We cut a groove in the basement floor where we wanted a wall for the wine cellar and dug down one foot. Then we inserted 2x8 sheets of XPS insulation into the trench to form a mold for the new wine cellar's floor. Finally, we filled it with self-leveling cement so that we had a level floor which was thermally isolated from the basement slab.
Heat will enter the wine cellar via the ceiling from the conditioned space above unless it is well-insulated. Here we fill the joists with solid XPS insulation, spraying foam into every crevice to seal it up tight.
We frame the wine cellar with 2x6's on the flat to maximize space for insulation.
Solid white oak "ladders" are connected with dowels to horizontal runners. We start with the racks on their backs and then flip them over so we are always pounding down to make it easier.
Thick white oak counter tops are connected with counter-top joint fasteners.
These unique racks are so strong they can hang from hardwood dowels driven into horizontal rails which are attached to the ceiling with heavy stainless screws. But the screws have to find a ceiling joist for this to work, so we have to cut away the ceiling and insert more blocking to give the screws have plenty to hold onto.
(This video is split into two parts because youtube limits video size to 10 minutes.)
Smaller ladders are joined together with bracing to rise from the floor to the tallest of ceilings, maximizing bottle-count. In this video we assemble a 27-bottle ladder including a shoulder-height display opening.
A row of single-deep full-height ladders is combined with a double-deep set with shelves to maximize bottle count.
Besides making the racks look beautiful, the horizontal nosing keeps the ladders at their precise spacing.