Building a wine room can be a very exciting proposition for just about anyone. The commitment to build a wine cellar usually means you’ve already built up your wine collection to a point where you need a place to store all of those bottles, and having that many bottles of good wine is a joy all on its own. Of course, having all those wine bottles also means that you’ve spent a great deal of money on all of them, so you probably aren’t looking to skimp on costs for the wine cellar itself. All that said, you definitely don’t want to overspend when it comes to building your wine cellar either.

We’ve put together the following tips that we hope will be able to help you in building your perfect wine hideaway.

Wine Room Design Tips from Design Build Planners

Always Overestimate How Much Room You Will Need

While it might sound funny or strange to some people, having a wine cellar that is completely full is a very bad problem to have. Sure, you have an entire room of wine at your disposal, but what happens when you get given a couple very nice bottles of wine as a gift? You won’t have any room to store them, without first throwing away or drinking some of your existing wine.

Some experts recommend looking at your existing collection and then building a wine cellar that can hold double or even triple that amount of wine. The funny thing about having a wine cellar is it’s going to make you want to go out and immediately buy more wine. If you’re like many wine collectors, you can collect it a whole lot faster than you can actually drink it. This means you need to plan for the future as your supply is likely to only get bigger over time.

Make Sure You Use The Right Insulation 

An absolute minimum of R12 is recommended, although R19 Insulation is best if possible. If the cellar is to share an exterior wall, then you’ll want to go with R30 for that wall. Insulation will be one of the most important parts of keeping your wine fresh. It should also be noted that you should never use concrete for the walls of your cellar. Concrete is entirely too porous and will not help to keep your wine in its best condition.

Have a Moisture Barrier and Airtight Seal

A moisture barrier or a vapor barrier is one of the most important elements of your wine cellar and is something that absolutely can’t be skipped. One of the most common types of vapor barrier is the 6 mil poly sheeting, also known as Visqueen, and should be wrapped around the entire wine cellar on the outside of the insulation. The outside of the insulation is always on the warm side.

The airtight seal is also very important, and will ensure everything is airtight, every time the door is closed. The door should feature weather stripping and a door sweep which will prevent any excess air from entering the cellar whenever the door is closed.

Decide Whether You Will Need to Cool Your Wine

Some people will want to keep some or all of their wine cool at all times, while others won’t. While it’s always possible to add in a refrigeration unit after the fact, it’s not ideal as all that extra glass will change the functional needs of your wine cellar, not to mention take away from the aesthetics of it.

We recommend that if you have any inkling of wanting to be able to cool your wine, that you or your NJ home remodeling contractor add a permanent solution to do so from the very beginning. There are many styles of refrigerated wine cabinets you can place in your wine cellar that look very elegant and will add to the aesthetic look of the design.

Wine Tasting Room Guide – Conclusion

There are dozens of things to consider when it comes to building a New Jersey wine cellar, but keeping all of the above things in mind should help you get started. We definitely recommend working with a contractor who has a deep understanding of building quality wine cellars, as the average contractor will simply not have the know-how to be able to do the job properly.

Thinking of Building a Wine Cellar?

If you think you may want to build a cellar for your home in New Jersey or anywhere else, or even a wine tasting room, we welcome you to contact us for a complimentary consultation.  We have designed and built several custom wine cellars and wine rooms for our valued clients and would welcome the opportunity to help you turn your dreams into reality.