Cellar upgrade

[Waiters Friend]

G'day

I have an unusual cellar, in that its a garden shed, air conditioned and fully insulated. It currently has about 800 bottles worth of Modularack timber racking, and a 170 bottle plastic welded weldmesh rack.

The problem is that I have approximately 2000 bottles, and the boxes climbing the walls and blocking the racks are making access to the cellar near impossible. I'm planning to convert the entire racking system to weldmesh, which because of its greater space efficiency, means I should be able to cram about 1700 bottles in.

However, a friend has an interesting idea, and I wanted to float it on the forum.

Are you familiar with the office compactus? My friend has floated the idea of approximately 200-300 bottle racks on wheels, with a pair of railings across the top as a track. Its possible I could fit 3-4 of these in between the outer (fixed) racks and slide them back and forward as required. This would allow the space to hold well over 2000 bottles.

I'm aware that vibration is an enemy in the cellar, but a minor one compared to temperature and humidity (both of which are fine in the cellar).

Any thoughts?

Cheers
Allan

[sjw_11]

What an interesting idea... I don't think vibration would be a big issue unless you were browsing the collection constantly?

[Ian S]

More of a danger is collapse - I doubt the vibration would be frequent enough to be an issue, but having a moving weight 300-400kg needs to ensure the components can take the strain... and arguably the worst scenario for a cellar barring sustained heat or flooding, is multiple bottles falling at the same time.

[Wizz]

More of a danger is collapse - I doubt the vibration would be frequent enough to be an issue, but having a moving weight 300-400kg needs to ensure the components can take the strain... and arguably the worst scenario for a cellar barring sustained heat or flooding, is multiple bottles falling at the same time.

I had the same thought - weight may be an issue, depending on how heavy duty the compactus is,

[paulf]

You'd also want the wine pretty well secured too. Once you get a heavy weight moving on those rails they can then be hard to stop. Whenever I have used one of the office versions, I've tended to use a little too much force in the first instance and have then crashed the moving shelf into the the stationary shelf to the disapproving glares of the workers around me.

[Scotty vino]

What's the size of your space?
Could you construct static aisles instead. ?
The thought of a single moving rack becoming a runaway train is a little scary.

My question would be knowing the weight tolerance.
I would think boxes and boxes of archived documents would compare in weight to bottles.

I think if you were careful the vibration would be a non issue.
No different to most dedicated wine fridges that employ a drawer system.

[swirler]

My first reaction was about the weight, too. You need some strong kit to hold all that weight. If something gave way after years of strain, it could get messy or even dangerous!

The fact that it hasn't been done before (to my knowledge) would mean the idea was either foolish or genius!

[Barney]

Typical office compactus units are extremely heavy and most office buildings have zones with extra reinforcing to accommodate the increased loads.

Also need a very level stable surface to allow the units to move easily, certainly not impossible however is really important to install properly.

[ticklenow1]

I think it's a fantastic idea. There would be some engineering hurdles to jump over, but it's doable. I am assuming you are figuring on using some sort of train track/wheel arrangement. Very heavy duty bearings will be required due to the weight and the fact that they may not be moved that often, plus the frame itself will need to be removable in case of the need for repair/mods etc. Each unit will need to be lockable in place as well. Rubber stops or small shock adsorbers will be needed to stop the racks smashing against each other.

I don't think it will be cheap though, unless you have someone in engineering/manufacture.

I'll keep this in mind for when I eventually upgrade my cellar. It will be worth looking at and would actually look really cool if done correctly.

Cheers
Ian

[brodie]

I don't think this is a good idea tbh. It is a creative idea to solve the "not enough space in the cellar" problem. I think there are too many issues - most of which have been raised already. The weight and stability would worry me.

I would look at what is the most space efficient storage system that is not on wheels! Racking is not space efficient. Storing wine in 6x2 lay down flat boxes is pretty space efficient. I would suggest considering only retaining racking for not more than 1 years supply of wine and put everything else into boxes that you can stack up and maximise space usage. This of course forces you into an annual re-sort and re-box exercise, which does suck.

Another option is to take all the wine you won't be drinking for 5+ years and put into offsite storage. This is what most people in apartments and town houses do.

Another option is to get a 400-600 bottle wine fridge and put in your house somewhere

You real issue is that your cellar is too small and I think there is no good solution to this problem.

Good luck

[swirler]

I bet it would be much cheaper and easier to get a bigger shed than reinvent the wheel!

[Waiters Friend]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. We are currently looking at static racking to bring the capacity of the 3m x 3m shed to 1700 bottles, although my mate is still intrigued by the compactus idea. Who knows, we may get more creative, in which case I will revisit this subject on the forum.

Cheers
Allan

[GraemeG]

Hundreds of bottles on the move at once? I don't really like that idea.
One thing you might consider with weldmesh, which I did, (copying Tyson Stelzer's approach outlines in his cellaring book of 15+ years ago), was to build weldmesh two-deep. Or, to be precise, I used three sheets of weldmesh, and the bottle necks share the centre rack. It's a little inconvenient, but my goodness, it's space efficient. I built a cabinet 190cm high, about 70cm deep and about 150cm wide, with three very carefully mounted 100mm weldmesh racks each 12 x 18 and it holds, therefore, 432 bottles.
Weldmesh is the way to go, in my opinion.
cheers,
Graeme

[michel]

Hundreds of bottles on the move at once? I don't really like that idea.
One thing you might consider with weldmesh, which I did, (copying Tyson Stelzer's approach outlines in his cellaring book of 15+ years ago), was to build weldmesh two-deep. Or, to be precise, I used three sheets of weldmesh, and the bottle necks share the centre rack. It's a little inconvenient, but my goodness, it's space efficient. I built a cabinet 190cm high, about 70cm deep and about 150cm wide, with three very carefully mounted 100mm weldmesh racks each 12 x 18 and it holds, therefore, 432 bottles.
Weldmesh is the way to go, in my opinion.
cheers,
Graeme

Yep my trusty racking is also weldmesh
No fancing powder coating
Just galvanised
That is the safest solution

[Waiters Friend]

Just to update on the progress of the cellar remodelling.

Re-doing the existing 1000 bottle cellar to 1700 bottle capacity with weldmesh is going to cost approx. $3000. Less the resale value of the secondhand timber racking I already have. This would still leave 300 bottles in boxes within the space. Actually it's now 500 bottles extra (I haven't restrained myself enough when buying).

So, I've bitten the bullet, and I am creating a second cellar in the smallest bedroom in the house. I managed to score 650 bottles worth of Bordex racking secondhand for about $1.20 per bottle, and it's currently holding most of my Chardonnay and Riesling. This racking is more space efficient than I realised (and actually better than weldmesh), and I could convert the rest of the room into about a 1800 bottle cellar using the same racks (just lining the walls, without having to double layer or create aisles). Yes, there's a split system air conditioner as well. That leaves the existing 1000 bottle cellar intact and I don't have to climb over boxes to get into it.

It's strange that this particular project has not at all turned out the way I expected.

[Bobthebuilder]

Just out of curiosity, all that wine in a garden shed?
Any concern for the security of it from theft?

[rooman]

Just out of curiosity, all that wine in a garden shed?
Any concern for the security of it from theft?

Good questions, where exactly is this garden shed. Just asking

[Waiters Friend]

Just out of curiosity, all that wine in a garden shed?
Any concern for the security of it from theft?

Good questions, where exactly is this garden shed. Just asking

Don't worry - it's a secure shed. And will remain especially secure if I do not disclose the address

[asajoseph]

What sort of shed is it? And how did you initially fit it out w/ insulation & AC? Must be tricky to get the required level in an external building?

Asa

[Waiters Friend]

What sort of shed is it? And how did you initially fit it out w/ insulation & AC? Must be tricky to get the required level in an external building?

Asa

It's a standard 3m x 3m aluminium garden shed on a concrete pad. It has an air conditioner through the side wall, and spray-on polyurethane insulation on the inside.
It's also mostly under cover, but that is a minor consideration.