kezer colalr: Uneven and gaps. what to do?

[Eddiebosox]

So I am making my first keezer collar using 2x8's. The problem I am running into is now that I've put the collar together with wood screws (and before affixing to the Keezer itself) i am noticing a few problem areas. First, there are small gaps between the wood pieces (I didn't do a miter joint). I'm hoping, and wondering if anyone can confirm, that I can fix this by just putting some silicone sealant in the gaps, and then cover it with some stain gel afterwards. its not the gap i mind aesthetically, its the loss of refrigeration from it.

Secondly, I noticed when I placed it on the top of my keezer, it is not flush. Its a little off and wobbly. Can I also fix this with some extra silicone sealant? should i use something else? like some insulation? maybe foam insulation?

 

[Gunfighter04]

Any sealant won't take stain and will stick out like a sore thumb. If you change to paint they're fine. There are some stainable wood fillers, but I find that they are still noticable. Your mileage may vary

Pick up an appropriate width door seal from your local hardware store. I used a 3/4" width foam seal that had a bit of give to it. They will take up a bit of the gaps. It's hard to say how effective it will be without knowing how "wobbly" it is. Could be a 1/16th or could be 1/2"

 

[heckels]

Stain first, then use some clear silicone from the inside to seal the corners.

Then some foam as mentioned above to seal underneath.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[LakeErieMonster]

The outside is supports and aesthetics, do all of your insulating on the inside where it cannot be seen.

I encountered your second problem as well because I used a board that was way more warped than I thought. I ended up having to rebuild it. My recommendation would be that if some weather stripping cant make up the difference, than you should probably rebuild it. If you dont want to rebuild it, use some insulation paneling on the inside.

 

[Eddiebosox]

The gaps in the connected wood pieces are quite small (See first photo). I think I can seal them up from the inside with silicone sealant no problem, and then add some insulation padding along the inside as well as double protection against cooling loss.

My real problem is that the entire collar itself doesn't sit flush on the top of the freezer (second photo).the gap is close to a half an inch at its worst point. From what I gather it seems attaching some weather stripping with silicone sealant to the collar, and then to the freezer, can bridge this gap? Are there different sizes of weather stripping I should be looking at? What type of weather stripping? I've never done this before and once I put the silicone sealant on the freezer its kind of the point of no return so i'm just a little apprehensive.

 

[cheezydemon3]

I would re-do it at this point.

45 degree angles on the corners will sit so much better and are easy to do without a mitre, and straighter boards are worth paying for.

Do it right the first time.

 

[b-boy]

Try taking it apart and using some shims to fill in the gaps and force the collar to flatten. You can glue the shims in place. The screws are warping your collar because of the gaps. If you provide a solid filler you might be OK.

If it looks like crap from the outside, consider adding a second layer of some nice wood (like 3/4" oak) to cover up the imperfections. I highly recommand this.

When all else fails, wood putty, chaulk, and silicone are your friends.

 

[Eddiebosox]

Try taking it apart and using some shims to fill in the gaps and force the collar to flatten. You can glue the shims in place. The screws are warping your collar because of the gaps. If you provide a solid filler you might be OK.
.

The problem is the screws just wouldn't connect the wood flush. Not sure what I can do differently that would make that happen. How do I use the shims? Like, really long shims all on the inside of the gap? it seems Like I can easily fix the gaps in the wood with sealant. They're not huge.

my biggest problem is it sitting unevenly on the lid of the freezer. I am thinking of taking out the screws and simply redoing it. I half assed it putting it together. I think maybe ill bring it outside to my patio table, let it sit flush, and use some sealant to set it in place, then drill with my screws. or maybe buy some large clamps.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

If you have a semi-flat garage floor, set the collar on the floor, place some stout boards across the corners, (where your "high spot" concerns are), stack some weight on the boards, ( cinder blocks, dumbells, car battery, anything with some good weight), then remove the screws on the suspect (s) corners,and see if it settles upon screw removal.

If it does, screw it back together and "dry fit" it again.

If ya' still got problems, get some straighter boards, you'll be ahead in the long run.

You'll need to build it on something flat, if you want it to sit flat, provided you got some straight boards.

You would not be the first person in the home improvement store unstacking and eyeballing stacks of boards to get some decent ones!