Cocky’s Corner (Walk-In Humidor)

[cockyhoskins]

Alright guys, here is the official thread for my walk-in humidor. I will continue to post pictures as I complete it.

Research and Planning

There are not a lot of resources on building a walk-in humidor in your house, so I spent hours hunting down websites. This is most of what I found:

http://www.lioncrest.com/cigar.resource/book20.html

http://www.padrinocigars.com/accesso...humidor-wi.htm

http://www.jcpendergast.com

http://www.taunton.com/finewoodworking/pages/w00069.asp

I am also building a wine cellar in the basement; fortunately for me, the construction principles are basically the same. Here is an article about wine cellars:

http://www.housingzone.com/topics/wi...win01dv001.asp

Concept & Design

I wanted to build a walk-in humidor in my basement. I knew exactly where I wanted it, in the corner next to the sunroom. The actual dimensions are 11’8” by 5’6”. I wanted to run shelves from the floor to the ceiling on the back and right walls. The highlight of the design to me is the floor, which is a geometric design based off the Cohiba cigar band.

Here is a picture of the original concept:



Here is the floor plan, showing the walk-in in the upper left corner next to the sunroom:



Added Protection Needed

Cigars must have constant humidity and temperature in the 67-75 degree range. Fluctuations in temp or humidity will split the cigar’s wrapper. The problem with putting the humidor where I did is that it is on an exterior wall, making it more susceptible to temperature changes. Being in the mild SC climate, I decided to move forward with some extra precautions.

First of all, I had to go overboard on the insulation. I built double framed walls with a 2 inch airlock in-between. After adding insulation and plastic, I was ready to add finish materials to the wall.





I had a specific idea in mind for the overall look. I used tongue and groove wainscoting made of pine on the bottom. Pine is a no-no in humidors because the increased humidity is torture to soft woods like Pine. However, I added 7 coats of marine stain and clear, so it should be very well protected. I got the idea for green board on the upper half of the walls from the various wine cellars I looked at. I did that purely for cost, as 4x8 sheets of spanish cedar cost about $250 apiece. The box hanging from the ceiling is for the AC ducting. I didn't want it to point downward because the direct air could ruin the cigars. By building the box, I can point the duct out away from the shelves.



The Floor

Here is a dry run of the tile on the floor. I went with the 5 white rows based on the newest Cohiba band (although I think this pic is of a very good fake):





You cannot imagine how hard it is to find yellow floor tile. I looked for months before finding it. I still have not laid the tile because I want to finish the shelves first. However, I couldn't wait to see what it would look like on the floor.