Hairs of the Dogs brewery build

[Idaho Buzz]

We are doing a major remodel of the house and will be converting half of my shop into a brew room and lounge. This is likely a slow build as we wait for trades and to slot into the contractor's schedule, so I may not post that often but will do so as we make progress. Feedback and suggestions welcome, my hope is that this will provide insight for others contemplating a similar build. As we had a designer working on the changes in the main house, she also was responsible for the floorplan with what little space I was willing to lose from the workshop.

View attachment Hairs of the Dogs Floor Plan.jpg

Below represents the current state, but it's difficult to see much in this. The windows and fireplace are framed in along with the door and roll up window for the countertop. The concrete is cut for water and floor drain in the brew room (which includes running water to the exterior wall as the backyard does not have an existing hose bib). We had to extend water and plumbing from the house and the lift station is in place waiting on it's inspection.

The fireplaces (the beer lounge and house) will go in this week, then (after elk hunting) the plumber should be doing his rough in.

Fingers crossed we have plumbing and electrical in place by the end of November.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

We walked through the plumbing yesterday in preparation for the rough in to start. There are a couple of challenges that the plumber and GC talked through that are worth sharing for others - and any quick input should someone have experience or a different approach.

No issues with the floor drain, but the counterflow chiller through them a bit. Part as I want a valve above the brew table and part because they want to ensure there is an air gap for the output to eliminate any risk of back flow into the chiller should the lift station back up. Their solution is to use a floor sink into a 2 inch drain, which sounds like a reasonable approach.

The next challenge was talking through how the dishwasher (see the floorplan, there will be a beverage frig, room for 2 undercounter kegerators, the dishwasher, and a plumbed coffee maker by BrewExpress) drains that will accommodate a drip tray drain. As we talked through the need for an inline filter for the coffee maker, running glycol to the 4 tap tower (heck, my chiller is about 4' away so why not ) and the CO2 lines. We decided the best approach would be to add a narrow cabinet to the backside of the wall to provide access to the CO2 lines and coffee water filter (I'll set up the CO2 tank in it). The drain will be managed by another floor sink to again ensure no chance of any backup migrating to the dishwasher.

The fireplace is scheduled to be installed today and gas lines run tomorrow to serve the fire pit, fireplace, and hot water heater. Heating and cooling is planned to be a minisplit system with 2 zones (shop and brew hall). Windows and doors are on order, hopefully no more than 6 weeks out.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

Fireplace is in, wish the guys would have wiped their feet though!

The pile of sand will be used as fill for the water and gas cut outs.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

Plumbing rough in for drains were done in 1 day, supply lines will go in Thursday followed by an inspection on Friday. Just need the gas lines run before they can pour the concrete.

Worth noting that everyone is working on a brewery for the first time, trying to explain a counterflow chiller was a challenge. Consequently the best approach has been pictures taped to the walls, having all equipment on order so I can hand them spec sheets for refrigerators, kegerator, etc. It doesn’t hurt either that much of the equipment is now sitting in the middle of the living room (naturally, I’m discounting my wife’s objections!) and I can show them the counterflow chiller.

 

[Airborneguy]

Damn! This is going to be awesome to follow along to.

 

[kal]

Worth noting that everyone is working on a brewery for the first time, trying to explain a counterflow chiller was a challenge.

FWIW when I built my dedicated basement brewery I mentioned it was much like a kitchen. There was no special needs for them to understand what a counterflow chiller was or how it worked. It was fed directly from the sink. I need a 30A outlet (a dryer outlet). A higher power one may need 50A (a stove outlet). The rest was all just tiled floor and a large commercial sink. Nothing really special for inspectors or the trades to really understand or worry about.

My brewery's here: Gallery

Cheers!

Kal

 

[Idaho Buzz]

Agree, would have been simpler to just have them put in the sink but it was simple enough to include plumbing the counterflow chiller given the scope of the project. I’m also reaching the point that my mobility is starting to be challenged, so there is a little extra motivation.

Plumbing rough in completed, natural gas lines deferred to next week. Hopefully the electricians will be out soon to start the rough wiring - although HVAC has not been finalized.

Floor sink and hot water pipes in the background. Hot water will be via a tankless heater relocating from the main house.

One of the compromises we had to make was leaving the pipes exposed along the brew area exterior wall. The concrete footer was a miss in the design which assumed the wall was flush to the floor. As the concept is industrial, it should be fine.

Floor drain in brew area, drain and water supply for dishwasher and coffee maker (by Brew Express) in lounge.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

For those interested, below are some of the materials for the lounge.

The brick and factory windows will be on the wall over the dishwasher and kegerator. The wood goes on the full wall with the TV. We were planning to grind and seal the concrete rather than lay down a flooring, but the GC was unable to get someone or even rent the equipment. Instead we will end up tiling, which will work better with the concrete footer anyway as we can wrap the tile up the footer to hide it.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

Not much to see here, but we now have a 1” gas line running under the house then out to the brewery and through the attic. It’s sized for a tankless water heater, fire pit, and fireplace - it needs to accommodate a 300k BTU demand. Fortunately we had upgraded the gas meter when we added a standby generator, so it should be able to handle the full house gas demand with the additional load from the brewery. The additional conduit is for a lan line supporting a wifi satellite.

There was a snafu with the permit, so another (hopefully small) delay for the inspection that prevents back filling the ditches. The ground is beginning to freeze so they are going to have to grade again in late spring when the ground firms back up.

The electrician is scheduled for the week after Thanksgiving (this could slip due to the full project progress), windows are due to arrive next week as well (about 2 months after being ordered). Hopefully they will get put in ASAP - it’s getting COLD in northern Idaho!

 

[NewJersey]

Very cool, can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

There have been challenges getting the guys back to finish the gas line after the initial inspection. As a consequence, we’ve been unable to fill in the ditch in front of the brew hall which prevents moving a pallet of concrete in (not sure what happened to manual labor, geez it’s only 30 feet! ). Supposedly, we’ll see the gas guys on Saturday and be able to fill the ditch next week.

Electricians had a brief opening in their schedule, so we’re getting a 2 day head start on the wiring rough in. The timing worked out well as they pointed out that the single conduit for the LAN may not support the 70v outdoor speaker wire (planning on a MartinLogan Outdoor Living system to serve the patio, hot tub, and deck) without RF interference. So a second conduit is going into the open trench for the speaker wire running to the house and we’re running a dedicated circuit for the amps.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

For those interested in costs, unfortunately the build (~450 sq ft) is about 1/3 of the total remodel work we have going on. Consequently, I’m not tracking the invoice line items relative to just the brew hall. Ball park costs that are unique to the brew hall so far are ~ $8 to $10k to connect water and sewer to the main house, $6k for the plumbing rough in, and $6k (edited, invoice arrived) for the electrical rough in.

I was a little surprised (not in a bad way) by the effort for the electrical rough in, we had 4 guys working for 2 days to wire 450 sq ft. Probably worth adding that this county doesn’t require electrical inspections and the existing work appears DIY by the previous owners. Much of the existing wiring is being stripped out which contributes to some increase in effort.

We ran into one design/build miss, the wall next to the exterior door has 6 stacked 2x6 posts between the door and the roll up window, so there is no space for the switches we need there. As hogging out enough space for wiring and switch boxes isn’t practical our workaround will be to build a small pony wall just for the switches. Better pictures of the electrical work are attached.

Unfortunately, the gas guys were a no show this weekend (we had a heavy snow storm on Saturday). Hopefully, I’ll hear from them tomorrow, but I guess the 2 6 packs I bought for them will have to become sacrificial lambs for this afternoon’s game.

The contractor has been threatening to come put the windows (and door if it has arrived) in this coming week.

Fingers crossed I can give a meaty update next week….

 

[Idaho Buzz]

Finally….

There is fire and the trench can be closed.

 

[redrocker652002]

Where about in Idaho are you? I am thinking of retiring out there in the next few years and would love a place to hang out and drink and converse. I am currently in the San Francisco area, and it sucks. Looking at either Middleton, or surrounding areas. My aunt lives in Star and loves it.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

DM sent

We’re 60 miles south of Canada outside of Sandpoint

 

[redrocker652002]

DM sent

We’re 60 miles south of Canada outside of Sandpoint

got it. Might be going to the Boise area in the summer. Probably a bit far of a drive for you, but will keep you posted. Rock on!!!!!!

 

[Idaho Buzz]

Finally got some movement again…

- windows are in
- electrical rough in inspection done
- concrete poured

They are threatening to put up drywall and have scheduled HVAC to come talk to me tomorrow about a mini split system.

Nice present delivered by Santa Kal (The Electric Brewery) last week! Finally something for me to do besides write checks.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

No pictures this week, it's depressing....

- mini split decision made, electrical supply run, should be installed Tuesday and Wednesday
- flooring order is in
- Drywall went up, then the light went off for the GC that the plumbing rough in wasn't complete. So they pulled most of the drywall back off.
- with the drywall up, the brewing room is dark and could use a window. But we'll wait until we have the lights in and evaluate storage space as the one wall for a window is one of the few options for cabinets/shelves.

The GC is going to absorb the rework cost while we sit and wait longer for forward progress. ;-( At least his finished product looks good.

On the positive side, slow but steady progress on assembling the controller. Nice to see this come together, but wishing I had an outlet to test as I go along. Instead, I'll have to wait until I have the brewery is completed enough for me to measure for probes and power cords.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

Progress, but hard to see through the mess…

- mini split is in, nice to have heat (and ac) in the shop and brewery
- finished the rough in plumbing with the exception of the dishwasher and coffee maker lines. They are deferring that a bit to ensure we are all on the same page about an access hatch/cabinet through that wall - which will also manage the CO2 and glycol lines for the kegerator
- some drywall is in place

The lounge area is both larger and smaller than I anticipated. There is more sitting space, but once the TV and speakers are in place I don’t think there will be room on that wall for a video arcade. Good for the budget, but darn…

The exterior door is due Wednesday, hoping to see that installed ASAP.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

The door is finally installed!

…but, wrong door.

The door is supposed to be clear glass so it will end up being replaced once the correct door arrives. At least it will help manage the temperature so that the mud dries tonight.

Taping is expected to be complete this week, there’s a little electrical work to rough in, and the condensate hood to go in. The GC’s vendor has much of the tile in already and it looks like the pace may pick up a bit.

We’ll be shopping for cabinets this weekend and some of the product we needed to directly source is arriving. The garage will be full by the weekend with tile, appliances, and wood mosaic tiles.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

there are times when building in rural America when your only option is to chuckle and re-do....

 

[Idaho Buzz]

Pace of work has been accelerating, much of that is focused on the main house remodel.

In the brewery drywall is mostly done (holding a portion off for the tankless water heater that will be relocated from the house), recessed TV mount installed, vent hood up and they are working on the venting, old windows are in place, and we are close to having a cabinet order ready to go in (this is a change from the planned custom cabinets and likely to extend the lead time ).

We are also going to deviate from the plan with the roll up window countertop. With the weather here I don’t want to deal with wood and will instead use granite or soapstone. I would have loved to use green rainforest marble, but it won’t fit the color scheme - so I’ll avoid being yelled at for the rest of my life by my wife and listen to her and the designer’s direction.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

Not much has changed as the focus has been to catch up on the drywall in the house so that both can be textured at the same time. I suspect there is another week before they are ready to texture, but that may depend on the plumber availability.

The plumber needs to adjust his approach for how the tankless water heater will drain as I wasn't ok with just having a PVC pipe running down the outside of the wall to drain onto the floor. It would likely be rare that condensate or the pressure valve actually resulted in water on the floor, but the aesthetics of the pipe running down the wall would have drove me crazy - especially as there is a vent 2 studs away he can tie into.

While I was expecting to service the vent hood fan from the attic, the contractor chose to keep it lower and is building an access panel into the surround for future maintenance.

Cabinet order should be placed this next week. I have a garage full of tile now so enjoying scraping the car windows every morning - NOT.

Almost feels like it's time for a pool about what the first brew will end up being... an Oktoberfest or Christmas Ale at this rate.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

Cowabunga!!! we have achieved paint. The pictures show much browner than it actually is, the ceiling is a shade lighter than the walls.

They tell me they will start on floor tiling next week, my rule of thumb is to expect to see that happen about 3 weeks after they first mention it. However, we seem to continue to accelerate the pace and the main house looks like it will be ready for texture and priming next week. So I'll keep my fingers crossed and hope to see tile progress in the next 2 weeks on both.

Cabinets were ordered today, we ended up with Kraftmaid from the orange box store. It took quite a bit of work and rework to get the order correct and they tell me the only option is to ship directly to my house. Normally that would be fantastic, but our road has annual weight restrictions in place now that will last until June. That hasn't been an issue with receiving tile shipments as we can meet the trucking company on the highway and unload into my car, but the cabinet pickup will be another minor issue to overcome.

At the GC's recommendation, we are installing floor heating for the bathroom and brew room (between the heat pump and fireplace the lounge will be plenty warm). I suspect the brew room would have been ok as there is a direct line from the air handler to the brew room door (so just playing it safe), but the bathroom is behind a door that will blend into the wall and I suspect will be a challenge to heat and cool down the road (if it becomes an issue I can add additional air handlers to the heat pump system without much of an issue). I expect to see the heat cord laid down next week with the under layer extending into the lounge as a barrier for the cement.

The roll up "window" (really a glass garage door) is on order and expected to be installed in 3 to 4 weeks. The GC wanted to add a garage door opener to it (which was a good idea and beats using a chain roller or just a rope to open it) but this wasn't the original design. We've rolled the dice and will see if the opener fits given the door height. Fingers crossed.

Still struggling with the prep for the tankless water heater, I thought we had an agreement that all the plumbing to it would be in the wall with the drains running into the plumbing vent 2' away - I came home today to find that there is now a drain installed into the space planned for the grain mill cabinet. I suspect I'm going to hear that they won't pass inspection if we tie directly into the vent without an air gap. That may be fair, but I want the drain PVC running in the wall then pop out where they need to tie into the drain with an air gap. If they do this, I suspect we can hide the P trap in the side of the cabinet for the grain mill. The GC was at a septic glass today, so was sure to let him know the topic of the day is the same and deep... he'll swing by today or Monday to discuss.

Budget has been a concern this week (we have significant additional projects we want to complete post this stage of the remodel). This is likely the most expensive part of the full project and the most subject to budget variance due to the risk of unforeseen issues (e.g. we had to knock down portions of the foundation walls under the main house for plumbing). My best guess today is that the GC will be about 45% over his initial rough guess for this phase. It's a good thing that the remaining work is not subject to the unknown risks at anything close to the same degree this effort is.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

Finally, we’ve resolved the prep for the tankless water heater…. get a new plumber. Prep is done, instead of PEX, we now have copper where it will show and the drain runs in the wall to a laundry drain box. Much cleaner and the drywall is now closed up.

They also pleasantry surprised me and the nipple board (for the heating cables and as a barrier to prevent any concrete cracks from propagating to the tile) is nearly all in. A little more drywall work, then texture and paint!

 

[Idaho Buzz]

Here’s the pictures of where we landed last week. Nipple board with heat cable in bath, reworked plumbing for the tankless water heater. There will be heat cable in the brew room as well, anticipate to see that installed this week.

They seem to be prepping for tile in the main house, so hopefully this will keep rolling along.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

Well, true to form…. 3 weeks after announcing they are ready to tile they are on the cusp of doing so. .

Tile should be starting on Monday… their tile saw is here so expecting it to happen. The main house is now nearly ready (walls primed, but need to be painted and ceiling textured) so I suspect we are moving forward at the same pace on both projects now.

Painting looks done (they may need a second coat in some rooms) and the steel supports for the outdoor countertop is in. Hoping to see the granite company out soon to template the countertop, the glass garage door is due in at any time.

The plumber is expected Monday to install the new tankless water heater in the main house and move the existing one into the brew hall. Probably a couple days of work and then we’ll need to relocate an electric wall heater from the shop to the garage to meet code.

Once the floor is tiled we’ll be able to move most of the boxes currently in storage in our living room into the brew hall.

Pictures below, the last is where the tankless water heater will go. There are covers for the drain and water shut off below it so it will look “finished” when done.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

Long post for a little progress this week….

Tile is dry fit across most of the floor. There was a short in the heating cord in the brew room, so that had to be swapped out. I’m thankful they are testing before setting the tile. The tile will run up the exposed concrete footer.

The electrician had to swap out the breaker panel for a larger one, the existing one didn’t support dual circuit breakers and was out of space to add new circuits.

The granite company is scheduled to come template the window countertop on Thursday, their estimate was 3 weeks afterwards to install. I’m assuming the roll up window is already here and just waiting for the countertop before installation. We’re adding a garage door opener to it - if it fits above the door. So far the installers think it will, but expected clearance is less than an inch. Lots of ‘fun’ figuring out how to ‘bypass’ the electric eye and leaned that you can buy a momentary decora switch instead of using a regular grange door button - but naturally they are specialty items and spendy.

The plumber is returning about the 17th to put the new water heater in the main house and relocate the existing one to the brew room. He’ll also address the mini split pvc condensation lines by running them in the walls (and then out lower). Unfortunately, due to the door header we’ll still end up with a 4 or 5 foot pipe across to the window before we can get it into the wall. This and the large condensation’exit’ boxes will be painted black - and eventually the same color as the siding to help it disappear. The toilet was broken during construction, so will be adding that to the list of final selections to make - and pay for.

I’ve been ‘working’ on painting the in wall speaker grills for the lounge. . What a pain, in spite of using canned air to blow the wet, thinned, paint out of the holes there is still a significant investment in cleaning up holes that filled in with a pin. I’m 2 coats in and it looks good except where the bloody pin knocks the paint off the grill . I’m going to stop here and tackle this again when I can get to my airbrush next winter. . Suspect I can thin out the paint enough to avoid the hours of sitting with a pin - again.

We selected pavers for the patio and walkway. I suspect it’ll be a minor challenge to coordinate this phase…. Patio and walkway excavation, holes for the patio roof posts, gas for the fire pit, hole for the in ground subwoofer, concrete pad for the future hot tub, and then replace the fence that will have to come down for this. All of this on clay soil which goes through significant frost heave and a road that is usually the last in the county to have load restrictions removed - which prevents delivery or heavy equipment being hauled to the house.

Cabinets are due in 4 weeks, hoping the road restrictions are lifted by then but not expecting it.

It’s beginning to feel like we are in the home stretch, but this has been one of the longest years of my life…. Living in the warehouse of a living room, haven’t seen our bed in 9 months, limited to no access to my tools, wood shop isn’t accessible and in disarray. My car is forced out of the garage for appliances and tile - most mornings it’s been frozen shut due to rain or snow. People, dust, and questions have been my near daily existence. We still have until August or September before we are back in our bedroom and the brew hall complete (delayed tile for the master bath and the lounge wall over the cabinets). At least I still feel privileged to be able to whine over this!

 

[Idaho Buzz]

Still chipping away at the tile…. There wasn’t enough tile to complete the floor - missed assumption on how much was needed for the ‘base molding’ and our GC purposely cuts it close to avoid waste (). They picked up the tile this week and are close to finishing the brew room. Picture shows the leveling system they are using, it’ll be a flat floor!

Electricians are back beginning some of the finishing work, lights going in, switches, and outlets. Anticipating the Plumber will install the water heater next week.

Next few weeks should be interesting, the counter top for the window is being cut, the roll up window is in and will be installed once the countertop is in place, cabinets are arriving a little early now on the 1st or 2nd of May. Doors are in town, so no delay once they are ready to put them in. We identified who will be supplying the countertops, so as soon as all cabinets are in place (main house and brewery) they can template then 2 to 3 weeks before install.

 

[Idaho Buzz]

Update... Floor is being grouted, still waiting for the foundation to be tiled. The cabinets arrived and are being moved to the brew hall along with the dishwasher, kegerator, and beverage frig. Doors have been installed and the frosted glass exterior door swapped for clear glass. Countertop for the window will be installed Wednesday.

I also made progress on re-running the mini-split drains. I found a flexible drain hose and a chase that fit it to cover it up. I need to get some touch up paint on them and run the one that was over the door back through the wall to drain into the garden bed that will be under the window. I would also like to find a paintable 90 degree conduit to finish off the bend into the wall, but in all this is a solid improvement over the original installation.

Pictures at the end of the week when there is more progress to show.