Installing my free walk in cooler?

[zazbnf]

So one of the guys in my Homebrew club gave me a walk in cooler today. He had it in a storage unit and needed to clear out the unit.

I am trying to decide if I should mount this with the cooler door inside my brew house, or have the door outside with taps plumbed through the wall. To put the door inside, I would have to cut a hole in the side wall remove 3 studs and Put in a Header. Not a big deal, but a lot more work than drilling a few holes through the cooler and the wall.

I like the idea of the door inside, just not sure it is worth the effort.

Thoughts?

 

[jbaysurfer]

Your "Brew House"? What exactly are we talking about; finished walls on both sides? Interior exterior etc? If it's your garage, and you can do it, I'd probably do the doors through the wall. You've left a lot of detail out, but in my world doing the same thing (next to my garage..which is my "brew house") It'd be a pain to walk all the way around with beer and what not. Also, my garage is unfinished, so building in a header is a piece of cake.

 

[zazbnf]

It is a freestanding structure I built in my back yard. It is finished both inside and outside, so not quite as simple to add a header, but not impossible either.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/another-bar-build-270752/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ball-chain-brewpub-build-290883/

 

[jbaysurfer]

It is a freestanding structure I built in my back yard. It is finished both inside and outside, so not quite as simple to add a header, but not impossible either.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/another-bar-build-270752/

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ball-chain-brewpub-build-290883/

Looks pretty cool. I guess it comes down to whether you want to open a wall or not. Without being in the space, or knowing which side you're looking to build the cooler on, it's hard to say. If it's a short walk out one easy access door to the cooler door, then maybe it's not necessary to open the walls and build in your header. As a guy who's done a fair amount of framing, it hurts a little (as I'm sure it does for you) to know that the walls were open and the header wasn't built in...but of course there was no way you could've anticipated this need.

 

[zazbnf]

I thought about your post above, and considered walking outside to change out kegs etc in the middle of winter and decided to frame it into the wall. Removed the siding and drywall yesterday. Now just need a good weather forecast for a couple days to finish it up.

 

[jbaysurfer]

I thought about your post above, and considered walking outside to change out kegs etc in the middle of winter and decided to frame it into the wall. Removed the siding and drywall yesterday. Now just need a good weather forecast for a couple days to finish it up.

Nice. Feel free to post up some pics. Or maybe add them to your brew house build thread. Watching the evolution is fun for those of us living vicariously.

 

[Komocabo]

Did you get your "Save the Ales" sticker from Falling Sky brewing (Eugene, Or)? Just curious... Where in Oregon are you located? Very jealous of your brewhouse by the way-Looks awesome.

 

[zazbnf]

I am heading to Texas next week for a confernce, I am hoping to have some time to work on this when I get back. I will post some updated pics when I get everything in. To increase floor space, the bar is going away in place of taps in the wall of the walk in. Gonna put a table and some chairs in its place. Bar was nice, just takes up too much room.

The save the ales sticker came from my local homebrew store. I am located in midwest Illinois.