposure to epoxy. It's a personal decision, but I found that I liked and trusted the polished & sealed option more than the epoxy. Since it was about the same cost/effort equation, I'm going with what I know.
Here are the instruction videos for the kit I'm using, if you are interested in seeing the whole process:
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beau_cephus
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DustyTheBrewer
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Fantastic! Cant wait to see the new floor!
dallasdb
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barhoc11 said:
Would the clear coat make it slippery when wet?
OP
OP
Priming is done. Top coats start going on this morning. Somewhere along the way, I've really lost sight of the "it's just a garage" mantra...
:rockin:
automobiliben
Well-Known Member
Where are you planning on getting the cisterns for rain water?
:rockin:
OP
OP
I haven't figured that out yet. I haven't been able to find the tank I want locally. There are a couple of online sellers that sell it, but shipping would be $400.
I'm trying to come up with a local solution, using another thank, but haven't made it work yet.
MuddyCreek
Well-Known Member
I am so glad that your DIY project also takes a few months. I'm doing a bathroom downstairs and it's been very slow. I was beginning to think I may be the only one who DIYVS (Very Slowly).
OP
OP
That's the beauty and the misery of DIY, I suppose.. it goes at your pace. I really can only work evenings and weekends, with the occasional hooky day. I do have the contractor to call on for when the real work really needs to get done though. Unfortunately, this meant I missed some of the really fun days of the build.
Im_Lars
Well-Known Member
Fall-line, Did you get the floors done this weekend or did that weather we got wash things out? Lookin for an up-date.
That was my first thought.
OP
OP
Well I have some good news and bad news to share. The painting went great. We went for a 'beer colored' theme (two tone brown). I hate picking out paint colors so I steeped back and let my wife choose. What she came up with is darker and bolder than I would have, but that's exactly why I let her do it. I like the final result. We went with a semi-gloss finish to make for easier cleanup.
The floor project on the other hand was a big helping of DIY fail. In fact, it's hard for me to share this.. but you take the bad with the good I guess. The slab as it was poured was too rough to 'dry grind' so we had to start with a wet grind. This created a ton of slurry which was extremely difficult to get off of the freshly ground and porous surface. We scraped and squeegeed as much as was possible, before moving onto the dry honing and polishing steps, assuming these would pull the remaining dry slurry off the surface.. well it didn't. Even after restarting the whole process 1/2 way through the day and doing it dry (now that the slab was smoother), I still wasn't able to get the ground in slurry removed. The rental was only for 24 hours and the unit was reserved the following day, so I had no choice but to declare defeat and finish the job as best I could. There were other problems with the machine and the pads that I rented that I won't go into. They issued me partial credit, but the damage was done.
The slab is sealed and water tight.. for now. It's ugly, and I don't expect the seal to hold up well as the sections of ground in slurry start to break down over time. I'm going to sit on it for a week or so and see how it goes, but I'm looking at bringing in a contractor to fix it for me. I think I know enough now to do it right the next time, but after the day I had on Sunday, I don't want to ever do that again.
The floor project on the other hand was a big helping of DIY fail.
In fact, it's hard for me to share this.. but you take the bad with the good I guess. The slab as it was poured was too rough to 'dry grind' so we had to start with a wet grind. This created a ton of slurry which was extremely difficult to get off of the freshly ground and porous surface. We scraped and squeegeed as much as was possible, before moving onto the dry honing and polishing steps, assuming these would pull the remaining dry slurry off the surface.. well it didn't. Even after restarting the whole process 1/2 way through the day and doing it dry (now that the slab was smoother), I still wasn't able to get the ground in slurry removed. The rental was only for 24 hours and the unit was reserved the following day, so I had no choice but to declare defeat and finish the job as best I could. There were other problems with the machine and the pads that I rented that I won't go into. They issued me partial credit, but the damage was done.The slab is sealed and water tight.. for now. It's ugly, and I don't expect the seal to hold up well as the sections of ground in slurry start to break down over time. I'm going to sit on it for a week or so and see how it goes, but I'm looking at bringing in a contractor to fix it for me. I think I know enough now to do it right the next time, but after the day I had on Sunday, I don't want to ever do that again.
nyer
Well-Known Member
My ex-brother in law has been doing epoxy floors for years. He does everything from small garages to huge gymnasiums. He uses some type of handheld grinder with a diamond blade and its all done dry. He just did his sons garage floor and I was shocked at how good it looked when he was done. He can grind down an uneven floor and make it perfect. Most of the work is in the prep he says, putting down the epoxy is the easy part. I saw a floor that he did that looked like marble. You have done such a nice job on the rest of the place, I would suggest you look for a pro to fix the floor for you. It would look great when its done right. I wish you were in NY, the guy I know will do a job like yours for a few hundred dollars (plus epoxy) and a few beers.
Im_Lars
Well-Known Member
Dude the place is looking amazing. Sorry to hear about all the BS you had to go through with the floor.
OP
OP
Despite my less than perfect experience with the floor, I'm loving the moving in process in my new garage. I've been happily completing little projects like hanging peg board and orginizing my tools on the 'shop' side of the building, and yesterday I completed my second brew day on the full new system. This one went much smoother, as I've mostly figured out the pump priming issues, as well as the finer points of mash recirculation and temperature control on the new rig. I must admit though, I'm already chomping at the bit to start automating with a BCS-462.
Next up for the building is the deck and arbor outside. The rains have returned to the northwest, and the area where the new deck is going to go is a muddy mess after getting torn up during construction. Our friends are all over us to throw a 'brewery warming' party this fall, but we've got to get the deck done first.
I'm also having an issue with rain water. The french drain we dug for my downspouts isn't quite up to the task, so I've bene having to redirect my gutters to the neighbor's yard (she is fine with it for now) to prevent it backing up into the building. I've gone ahead and ordered my rain water collection tanks (two 310 gallon tanks, to be connected in parallel). Once they are installed, I'll be building a new 'weeping pipe' overflow system that'll run under the new deck. It's a hassle having to deal with this after I thought I'd solved the issue, but at least it's good motivation to get the cisterns installed sooner than later.
On the brewery side, I'm turning my attention to a fermentation chamber. After passing on an amazing 50.1cf two door commercial fridge (it was an awesome deal, but just too big for me), I've narrowed my focus in on a large (~25cf) side by side fridge/freezer. From the research I've done, I'm expecting to be able to fit 4 better bottles or one conical and two better bottles in the fridge side, and 2 better bottles (or corny kegs) in the freezer side for laggering/conditioning. There are a handful of threads (like this) on the forum from folks that have done this successfully, and I think this represents the best functionality vs space equation for me. Your thoughts are appreciated.
Brew day #2 on the new system. This was a Marris Otter and Willamette SMASH, with homegrown hopps.
Next up for the building is the deck and arbor outside. The rains have returned to the northwest, and the area where the new deck is going to go is a muddy mess after getting torn up during construction. Our friends are all over us to throw a 'brewery warming' party this fall, but we've got to get the deck done first.
I'm also having an issue with rain water. The french drain we dug for my downspouts isn't quite up to the task, so I've bene having to redirect my gutters to the neighbor's yard (she is fine with it for now) to prevent it backing up into the building. I've gone ahead and ordered my rain water collection tanks (two 310 gallon tanks, to be connected in parallel). Once they are installed, I'll be building a new 'weeping pipe' overflow system that'll run under the new deck. It's a hassle having to deal with this after I thought I'd solved the issue, but at least it's good motivation to get the cisterns installed sooner than later.
On the brewery side, I'm turning my attention to a fermentation chamber. After passing on an amazing 50.1cf two door commercial fridge (it was an awesome deal, but just too big for me), I've narrowed my focus in on a large (~25cf) side by side fridge/freezer. From the research I've done, I'm expecting to be able to fit 4 better bottles or one conical and two better bottles in the fridge side, and 2 better bottles (or corny kegs) in the freezer side for laggering/conditioning. There are a handful of threads (like this) on the forum from folks that have done this successfully, and I think this represents the best functionality vs space equation for me. Your thoughts are appreciated.
Brew day #2 on the new system. This was a Marris Otter and Willamette SMASH, with homegrown hopps.
ArrowheadHops
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Nice looking brewery!
JsBerry818
New Member
Awesome Job on everything! As many have said on this thread I am insanely jealous yet inspired by your design and taking notes. Thanks for keeping this thread updated with tons of pictures!
OP
OP
Thanks, both of you! Welcome to the forums, JSBerry818. It's an honor to be the recipient of your first post.
WhiteEagle1
Well-Known Member
Total inspiration dude!! Great job!!
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