Zymurgrafi
Well-Known Member
So I have been seriously cleaning (attacking) my basement. Again. It has been an ongoing neverending task since I moved in to my house over 5 years ago. I live in an old house (approx. built 1890's possibly older) and have a stone foundation with brick from the ground level up. there is about 6 feet of headroom with many pipes running through (ouch!). About 2/3 of the floor is concrete which was poured quite sometime after the house was built. The remaining part is dirt with boards thrown over it. Most of which are quite rotten. There was a lot of debris left in the basement, plus our junk keeps accumulating. Thus the reason it has never really been cleaned up.
So that is what I am working with. Well, today I finally pulled up the rotten boards.
Uggh.
This is where my gears started turning. I believe the reason folks left a part of the floor dirt in the past was to have a "root cellar" for storing veg. and fruit. Well, why not dig a beer cellar!
Perhaps this is nuts but I am going to give it a go. Please feel free to add your thoughts and or experiences as I work through this folly.
My thinking is that by digging out a hole towards the center; so as not to compromise the foundation, I will have a more temp controlled storage area. I will build a sort of "room" or really more like a box hat is insulated and has a vapor barrier. By being even lower than the basement in the ground it will hopefully be cooler and more temp. stable. My basement fluctuates. It goes from the low 70's in the summer (and very moist) to the high 50's (and dry) in the winter. I am replacing the wood that was there with pressure treated and figured now would be a good time to try this out.
Ideally this would be a place to store kegs and bottles. If it turns out to be cool enough possibly serve kegs (cask conditioned?) from this "cellar". Or even a spot to keep fermenters.
The idea so far is pretty vague. I think it will be maybe 4 feet deep and 4'x6 foot wide. Either construct it with pressure treated wood and foam insulation sheets or maybe cinder blocks or pour some concrete and back fill around. Or another thought was to just lower a big plastic tub in the hole and build an insulated top. OR, get a busted chest freezer for free and remove the guts wrap it in a vapor barrier and just lower the body into the hole. I dunno yet.
It is super easy digging. My property is really sandy soil and apparently it is that way down as far as the basement floor as well. I dug a little hole just to see. In fact one concern so far is that it is too easy. The sides of the hole cave in as I am digging it is so sandy.
I will post a pic tomorrow of the area I am looking at. Guess I'll sleep on it a bit.
So that is what I am working with. Well, today I finally pulled up the rotten boards.
Uggh.
This is where my gears started turning. I believe the reason folks left a part of the floor dirt in the past was to have a "root cellar" for storing veg. and fruit. Well, why not dig a beer cellar!
Perhaps this is nuts but I am going to give it a go. Please feel free to add your thoughts and or experiences as I work through this folly.
My thinking is that by digging out a hole towards the center; so as not to compromise the foundation, I will have a more temp controlled storage area. I will build a sort of "room" or really more like a box hat is insulated and has a vapor barrier. By being even lower than the basement in the ground it will hopefully be cooler and more temp. stable. My basement fluctuates. It goes from the low 70's in the summer (and very moist) to the high 50's (and dry) in the winter. I am replacing the wood that was there with pressure treated and figured now would be a good time to try this out.
Ideally this would be a place to store kegs and bottles. If it turns out to be cool enough possibly serve kegs (cask conditioned?) from this "cellar". Or even a spot to keep fermenters.
The idea so far is pretty vague. I think it will be maybe 4 feet deep and 4'x6 foot wide. Either construct it with pressure treated wood and foam insulation sheets or maybe cinder blocks or pour some concrete and back fill around. Or another thought was to just lower a big plastic tub in the hole and build an insulated top. OR, get a busted chest freezer for free and remove the guts wrap it in a vapor barrier and just lower the body into the hole. I dunno yet.
It is super easy digging. My property is really sandy soil and apparently it is that way down as far as the basement floor as well. I dug a little hole just to see. In fact one concern so far is that it is too easy. The sides of the hole cave in as I am digging it is so sandy.
I will post a pic tomorrow of the area I am looking at. Guess I'll sleep on it a bit.