Walk in cooler construction

I am building a walk in cooler inside my garage. It will be 8x4x7. I got a lot of good idea's from everyone on here so i thought i would continue updating this thread until it's completion.

Day one I tore out all the old insulation and particle board on the walls and framed out my floor to 8x4. I sprayed foam into every crack I could find...

lookin forward to seeing the finished product

Jealous.

finsfan said:

Jealous.

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Yes, count me in as interested!

Not just in the construction, but the results. I'm considering a curing/fermentation chamber.

Alright Guys be patient with my posts I'm not sure how to post comments with the pics...

Day two consisted of framing the existing 2x4 walls into 2x6. I used Lowes' 2x2's and nailed them to the existing 2x4's. And for the life of me was unable to turn the photo for the thread. I made sure to spray foam everything on the walls, trying to make that "perfect" air proof seal... I also ran my plugs. I used the extendable boxes which allow me to extended them to my desired depth. The top one I hooked up to a switch, and will use an LED strip light. I figured this will help keep cost down and the ambient heat from the lighting.

I will try to put as much detail into this as I can. While researching the cooler I found a lot of sites and blogs that helped. My goal is to help with your construction needs and answer any questions you have,

What you couldn't see was the floor and roof construction. Initially I was going to use R-30 attic insulation for the first layer from the floor and roof. However, I was contacted by "Coolbot" and told Fiberglass insulation is the devil when it comes to DYI coolers. They told me to double insulate my ceiling with my R-9.6 rigid foam (the rigid foam i was using for the project).

Roof Construction:
From the rafter I framed out the size of my cooler. Since it's in my garage I wanted a dimension of 8x7x4. I used 2x6's to form my area, placing them flat for my walls. Using 4x8 dimensions are super easy as it's the size of one sheet of plywood and my foam board. I placed a layer of 3/8's plywood up to the rafters and nailed to the studs.

I cut 2-4x8 pieces of max rigid foam with an R rating of 9.6 and placed them up onto the plywood. I cut a 16th-18th larger to help them stay in place. I secured another sheet of 3/8th's plywood to the roof framing with a nail gun to hold the ceiling up.

Floor:

I was told to throw out my idea of R-30 fiberglass insulation and told to double layer the foam. So, I did. I placed two pieces of R9.6 rigid foam on the concrete in between my framing. I used an epoxy to stick them together only because it was higher than my 2x6 framing. I place a 3/8's pieced of plywood onto the foam and used a nail gun to secure it to my framing. (angle shooting did not go through the foam).

I used 2x6 because I was using rolled fiberglass R-19 insulation. This allows the proper space for the insulation to work properly. On my new walls I used 3/8's plywood on the outside. I stapled the insulation's backing to the studs. After filling the walls, I used contractors plastic to cover the insulation. This allows a high seal and helps prevent moisture getting to the fiberglass insulation.

If you don't have a budget like me, I wouldn't use any fiberglass insulation and would stack the highest possible rigid foam throughout the cooler. Your goal is an R- rating around 24.

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Currently I have my kegerator in a storage area under my stairs accessible from my garage. I am thinking of insulating the space, adding a door and using an a/c with a coldbot. Hope to increase my taps and possibly use for other cold storage (dry age meats?).

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After covering each wall with plastic I place one layer of rigid foam in the walls. I did not use any epoxy to secure it to the plastic or the wall. I cut them big for a better fir and less gaps. With the fiber glass insulation and the foam it gives me a R rating of approximately 28.6.

sd_brewbie said:

Subscribed.
Currently I have my kegerator in a storage area under my stairs accessible from my garage. I am thinking of insulating the space, adding a door and using an a/c with a coldbot. Hope to increase my taps and possibly use for other cold storage (dry age meats?).

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Whats funny is I'm about $1000.00 into this cooler. My buddy spent $1500.00 on a DYI 5 tap kegerator.

Downey26 said:

Whats funny is I'm about $1000.00 into this cooler. My buddy spent $1500.00 on a DYI 5 tap kegerator.

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Funny how the little stuff adds up... Those trips to home depot catch up

Its been a couple days but I have all the insulation and plywood up. I sealed all the seams and made it as air tight as I could get it.

I put the ac unit in and hooked it up to the coolbot. I got the cooler down to 31 degrees, which I had to fix so I didn't have all my beer explode. I still have to put up the FRP panels and it will be done