We’ve got a casita, connected to the house but without direct access via the house. It has gym equipment donated by the prior owners when we purchased the place, and it is never used. I’ve long wanted to convert it to a wine cellar/wine room, and know it’s an incredibly extensive project. I could get some quotes and see what it would run, and hopefully will do that as well, but don’t have the tens of thousands of dollars sitting around to spend, either. I’m happy to do the work myself, but I want to do a good job, so I figure it might be smart to submit this HUGE project to the hive mind of Wine Berserkers, as there are a number of separate threads on cellar builds, but this one has its own unique situations as well. Would love any help, from materials to racks to insulation to demo suggestions. I am in no rush, so if this is something I could do myself, for the most part, I’m willing to take the time to do it.
Dimensions:
11 ft by 11 ft interior
10 ft floor-to-ceiling
Doorway 4’11" wide (currently with French doors)
4 windows
Built-in A/C unit, separate from house HVAC, with more power than is needed in that one room.
I’ll start with issues on the windows, as I don’t have an easy solution come to mind. If I demo the whole casita, I can wall it off, but I need to consider resale for the house if we don’t plan to live here the rest of our lives, and should I seal up the windows completely, I’d need to have the exterior surface applied with stucco to match the rest of the house, and obviously painted. That turns the casita into a vault, which is great for wine, but useless for nearly anything else with a future owner. Boarding it up from the interior will look silly, most likely, so is there some film that completely protects the interior from harmful rays? The walls with windows do get a lot of sun throughout the day, and being in Southern California, with very long summers, that is a definite issue.
The A/C unit SHOULD work, and SHOULD save me a ton of money, as it truly is more powerful than what would be required of a 11’x11’ room. Photos below, but it is a Fujitsu AOU18RC (manual here - Fujitsu AOU18RC Manuals | ManualsLib) Would this work ‘as is’ for a cellar?
Floor: Standard issue developer tile, so obviously that would be torn up and cork floor applied, or cork applied on top of it?
Walls: I’m unsure to what level I’ll need to re-do the walls. Full demo, replace all insulation with closed-cell foam (as insulation and vapor barrier) and re-wall entire unit, new coating/paint etc. Alternatively, could closed-cell foam be installed over existing walls, then another layer of drywall/seal/paint over it? For certain the insulation won’t work as is, and there is no vapor barrier.
Racking: I’ve seen a few on Berserkers who have made their own, and while I’m handy and love working with wood, that’s not happening for me! I assume I’d pay for custom racking that can easily be implemented into the finished room, once I know its new interior dimensions (post-insulation/walling)
Door: Likely will just get a high tech locking door and have it installed as the last step, but with the wide opening, I wonder if I’ll need it re-framed or just get one huge door, rather than French doors.
Lighting: No thoughts on lighting, so I’d love to get some feedback on what works/what doesn’t.
Hive mind, experts of Wine Berserkers…please help me out! This could be a long thread with a lot of information, and I would welcome links to other threads that address it, as I’ve read most of them already, further increasing my desire to convert this otherwise-useless casita! As questions arise that need to be included in the OP, I’ll be happy to edit it.
(should I do this or just wait to save up and have a company quote it? What companies are recommended in Southern California?)