Garage home brewery

[sethful]

Looks good. Keep up the nice work, and don't forget to throw in a good brew day every now and then!!

 

[blackheart]

We got a lot accomplished this weekend! The floor was cleaned with 6 cans of paint stripper to remove 480sq/f of 3 layers of paint. at $20+ a can that stuff adds up fast. We also used Muric acid to etch the concrete to prep it for epoxy. Two coats of a base and 1 top clear coat will be used.

We were able to install the grid work for the drop ceiling. Once the ceiling was up we put in the 4x florescent light fixtures and wired them all up together.

Over the patio we put in 3 can lights. We folded Maryana in half and stuffed her in the crawl space to wire up the lights. This should provide some nice outdoor lighting for some late night hanging out and grilling in the dark.

A friend of a friend who is about 85+ makes golf course signs. He made us this 3x4' sign. It will be hung outside the garage in the peak of the roof just above the garage doors.

I have also been working on plans for a Brutus like stand. Silght modifications are made so that it can do 10gal keg batches now but can upgrade to 30gal batches in the future. Also it will be a 2 tier, 1 pump design. Here is a preview. Currently trying to price out and find people to weld this in SS for me. I think we have found 3 kegs to build the system with. Just have to drive 1.5 hours to go pick them up sometime!

That about wraps things up for now. Going to get the electrician in to finish the wiring and turn on the power. Once thats done we can stuff the R-30 in the ceiling and close things up. We also ran all of the speaker wire from the wall outlet to the ceiling. 4 in-ceiling speakers, one by each light, and two outside, will be connected. I'm not sure how yet, but to the brewery pc and remotely controlled from our iPhones via Wi-Fi. There is also talk of a guitar amp hookup for brewing and rocking out at the same time.

 

[blackheart]

Looks good. Keep up the nice work, and don't forget to throw in a good brew day every now and then!!

Going to try to brew on wed and thurs/fri. A cream ale and an amber ale. Then in about a month throw a grand opening party with those two + a sweet stout and pale ale that are currently ready to go.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Looking great! You are really throwing this together fast. It is fun to watch

 

[RedRory]

Looks great, I'm excited for you to finish. Keep posting pics...it keeps me motivated.

Mike

 

[Beernip]

That's one badass looking sign

 

[bass-a-roo]

its fun to watch your brewery grow, can't wait to see the completed pics = )

 

[brrman]

This thread friggin rocks... I prost three!

 

[IrregularPulse]

Nice, I cringed just looking at the folded woman. Reminded me of repairing a split roof joist and cramming into tiny corner to secure the reinforcement.

Awesome Sign too!

 

[Simphoto02]

This thread friggin rocks... I prost three!

What the hell does PROST mean anyway?

What have I been missing out on?

 

[Whiskey]

Prost is the common salute used by Germans when they drink beer, kind like cheers. It is only used for beer. Also seen as Prosit.

 

[brrman]

yeah, Prosit is another way to say it. You could also be a frenchy and say "Au chin!" or "chin chin!"

 

[blackheart]

I have been getting up early to paint the floor more. It seems every time we put a new coat of epoxy the roller will pick up some tiny amount of dirt. Also there is some 1/2"+ pitting in some areas where the garage was formerly used to house a car. Imagine that, a car in a garage where a perfectly good brewery could be built! The pitting is most likely from the rock salt etc. We went nuts and just poured a gallon in all the bad areas and spread it out.

The floor inside and the patio outside is both looking quite nice now. After 3 coats I think we might be done. Just one more clear coat protectant to finish it off.

The electrician finally made it over to wire up all the lights and OK the wiring. We got the florescent lights connected easy enough but the can lights were again a trouble spot. We had to wait for Maryana to show up to crawl around in the ceiling again, this time to actually wire everything together and close it up. Last time was just running the wires into the box. The electrician supervised and gave orders while she did the actual work. Good news is now everything works! Need to swap out the CF bulbs we bought for some normal ones as they take forever to turn on and will not work well in the cold. No pictures of the outside patio lights right now but I do have one of the inside with the lights on!

Also we picked up a fire extinguisher and one of these... it should let us know if we have a gas leak or if the pilot light goes out.

Going to put the final coat on the inside floor tonight and let everything harden up over the weekend. 3/4 of us are out of town to Six Flags for a little birthday celebration. Going to finish up insulating the ceiling starting monday followed by painting the inside and putting in the ceiling tiles! Lots more pictures to follow next week.

Thanks everyone for the positive feedback. It is motivating us to complete everything that much faster.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

Seems like you work quickly with great results. Me likey!

 

[ajwillys]

Haha, explosive gas alarm. That thing would be going off ALL THE TIME at my house....

 

[IrregularPulse]

Man this is great! You are consistently showing huge progress every week. Very entertaining and envious thread to follow.

 

[blackheart]

Man this is great! You are consistently showing huge progress every week. Very entertaining and envious thread to follow.

we are trying to get done asap because the sooner we are done building the sooner we can get to the brewing.... and the sooner we will be drinking some great beer!

we are taking the weekend off to head to six flags and NYC to celebrate one of our birthdays. More work is planned for next week along with some brewing as well!

 

[blackheart]

Ahhh! We hit what has seem to be a major snag. After applying 3 coats of epoxy to the floor over the past few days ( 3 coats x 2 gallons x ~$30/gal ) we left for the weekend. When we came back, all the areas of the floor that had deep pitting (which we poured extra epoxy into) are now cracking, coming up, and have some kind of crystals forming on them. I dont know why this happened now as the 3 coats were applied days apart and had a full day to dry before I left it in perfect condition. Moisture? Heat? Maybe leftover Acid and stripper from the paint removal staid only in the pits and easily washed off elsewhere?

Never the less, we need to fix this asap as it is holding up finishing everything else.... Someone is stopping by when I am out of work today to take a look at tell me what he thinks I should do. Anyone have any ideas on what happened and what I should do now?

On to the horrible pictures.....

On a happier note.....

We finally found 3 kegs to build our 10gal brewing system with! Breaker Brewing company had just what we needed. They are a few years ahead of where we hope to be. It was great to be able to talk with them and learn a few things. We also got some other goodies like a modified AC unit used as a pre-chiller for water.

And for those who havent seen it, this is our working prototype of an all-analog temp control circuit to run our chest freezers at any temp we need. We are working on building a finished version shortly to run both chest freezers off of.

 

[Simphoto02]

How old and how thick is the slab?

If it is only a couple of inches thick and not at least 4 inches thick I would say that you have ground moisture pushing up and it is going to screw with anything you put down.

Doesn't matter how good the epoxy is, if moisture is pusing up from the soil under it, it wont stick. The acid cleaning MIGHT have damaged the concrete enough to allow it to wick through.

Let us know what the "Someone" says. It looks like the bondablilty of the epoxy has been stopped from below.

 

[slimer]

It is ground moisture. I had that same problem coming through the cracks in my basement floor before I installed a second sump well.

 

[Simphoto02]

It is ground moisture. I had that same problem coming through the cracks in my basement floor before I installed a second sump well.

ONLY one fix for that. NEW SLAB with a proper vapor barrier. Too bad so much other work has been completed. gonna be a real shame to have to do most of it over again.

Good luck.

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

Well, I'm impressed. It all looks fantastic and I hope you can find a to fix the floor, maybe a sump pump with French drain to reduce the water level under the area?

 

[illin8]

That sucks. You might be able to put a sump in, that might reduce the moisture coming up, but if your groundwater is close to the surface it won't be worth it...the pump will be running all of the time. The only time I've experienced that is when water would come into our basement...not just moisture, actual water. After it would drive we'd have white crystals or powder on the floor.

It's been an especially wet summer, have you had significant rains that may be causing the groundwater to rise and effectively TRYING to come up through your floor?

 

[blackheart]

So not really sure if its water/heat/chemicals that caused the problem. The entire garage was sealed up over the weekend where it was both hot and then rained..... Regardless... I have to do something and I dont think the epoxy is going to cut it. I think we are going to move forward and on to the ceiling. I was going to wait for the floor to be hardened before I went to put a ladder all over it to put up the insulation but we need to make some sort of progress this week so it looks like insulation it is.

So I am looking at our options for the floor....

Tear up the $200 worth of epoxy and......

- pour more concrete?

- vapor barrier?

- Put in a raised floor made of wood with insulation inbetween?

Anyone care to chime in with there ideas? Lets assume its a water problem (worse case) .... What should we do, how do we do it, why will it work the best...

*pulls hair out more*

 

[illin8]

1. Was the paint you used the concrete waterproofing/sealant type? If not, maybe try using that stuff...I've heard it works very well.

2. You could build a subfloor, at least in the area around your brew rig. Finish it with tile and have it pitch to a drain in the subfloor. That way you could clean up the area and possible spills easily...it would be easy to clean and wouldn't have the potential to absorb liquid.

Otherwise, wait it out and see how the floor holds up. Are you in a low area? Any streams or open water from rain nearby that would give you an indication of groundwater depth? From my experience, concrete breathes naturally but this doesn't result in crystal/mineral deposition, more likely from actual water coming in...I could be wrong though, just ask my wife.

 

[springer]

the way to test if its moisture is to remove a small area of the epoxy first.then take a piece of clear plastic can be Saran wrap and tape all around the edge to the floor and just let it sit a couple of days. If you have condensation and the cement turns dark then you have moisture.

depending on ceiling height I would put down a vapor barrier frame the floor out with PT wood and insulate with blue board then lay a floor. I did this in my basement 5 years ago and its dry as a bone.

 

[Scut_Monkey]

2. You could build a subfloor, at least in the area around your brew rig. Finish it with tile and have it pitch to a drain in the subfloor. That way you could clean up the area and possible spills easily...it would be easy to clean and wouldn't have the potential to absorb liquid.

I think this is a great idea. Turn your lemons into lemonade buy putting in a subfloor with insulation and piping for drains. A lot of breweries use floor drains because ALL breweries have spills. Then tile it or possibly epoxy over the subfloor if that's possible (never used epoxy).

 

[IrregularPulse]

I think this is a great idea. Turn your lemons into lemonade buy putting in a subfloor with insulation and piping for drains. A lot of breweries use floor drains because ALL breweries have spills. Then tile it or possibly epoxy over the subfloor if that's possible (never used epoxy).

I second the raised floor. Easy enough run drainage pipes. Can you just bust a large hole in the slab and run lines to for a drain? I'm no construction expert thats for sure!

 

[ajwillys]

Could you just put a vapor barrier down and then put a thin layer of concrete over top, perhaps that leveling stuff? Seems like that would be just as good as a vapor barrier+wood but you'd have the durability benefits of concrete.

Disclaimer: I have no idea if this is the stupidest idea ever.

 

[Simphoto02]

Could you just put a vapor barrier down and then put a thin layer of concrete over top, perhaps that leveling stuff? Seems like that would be just as good as a vapor barrier+wood but you'd have the durability benefits of concrete.

Disclaimer: I have no idea if this is the stupidest idea ever.

This would be a HUGE waste of money and time. eventually the "Thin layer of concrete on top would chip away and you would have a HUGE mess.

You have to either remove the moisture or make damned sure it does not pass through. once it does like this your screwed.

The Ultimate fix:
1. rent a concrete saw an is remove the existing slab up to the foundation walls and footers
2. Excavate the soil under it down about 10 inches.
2a. while there, install floor drains
3. lay a thick bed of good gravel and stone, 4 - 6" thick and compact it
4. then good thick a vapor barrier,
5. re-pour the concrete with a good re-bar and at least 4" thick. The you can wait till it cures a while and seal it, stain it or epoxy it.

Oh don't forget to pull permits.....

Baring that, I would go the raised floor on top of a GOOD vapor barrier and a wood floor. knowing that you will always have a moisture issue under the wood that will eventually soak it up and cause other issues.

This really sucks. I would like to say I would have investigated the slab better, but who would think to do that. Maybe this is a GOOD lesson. especially for slabs and garages we move into and don't build ourselves. You never know what you have if you didn't build it yourself.