DIY Walk In Cooler Build

You've probably thought of this already but is there a slight angle on the roofs of the shed and cooler so the rain will run off?

Travestian said:

You've probably thought of this already but is there a slight angle on the roofs of the shed and cooler so the rain will run off?

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There is actually going to be a whole second roof on top of the flat roof to provide some slope.

Irrenarzt said:

I won't get to do anything today as I have to work and I also have a BJCP class tonight after work.

That said, I'm thinking about hanging the door. With most walk ins, you see the door swings outward and seals against the outer wall (assume a nice sealing surface for an actual cooler versus something like stucco). The door I got is an exterior home door and likely will swing inwards in the configuration is it designed. Is there any advantage (I will be using PVC strips behind the door on the inside of the cooler) to flipping it to swing outward? The sealing surface would be then facing out but the sill plate would then be facing in. I don't care anything about left hand versus right hand ergonomics. My main concern is to get the most efficient configuration. I will be insulating the inside face of the door as well and IR/thermal barrier layer on the outside.

Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated.

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Why not just get an outswing door ? All commercial steel doors are flush outswing doors with good seals

Marshall slept in but Ghettogyle Greg stepped up and came over early for some more vapor barrier fun.

Paulie was over yesterday helping but got piss drunk so I doubt he'll be back today.

Third layer of roof side vapor barrier is up.







Greg had a good idea to cover the nail heads with a swatch of vapor barrier to help prevent leaks. You can see this in the first pic above. We are spraying the swatches with 3M Super 77 and I hope they will stick at least until the wood goes up.

LouHale80 said:

Why not just get an outswing door ? All commercial steel doors are flush outswing doors with good seals

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Too late as I already got the door. This door is going to work well I am thinking, but swings outward but with the threshold facing the wrong way. It has nice seals all around and is steel but at a third to a half of the cost of a commercial door. I'm at the point where I can't afford much more so this will have to work. I plan on building an entry ramp so I can build it right to the threshold and that'll help fix that problem.

I'm just impressed watching this cool build. If only I had the money for a project like this.

Marshall showed up around noon but we've been hammering it today and have a partial roof at this point.

Setting up to rip some OSB:



OSB roof base layer going up:



OSB base layer all up and gaps taped:



We used roof clips but taped the gaps just to be safe.

We then tar papered the OSB with a wrap and tap so as to not penetrate the triple vapor barrier.

After that, we put up radiant barrier:



That schit is bright as hell when the sun is reflecting off it. I've definitely got a sunburn.

Here's the roof with all the radiant barrier up:



Looks like rain:



Tarped up, just in case:



Time to eat like a man after busting hump for 3 days straight:



I should have a full complement of help next weekend as my Pops is coming into town on Thursday night, Ghettogyle Greg and Marshall will be in on it, and maybe I can get Scottish and Paulie out for some additional support. We plan on adding in the interior roof vapor barrier, then doubling the entire inside for good measure, then adding the interior panels, and finishing up the stucco and the roof hopefully. Lots to still do but we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope to have her up and running before July 4th.

looks like you should make that date, this is looking awesome!

Why so much vapor barrier? Isn't a single layer damn near impenetrable? And with an inside and outside wrapping, aren't you risking trapping moisture in the walls if any does get through?

A vapor barrier with staple holes is far from impenetrable I imagine. A water molecule is a small bugger and will want to go to the drier cooler air inside the cooler. You do have a point on the inside wrapping. I was a bit worried about that myself. But it is unreasonably dry here. All I would need to do is turn off the AC and open the door for a day and it'll dry right out perhaps. Or perhaps not. Who knows?

Also, we were not able to wrap the whole structure in one "continuous" film from the outside as the way we built it did not allow for one continuous or even multiple but all connected/seamed wrapping. For instance, the roof may be wrapped 3 times, but there was a seam and there are likely seams at every wall on the corners. An inside wrap will help block moisture from getting in, but at the cost of condensing on the outside face of the inside barrier. This will likely not be a problem for the XPS or EPS but may be an issue for the wood over time should there be a lot of condensate trapped inside. We may need to build it in some way to be able to monitor this, i.e. not screw in one of the inner cooler panels, but make it so one can be removed easily so we can check the wood after some time of operation to see that it is ok.

Another option is to set it up and run it without the interior cooler panels in place to see if we get condensate build up on the outer wall of the inner vapor barrier.

The way I figure, we have the material, let's use the whole roll, just to be safe. Nothing kills like overkill.

Another option is to delete the inner vapor barrier and go with a dehumidifier/dessicant package to remove the water vapor that does make it in.

I'm leaning towards the original option as that saves us the work from having to rip it out and try to remove all that silicone and ALEX caulk/staples. Hell if it does rot, it'll take 15 years to do so and I'll probably be out of that house by then. There is no way that cooler is going anywhere once it is finished.

The bottom line is this is a valid point and is worthy of discussion. The more we figure out, the better off people who want to build one will be in the future. The entire point of this thread was to document the process as means to help other homebrewers in the future.

Quite the project! Great thread man! An looks awesome!

The trick with avoiding condensation is to keep the warm moist air far enough away from the cold surface to avoid dropping below the dew point. The nice thing you have going for you is an arid AZ climate so that dewpoint temp is pretty low to induce condensation.

I had assumed you were going overkill mode with the plastic to act as an air barrier and avoid air infiltration - thus increasing insular nature of the wall assembly.

Don't worry, relax, and have a cold room.

I was intending the vapor barrier to act as a secondary air barrier. I do not want drafts whatsoever as that'll end up costing me money in terms of electricity. I was definitely afraid of drafts with the way we constructed this. The next one I build will be much more unitized...

OK I got the dreaded letter today. The one where the HOA is bitching about not having an architectural permit on file. So even though I may be compliant in terms of county regs, I am not in terms of the HOA. So I have 10 days to respond with a letter, drawings in duplicate with the contractors name and the owners name. They say I am to cease work upon receipt of the letter but no way is that happening with the final push coming up.

So if anyone is an attorney with restrictive covenant experience, feel free to chime in. I know a woman who was on the HOA board last year but she's in Qatar right now. I have an email into her with a request to skype for a few minutes to see how I need to proceed. The last thing I want is for them to make me tear it down, but this talk is premature as I think I can plead ignorance as my initial due diligence was incomplete, and there are many examples of "sheds" in the neighborhood that do not meet their criteria.

Their issue is with the lack of permit, but I may be able to still get one if I can present a good enough argument. The main issues are impact on others views (which should not be an issue as I am abutting my house and I'm not in any easement or the like. The "shed" is also going to be color matched with the same stucco as the house, which should play into my favor. I may need to put up a fence to block the view of the "shed" if need be.

Here's some pics of sheds I took shots of today while walking the dogs. Feel free to chime in on whether you feel these sheds are doing their best to minimize their visual impact on the surrounding environment:

This one blends in a bit at least but it is still some ghetto ass Walmart special.







Nice sunset tonight at least. The pic doesn't do it justice.



There are some really ghetto sheds in some neighboring hoods so it looks like I may need to take a drive tomorrow.

HOAs are Nazis. You are doing an amazing job and I hope you'll get the permit retrospectively. You are definitely increasing the value of your house. Hang in there!

I talked to the lady in Qatar who was on the HOA board last year. She said to fill out the form they asked for and go talk to them in person. She said the letter is nazi like, but the people are incredibly nice and want personal interaction. They will even grant a variance in certain circumstances but I will stay with the "shed" philosophy...

Irrenarzt said:

I talked to the lady in Qatar who was on the HOA board last year. She said to fill out the form they asked for and go talk to them in person. She said the letter is nazi like, but the people are incredibly nice and want personal interaction. They will even grant a variance in certain circumstances but I will stay with the "shed" philosophy...

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Well that's awesome! My experience with HOA is not that good. They must have people come out with a ruler to check the length of the grass. Not that that's a problem in your area Please keep us updated!

i would have to think you will be perfectly fine with all of the good craftsmanship you have put into this and especially since it ties directly into the rest of the house. from the looks of the other sheds you shouldnt have a problem!

I think so too. I spent the morning writing up the description of the shed build and now all I need to do is draw up some quick sketches and I can submit the paperwork. I think I'll be in good shape.

After this weekend, we should have the shed completely finished and hopefully populated with all the crap in the garage that needs a better home. The cooler won't be that far behind.

Irrenarzt said:

I think so too. I spent the morning writing up the description of the shed build and now all I need to do is draw up some quick sketches and I can submit the paperwork. I think I'll be in good shape.

After this weekend, we should have the shed completely finished and hopefully populated with all the crap in the garage that needs a better home. The cooler won't be that far behind.

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Just give them a link to this thread

I despise HOA's personally, and I hope you get this sorted out

I'm a little confused by why your HOA requires permits for builds anyway? Are they going above and beyond local building codes or just taking the place of a city board? It is common for them to have restrictions regarding types of outbuildings and other aesthetic issues but they are requiring an architectural design drawing? Sounds weird.

My interaction with them has been minimal thus far. But I think we will sort this out easily enough.

I cannot say exactly why they require any kind of permitting. It's just how they roll. I do know they claim to be protecting property values by keeping people from doing stupid schit. Since many people are indeed idiots in any given population, you cannot blame them for this.

I just want to finish the project and keep them out of my hair. It's been forever since I brewed and want to do so sooner rather than later. I cannot brew until I get this all finished and cleaned up.

I'm actually amazed that people growing hops don't have HOA's coming down on them too. Trellis systems can be pretty intense.

After quickly reading my covenants (something I knew existed but never bothered reading before), I think I need to submit a proposal just to throw a piss in the yard.

Irrenarzt said:

I cannot say exactly why they require any kind of permitting. It's just how they roll. I do know they claim to be protecting property values by keeping people from doing stupid schit. Since many people are indeed idiots in any given population, you cannot blame them for this.

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The beauty you are constructing next to your home is amazing compared to the sheds others have that you took pictures of. You've got nothing to worry about. they should be thanking you for upping the value of their homes.

I love reading this thread. You do realize, of course, that you're going to have to post pictures of your new cooler all stocked when you're done, right?

You DO have enough on hand to stock it, don't you?...

I will post pics when it is done. I do not have enough to fill it all initially, but I will be brewing like a raped ape and plan to build up a large supply of bottles relatively quickly.

Not much to report the last couple of days as I went out on Tuesday with my lady friend, Paulie and his wife for beers and BBQ, and last night was our monthly club meeting. Tonight my Pops is coming in so I need to pick him up and tomorrow we should be back on track.

I have been preparing my permit application packet for the HOA and this is ready to submit. I should be able to have this in the mail today.

Also, it looks like my monthly Photobucket bandwidth limit is almost maxed out, which is most likely due to this thread as my other posted pics certainly don't see as much traffic as this one. Anyone have a good suggestion for free photo hosting sites for forums? Photobucket is nice as I can upload the pics right from their app on my phone. I'm sure there must be viable alternatives...

Heh...was catching up on this thread and was going to suggest you verify permit needs etc. My town ordinance said that sheds under 150^2 ft don't require a permit. They later increased it to 200 (would've done that) but what they didn't list on the website was where the shed could be located, it had to be x feet from the house and y feet from the property lines. 6 month ordeal with a stop work order....it was very dumb, but i was at their mercy.

The zoning guy was more interested in talking about beer than anything else. the town manager however was on a mission to get me to tear it down (the thing was built by the time i received the stop work) Good luck - personal apperances definitely will sort it

Irrenarzt said:

Also, it looks like my monthly Photobucket bandwidth limit is almost maxed out, which is most likely due to this thread as my other posted pics certainly don't see as much traffic as this one. Anyone have a good suggestion for free photo hosting sites for forums? Photobucket is nice as I can upload the pics right from their app on my phone. I'm sure there must be viable alternatives...

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Imgur my friend. Imgur is amazing.

Irrenarzt said:

Not much to report the last couple of days as I went out on Tuesday with my lady friend, Paulie and his wife for beers and BBQ, and last night was our monthly club meeting. Tonight my Pops is coming in so I need to pick him up and tomorrow we should be back on track.

I have been preparing my permit application packet for the HOA and this is ready to submit. I should be able to have this in the mail today.

Also, it looks like my monthly Photobucket bandwidth limit is almost maxed out, which is most likely due to this thread as my other posted pics certainly don't see as much traffic as this one. Anyone have a good suggestion for free photo hosting sites for forums? Photobucket is nice as I can upload the pics right from their app on my phone. I'm sure there must be viable alternatives...

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You can upload your pics straight to the forum from your phone that's what I do any more hit the plus button up by send And you can either upload from album or take photo

We got some vapor barrier work done today, as well as some brown coat and shed work. But Marshall really f#cked the goat as he can't paint worth a crap. He spilled an ungodly amount of primer all over the brand new color coat wall of the shed. The only way to get it off is to strip the color coat and recoat the entire shed as you can't really color match stucco if you patch it. It's a days worth of extra worth at the minimum, a couple days at least to get the paint off all the over surfaces near and around the shed. He even got primer on the carpet in the house which is a long ways from where he was painting.

I'm pissed to say the least. I think most monkeys can paint better than Marshall can. My fault for not supervising more closely but damn he really *****ed it up.

Irrenarzt said:

We got some vapor barrier work done today, as well as some brown coat and shed work. But Marshall really f#cked the goat as he can't paint worth a crap. He spilled an ungodly amount of primer all over the brand new color coat wall of the shed. The only way to get it off is to strip the color coat and recoat the entire shed as you can't really color match stucco if you patch it. It's a days worth of extra worth at the minimum, a couple days at least to get the paint off all the over surfaces near and around the shed. He even got primer on the carpet in the house which is a long ways from where he was painting.

I'm pissed to say the least. I think most monkeys can paint better than Marshall can. My fault for not supervising more closely but damn he really *****ed it up.

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LIke all good stories, the hero has to have a major setback--or two. This is shaping up to be quite the movie plot. "A man and his freezer".

I'm curious once the AC goes in how low the temps go and such.

We'll get to that in due time. Today I have Marshall cleaning up his mess. Meanwhile, we made a Home Depot run while G. Greg worked on descaling the panel rails. Now my Dad and I are onto the roof but Greg is working on setting up to install the panels inside the cooler, which was all glued on with 3M Super 90 spray. This adhesive works surprisingly well on polyethylene vapor barrier, which is hard to bond to. No staples on the inner most layer.

I'm too embarrassed to post pics of the paint mess but I will post up later to show what not to do when painting trim above fresh stucco.

Some pics of the panel rails to get the pics started...

As received:



Descaled:



Greg laying them out along the cooler wall base:



Gluing them down:



They were screwed down to the floor joists also with 3" decking screws as well. Nothing exceeds like excess.

Onto cutting the panels. We used a metal cutting circular saw blade which works pretty good on the foam as well:



G. Greg in action:



Foam side cut, see how this approach does a nice job:

It looks likes its going awesome. And its not embarrassing to show the mess. Its shaming someone else!

I'm getting to that still. Although it is mostly cleaned up, the damage is done. We will have to float a large amount of color coat next weekend. Greg won't be here to help as he's going on some kind of trip with his daughter. I think I can slam a bunch of it out without him though.

Here's a couple of shots of the roof work we did today.



You can see the extensive use of IR barrier sheathing.



Now we are still cutting the panels which takes awhile. We are also spraying them down with a strong star san solution to help clean them and powerwashing the solution off and letting them dry.

Last pics of the day.

I had Marshall cleaning up his paint mess all day. It's still a fracking wreck.

























Started putting stuff in the shed. Long ways to go though. I've got a ton of schit that needs to get crammed in there.

How does one get that much paint all over that much area making that much of a mess? Even my 3 yo could do better.