Building my brew room

[Scele]

So, while I've been waiting for my brewing equipment to arrive, I've been working on converting some space into a brew room. It has been used for storage for the past 15 years or so, with the result that it was cluttered and dirty as a mofo, when I started. The room is around 600 - 650 square feet.

Here is what it looks like after:

4 metric tons of concrete has been smashed sledgehammer style and carted off. According to my calculations this means I can drink about 2 gallons of beer.

2 hangar loads of wood has been hauled off.
2 couches, 2 cabinets and a queen sized bed has been moved.
15 garbage bags have been removed.
3 rounds of power washing.

This is what it looks like after you put an angle-grinder into the hands of a Norwegian guy who has been tripping over- and getting power cords stuck on rebar for 2 weeks.

Scele's law 1: If your power-tool has a cord and it can get stuck on something it will.

If I can get a hold of my concrete guy, hopefully I can get a delivery of about 3 cubic meters of concrete this week and finish up the floor. Then I'm putting up a divider wall in the room (The whole room is 1200 square feet) using a mix of 2x4 and dry-wall, with 4 inch insulation between. I also need to get some electricity put in there, which should be an easy job.

If anyone has any idea as to what to put on the dry-wall to make it water-proof I'd be grateful.

Then 30 days later I plan on putting in an epoxy coating in the brew area.

I'm doing this because I'm not really a DIY guy, and I want to prove to myself that I can actually do this.

After painting:

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Still waiting on concrete.

Adding the pictures from the articles:

Floor prepped for concrete:

After pouring the concrete:

Framework for the divider wall:

Wall ready for painting:

After painting:

After moving in some stainless:

Links to the series of articles on the build:
Part 1: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/epic-brew-room-build.html
Part 2:https://www.homebrewtalk.com/brew-barn-part-2.html
Part 3:https://www.homebrewtalk.com/brew-barn-part-3.html
Part 4: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/brew-barn-part-4.html

 

[Hello]

That is going to be downright awesome.

 

[Banjorium]

Subscribed! This looks like it will be a great project to watch.

 

[Flboy]

If anyone has any idea as to what to put on the dry-wall to make it water-proof I'd be grateful.

Then 30 days later I plan on putting in an epoxy coating in the brew area.

Why water-proof the drywall? If you mean to make it a bit resistant, use blue board- but not ceiling.
Also, if the poured floor looks good, consider just staining it--never peels! and a fraction of the cost of epoxy!

 

[mswebb]

I don't think you'll be able to really waterproof drywall. You'd be better with aspenite or some other essentially waterproof hardboard material. The aspenite will give a solid place to screw in shelving etc. You can go to more expensive frp panels but that's probably overkill and doesn't have any structural value.

I originally put a water resistant pressed board with a white tile finish on the outside of my cold room but will be swapping it out for frp soon.

 

[Scele]

I don't think you'll be able to really waterproof drywall. You'd be better with aspenite or some other essentially waterproof hardboard material. The aspenite will give a solid place to screw in shelving etc. You can go to more expensive frp panels but that's probably overkill and doesn't have any structural value.

I originally put a water resistant pressed board with a white tile finish on the outside of my cold room but will be swapping it out for frp soon.

Why water-proof the drywall? If you mean to make it a bit resistant, use blue board- but not ceiling.
Also, if the poured floor looks good, consider just staining it--never peels! and a fraction of the cost of epoxy!

I want to be able to hose the entire room down to clean it. I haven't bought the drywall yet, so I can still switch it. Like I said, I'm not much of a "DIY guy" so I figured asking for some advice is good. I'm also trying to stick as closely as possible to what is required from a commercial brewery from the government regulation perspective.

I was thinking on putting bathroom tile panels on the dry-wall to make that possible.

The ceiling is concrete, I'm just putting some paint on it.

 

[Flboy]

If you are looking to tile the walls then you are looking at durock concrete board. Blue board will not hold up.

 

[Braufessor]

I used a cement/concrete board in my basement brewroom for the bottom 2 feet or so, all the way around the room (dry wall above that). I then put tile on the floor and up the cement board all the way around. Floor drain in the middle of the floor. I can hose it down if needed - although, usually just wet towel is enough.

By the way - that looks like it is going to make a really great brew area!

 

[Briguy10]

Got my attention!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Scele]

Quick update: My concrete guy won't be able to pour for 2 weeks, which holds up putting in the divider wall, electric and painting. In the mean time I'm looking for an appropriate steel door, bars for the windows and stainless steel work tables.

 

[Ramitt]

Wow, so much room. I look forward to this build.

 

[ChileBrewer]

Looks like a good project! Please keep the updates coming!

 

[dawk]

Really looking forward to seeing what you do with that space. Wish i had even a quarter of that space

 

[jimyson]

That's quite a large room you have there...

 

[Scele]

Updated

 

[IslandLizard]

to you and your new brewery!

Did you make a layout and a plan on how to use all that space? That would give you a good guide as what to do where.

Typically hard walls (e.g., concrete) are the easiest to maintain as they can be hosed and scrubbed down. But is that a requirement or even necessary? Plan on putting in good floor drains too before pouring those floors. 3 cubic meters of concrete will only give you a skim coat, not a solid floor.

There are a few threads here on HBT where people illustrate their brewery builds. Get some inspiration from them.

 

[BBBF]

In my brewroom, I have frp panels over the drywall. I like how they came out.

http://www.menards.com/main/paint/p...ured-wall-paneling-white/p-1503821-c-8170.htm

 

[philipCT]

Awesome space. Exciting project. How high are those ceilings?

I know it's more expensive, but on the wet walls in my brew cave, I tiled floor to ceiling. It's a tiny space so it wasn't that expensive. The walls opposite - away from the hood and the brew-tuns - I just painted eggshell. Not sturdy enough to hose down, but very durable and easy to clean. I tiled the floor with the same tile as the walls.

On the trench drain, if you decide to do one, and I highly recommend it because it makes everything so much easier, take care to figure out the floor-to-drain mating so that the drain-plate is flush with the finished floor once you're all done. This is a total "Duh" but I had to ride herd on the flooring tile guys and the trench-drain guys - who were different contractors - to get them to do the right thing.

My version of DIY was being an effective general contractor.

 

[Scele]

Double-post.

 

[Scele]

to you and your new brewery!

Did you make a layout and a plan on how to use all that space? That would give you a good guide as what to do where.

Typically hard walls (e.g., concrete) are the easiest to maintain as they can be hosed and scrubbed down. But is that a requirement or even necessary? Plan on putting in good floor drains too before pouring those floors. 3 cubic meters of concrete will only give you a skim coat, not a solid floor.

There are a few threads here on HBT where people illustrate their brewery builds. Get some inspiration from them.

Thanks for the reply.

I made up a "work in progress" floor plan.


image free hosting

2 of the walls in the room are concrete. So I'm putting the table I'm designing for the brewing equipment along one of those walls. The floor/ceiling are both concrete, so I'm having enough concrete put in to make the floor level, and remove the various blemishes in the picture not pouring a brand new floor.

Awesome space. Exciting project. How high are those ceilings?

I know it's more expensive, but on the wet walls in my brew cave, I tiled floor to ceiling. It's a tiny space so it wasn't that expensive. The walls opposite - away from the hood and the brew-tuns - I just painted eggshell. Not sturdy enough to hose down, but very durable and easy to clean. I tiled the floor with the same tile as the walls.

On the trench drain, if you decide to do one, and I highly recommend it because it makes everything so much easier, take care to figure out the floor-to-drain mating so that the drain-plate is flush with the finished floor once you're all done. This is a total "Duh" but I had to ride herd on the flooring tile guys and the trench-drain guys - who were different contractors - to get them to do the right thing.

My version of DIY was being an effective general contractor.

The ceilings are rougly 7f 4 inches now. After I fix the floor I figure that they'll be around 7.2.

I'm looking at tile for the floor instead of epoxy, if I get a good deal on tile I may tile the 2 wooden walls in the room. I'm planning on tiling my brewing table though. I may start work on that this week since the work is more or less stopped until I get the floor fixed.

At the moment I was planning on a simple floor drain, are the benefits of doing trench drains big?

 

[IslandLizard]

I'm not a mason, but put in and dealt with many floors. If the floor is solid, not cracked, just uneven, with some lower lying sections from what it looks, I'd say you need to put down at least an inch of concrete on the cleaned and acid treated existing floor. Also a cement scratch coating may be needed to get good bonding. You can get your concrete colored if you want. A good concrete floor is smooth, easy to wash, and typically less slippery than tile.

Give the trench drains a good thought before you pour, as well as any other sanitary drains needed.

 

[Komocabo]

Is this for a commercial brewery, or just an over-the-top homebrew heaven?

 

[Scele]

I'm not a mason, but put in and dealt with many floors. If the floor is solid, not cracked, just uneven, with some lower lying sections from what it looks, I'd say you need to put down at least an inch of concrete on the cleaned and acid treated existing floor. Also a cement scratch coating may be needed to get good bonding. You can get your concrete colored if you want. A good concrete floor is smooth, easy to wash, and typically less slippery than tile.

Give the trench drains a good thought before you pour, as well as any other sanitary drains needed.

I'm having the guy who is delivering the concrete check it out before I do anything so he can make sure we do it in the best possible way. If I can save the money on tile and epoxy, that means I should probably send you a keg or two after I'm up and running as a "thanks for saving me a bunch of money".

I think that "enclosing" my brew/bottling area with a trench drain on each side may help me make sure I don't get hot wort or a ton of water on the rest of the floor. It would be like a reverse moat.

Is this for a commercial brewery, or just an over-the-top homebrew heaven?

The latter. It's not really over the top since I'm not doing all stainless steel.

 

[Braufessor]

A good concrete floor is smooth, easy to wash, and typically less slippery than tile.

My brew room floor is tile..... and, the one downfall of it is the fact that it can, indeed, be slippery when it gets wet. This is a good point.

 

[IslandLizard]

It's a really nice, large open floor space, which gives you a lot of room to move around, and create functional areas. The ceiling height is a bit skimpy at 7'4" but manageable.

Renovating can run large bills, so the best advice I can give you is setting priorities, a budget, and doing it right the first time is best. Don't rush if you're not confident it's the best solution or be rushed because someone else is pushing you (time restrictions, special "limited" offers, etc.) or wants to make a quick buck while leaving you with a job that's really half @ssed.

I mentioned considering the trenches before you pour, so the new floor can have an ever so slight slope toward them. Some water and a squeegee is then all you need to clean up.

I don't know what happened to the price of industrial quality paint and epoxy. They all got wrapped up in the commodity items price hike tornado somehow.

Once you get all the bull work done you can start concentrating on making more good beer than ever before!
Depending on the type of beers you make, think about a sectioned fermentation chamber where you can have at least 2 temperatures at the same time. And make them as large as you can, or easy to expand. And there's nothing wrong with (cheap) plastic vessels.

 

[FuriousE]

Subbed. This has potential!!

 

[Scele]

It's a really nice, large open floor space, which gives you a lot of room to move around, and create functional areas. The ceiling height is a bit skimpy at 7'4" but manageable.

Renovating can run large bills, so the best advice I can give you is setting priorities, a budget, and doing it right the first time is best. Don't rush if you're not confident it's the best solution or be rushed because someone else is pushing you (time restrictions, special "limited" offers, etc.) or wants to make a quick buck while leaving you with a job that's really half @ssed.

I mentioned considering the trenches before you pour, so the new floor can have an ever so slight slope toward them. Some water and a squeegee is then all you need to clean up.

I don't know what happened to the price of industrial quality paint and epoxy. They all got wrapped up in the commodity items price hike tornado somehow.

Once you get all the bull work done you can start concentrating on making more good beer than ever before!
Depending on the type of beers you make, think about a sectioned fermentation chamber where you can have at least 2 temperatures at the same time. And make them as large as you can, or easy to expand. And there's nothing wrong with (cheap) plastic vessels.

I would have preferred 8 - 9 feet as it would be easier to move in a bigger brew kit if I want to size up. At the moment I'm subscribing to the "brew less and more often" approach so I can experiment.

The electric work should be fairly doable since there is an old drain hole going from the floor over mine and the electric in the floor above is on a 36 amp fuse. I need an electrician to do some wiring/putting in wall sockets.

I can set up the new drain in place of the old one and do most of the work myself, save for connecting it to the public drainage system where I need a plumber. There is already water in the brew area, but I need to have the plumber take a look at it to make sure it's clean since it's pretty old.

The priority goes - Concrete -> Divider wall -> Drain/Water -> Electric

Thanks for all your advice so far.

 

[dawk]

As far as priorities go I would move the drain installation up with the concrete pouring so that your not having to break up your newly poured floor to install.

 

[GotPushrods]

My brew room floor is tile..... and, the one downfall of it is the fact that it can, indeed, be slippery when it gets wet. This is a good point.

There are products out there that will etch tile just enough to make them MUCH less slippery.

My dad would never shovel the snow off their front steps in fear someone would try and use the front door and fall. Last fall he decided to etch that tile before the first snow. Last time I visited I was very surprised at the traction, even when wet. The finish is maybe a little less glossy, but still looks great. I would never have used those stairs without holding the railing, but now I'm comfortable bounding right up and down.

I'm not sure I would tile my brewery floor if I were starting new, but if I already had tile, I'd definitely etch it.

I can't speak to the stain resistance once etched, but it might be an option.

 

[Scele]

As far as priorities go I would move the drain installation up with the concrete pouring so that your not having to break up your newly poured floor to install.

There is a hole in the floor for the drain already, so I'm putting up a "guard" made from 2x4s to make sure that it's still there when I put in the drain. I'll be sizing the guard based on the size of the floor drain I'm putting in.

 

[WayFrae]

I was more than a little disappointed to see the horse portrait get painted over.

 

[Scele]

I was more than a little disappointed to see the horse portrait get painted over.

If I don't, how would I be able to do beer portraits?

 

[Scele]

Update: We poured the concrete today. I'm doing an article series on the build, the first part has been posted https://www.homebrewtalk.com/epic-brew-room-build.html

 

[Scele]

Update: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/brew-barn-part-2.html covering painting and prepping for concrete has been posted.

The next article will cover the new floor and construction of a divider wall.

 

[Scele]

The update is up

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/brew-barn-part-3.html

We did the concrete and got started on the divider wall.

 

[Scele]

And another update:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/brew-barn-part-4.html

Getting close to finished now.

 

[Timzabel12]

Is any one getting sent to completely different threads when clicking for the last two updates?

 

[Komocabo]

Yup!

 

[Scele]

Is any one getting sent to completely different threads when clicking for the last two updates?

They are articles on the site.

EDIT: Added links to the article series, plus more pictures in the original post.

 

[johnbrown86]

I am too late to reply here. Well in a limited time and limited budget pvc wall and ceiling panels are the preferable building materials. PVC panels installation is very easy, does not require expensive tools. As PVC panels are water resistant, you will get waterproof wall. PVC panel advantages include less maintenance, no refinishing, no anding, also available various color.