Building a brew room

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cubalz said:
Subbed
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Just so you know--you can sub to any thread by using the Thread Tools just above the top post on a page--one of the options is "subscribe to this thread."

You don't have to post to subscribe to a thread, and this helps prevent people clicking on a thread with a new post only to find that post is only a "subbed" post.
 
Amazing project, very nicely and neatly done!

One question, shouldn't your wall receptacles be GFCI?
 
IslandLizard said:
Amazing project, very nicely and neatly done!

One question, shouldn't your wall receptacles be GFCI?
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Yes, good observation. I overlooked posting that they are on a 20a gfci breaker. At 30$ for the breaker, it ended up being cheaper than buying that many gfci outlets.
 
IslandLizard said:
You thought of everything, good planning!



FWIW, a whole circuit can be protected by a single GFCI outlet.
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Some of the outlets were already there. Instead of finding the first outlet on the run, I opted to go the breaker route and be done with it. I'm no electrician and know little of the trade, but whoever wired the house labeled my panel way too generally, which added to the fun. The panel is in the garage out of sight of the project. There have been many days of my wife and I on cell phones while I flip breakers with her relaying what turns off.
 
I finished the drop ceiling Friday night. I ended up putting in another recessed can to even out the light spacing the best I could. The truth is - drop ceilings are mostly junk. The materials are like IKEA furniture. They're not cheap, but only continue to look good if you never touch it - ever. It's hard enough to cut the ceiling tiles without the white coating flaking off. It seems like if you ever have to take a tile down, then you always end up screwing up the tile in some way. I would have preferred drywall and it would have been cheaper, but plumbing for a bathroom and the kitchen is above. Rant over.

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I decided to go with a countertop disposal switch for controlling the exhaust fan. I'll be building a shroud above the hood to conceal the ductwork and fan. The plan is to mount the switch in the shroud low enough to be easily reached. I thought about speed control, but decided against it.

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I installed an outlet for the switch controller.

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I tested the fan for the first time. This thing is a beast! It sort of sounds like a jet engine slowly winding up to full speed. I didn't mount it on any kind of vibration dampening bushings so the noise is quite loud - especially in the kitchen above. Oh well, my wife will only have to listen to it for 60-90 minutes on average. I'll be sure to link a YouTube video of it in action once the hood is up.

I installed the obligatory fire extinguisher. What can go wrong?

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I hope the hood is here next weekend. Meanwhile, it's time to start tackling the residual adhesive on the floor in preparation for the sealer.

Everyone is probably a bit tired of the Bob Villa show, as am I. Brew porn is near.
 
Harry482 said:
Everyone is probably a bit tired of the Bob Villa show, as am I. Brew porn is near.
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Nonsense. There's a strategy one can use on internet forums, a strategy often overlooked by people who don't like what they're reading:

Don't read it!

If people don't want to follow you, they can simply....not do it.

I hope that someday I might be able to do such a brew room, so I have appreciated being able to follow along. And FWIW, when I finished my basement I used a drop ceiling for exactly the same reason as you: plumbing above.
 
I spent all day yesterday scrubbing the floor with simple green - trying to get that adhesive off to no avail. Eventually, I gave in to using muriatic acid to etch the concrete, which eliminates the plan to acid stain. At least I know that the sealer will penetrate. This acid is nasty stuff, which made me glad my fan is operational. Im going to neutralize it with baking soda and shop vac up the water/concrete dust tonight.

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Looking very good!!! Did you consider just painting the ceiling instead of the drop ceiling? I did that in my basement, painted it black. It looks really good and I really like it over a drop ceiling!!!
 
Harry482 said:
I spent all day yesterday scrubbing the floor with simple green - trying to get that adhesive off to no avail. Eventually, I gave in to using muriatic acid to etch the concrete, which eliminates the plan to acid stain. At least I know that the sealer will penetrate. This acid is nasty stuff, which made me glad my fan is operational. Im going to neutralize it with baking soda and shop vac up the water/concrete dust tonight.
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Glue from stick on tiles or old linoleum needs to be dissolved using Strypeeze or so, or if it's really hard, abraded away, best with some liquid so you don't create, spread, and breathe the dust, which can contain lots of bad things. Like asbestos. I've used chisels, scrapers, and sharp putty blades.

Looks like yours is pretty clean and smooth and ready to go. I'd use washing soda (sodium carbonate, usually sold as "laundry booster") over baking soda to neutralize the HCl. Much stronger, and it has its own cleaning capabilities.
 
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After hours of shop vacuuming and flushing the floor with baking soda, this is what it looks like after drying out.

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I knew the tile lines were not going to go away, but I didn't think it would look this bad! I'm guessing the efflorescence wicked in a higher concentration along the cracks of the stick tiles, which resulted in this pattern after etching. Both this appearance and the fact that the acid stripped most of the surface minerals, led me to believe acid staining was out of the question.

I decided to go with a semitransparent concrete stain from Behr. This product is really just a very watered down paint that soaks into the concrete. It's important to not apply it too thick. I applied a very thin coat of a charcoal color. It didn't do much to hide the hideous tile pattern so I added a second coat of it. To my dismay, the floor ended up black. After sleeping on it, I decided to feather in a lighter color gray over it in a random pattern. This is what I ended up with.

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I topped it off with one coat of Behr high gloss concrete sealer, which I have had positive results with in the past. I could see the concrete darken as it was going down - so I'm quite sure it absorbed into the concrete for good adhesion.

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I also hung my tv/monitor.

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Overall, I'm happy with the way the floor turned out. There are some things that I would have done differently, but hindsight is 20/20. Only time will tell how durable it ends up being.

Sunday, I should be able to begin installing the sink and pre-rinse faucet. I'm still waiting on the hood to ship, but it should be here soon. I'm really close to the first brew!
 
WOW, that's white.................. Oh, wait............ where's the pic?

Nice work so far. A trick for the ceiling tiles is to use clean cotton gloves to "lift them out" not slide them over with dirty hands, and for small cracks or where the white pealed off, use whiteout correction fluid. For the big stuff, DAP works well.
 
TenaCJed said:
Looking very good!!! Did you consider just painting the ceiling instead of the drop ceiling? I did that in my basement, painted it black. It looks really good and I really like it over a drop ceiling!!!
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The thought actually did cross my mind and I like that look. The problem would have been spider webs - lots of them. The open floor joists kept getting filled with webs. I would vacuum them every few months and run a dehumidifier, but they kept coming back. Sealing up the ceiling gives the spiders less options. Although, spider webs could be good for a lambic...
 
John Paul Stoddard said:
going that route what was the cost?
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The stain and sealer was just the under $100 and the muriatic acid was $7. In my mind, the labor was the cost. Pulling the tiles, scraping adhesive, then having to etch was more work than I was expecting. If it doesn't hold up over a few years, I'll say screw it and put down a garage floor epoxy.
 
I installed the drain last night after work and hooked up the supply lines to the faucet. I'm happy with the clean placement of everything.

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The drain held water fine, but noticed about 15 min. later that the npt adapters behind the faucet were leaking very slowly. The threads were pretty rough cut and I guess that I just didn't use enough thread tape. I had to remove the sink from the wall, take everything apart, add more thread tape, and put it all back to stop the leaks. After the shorter faucet riser gets here, I just need to drill some holes through the tile for the support that attaches it to the wall and that should complete the sink.
 
The shorter riser arrived and I finished hooking up the sink. As I mentioned before, the npt threads on the faucet are very poorly cast. I had to take everything apart and put it back together 3 times to get it to stop leaking at every threaded joint. The hose spring needed to be flipped upside down for it to clear the low ceiling.

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I was able to add enough thread tape to stop the leaks everywhere except the lowest joint in this picture, which is actually a factory joint and not threaded. It's a slow drip (into the sink) only when the valves are on, but the faucet arm and pre-rinse head are off - pressurizing the entire unit. I can live with it!

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At this price point (170$), I think it's still a decent faucet considering most commercial grade pre-rinse faucets are $600-1000$+. Also, most of these issues were well documented in webstaurant store reviews - so it wasn't a surprise that it has some issues.
 
The hood arrived from Fast Kitchen Hoods well packaged and exactly to my specs. I'm very impressed with the quality.

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I measured and measured, then came up with 2x4 hangers that I attached to the hood before raising it. I started some 3.5" deck screws ahead of time to be ran in with my impact driver after lifting it into place.

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My buddy came over last night and helped me lift it in place (140lbs.) Everything lined up and it just took a few seconds to run the screws in. I've since wired the light and connected the duct with an elbow.

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The hood has a gutter along the inside perimeter and a threaded drain connection to catch condensate that doesn't make it out the vent. I don't imagine that being an issue with this big of a fan, but it's nice to have the option of running a piece of tubing into a bucket if needed.

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The last thing I have to do is build the shroud that slides on above the hood. I hope to get that glued up today and painted sometime next week. Then I'll start moving the equipment in. So close!
 
Looks great, Harry! Seeing how awesome your setup is gives me a much needed kick in the pants to get back to work on mine.

Can you tell me about what I assume to be rheostat controller on the wall?
 
deprecated said:
Looks great, Harry! Seeing how awesome your setup is gives me a much needed kick in the pants to get back to work on mine.



Can you tell me about what I assume to be rheostat controller on the wall?
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Thanks, I can't wait to start putting it to good use. Yes, it's a rheostat with a heat sink. You can check it out at stir-plate.com - it's the 240V brew pot boil controller, which they retail on amazon. I'm using natural gas to control the mash and boil up to 12b batches, but I'll use the electric controller when using my larger 30g kettle. The gas just doesn't provide enough heat to get a 30g kettle to a rolling boil. I thought the price a bit steep for what the controller is, but I had no interest in fabricating one myself. It's a simple, nice looking unit.
 
I've been subbed to this page since I stumbled across it in December. As a recently new homebrewer, and a college student currently occupying a small apartment, your setup is the ultimate example of the goal I'd like to reach for my setup.
 
It took me a few evenings to glue up and paint the shroud for over the exhaust hood. Here it is with the disposal switch installed for turning the fan on and off.

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Here it is slid in place after connecting the hose to the air switch. Pretty good fit!

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I immediately moved my rig in like a kid in a candy store.

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The stainless steel coat rack mounted behind the door keeps my hoses organized and dry.

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I'm so glad to finally have this finished so I can get back to the real point of this - brewing beer. My wife is quite happy I'm finished too. She has been patiently waiting for her kitchen makeover to commence.

We had a ribbon cutting the other night. Here is a vid of me two beers in.

https://youtu.be/W9KIbgaWMZw

I'll be sure to post how my first brew day goes. I'm looking forward to seeing how the hood and fan perform. Thanks for all of the encouragement along the way. I hope I have lent some inspiration in the same way I've received it the past few years from this forum.
 

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