0:00
This video is a supplement to the plans that you'll find here in the course for
0:04
building a walk-in basement root cellar. So this is distinct from an under the
0:10
steps cold room, which I've talked about before, and the first thing to
0:15
understand is that something like this needs to go against two outside walls
0:20
And the reason is because it's the uninsulated outside walls that are going
0:27
to bring an ameliorated temperature to the root cellar. So warmer than it might
0:35
otherwise be in the wintertime, and especially cooler in the summer. That's
0:40
the main reason for using the exterior walls. So here you can see there's a
0:47
typical stud frame wall, and we're going to have to work in a lot of insulation
0:54
into something like this in order to get it to work properly. So I recommend some extruded polystyrene foam on the outside of the wall frame before some
1:04
sort of wall board, as well as spray foam or a high quality bat-type insulation
1:12
Spray foam would be better. It's more effective, quite a bit more effective, and
1:17
it's also less subject to problems with moisture. Another thing you need to look
1:24
at here is this controllable vent. This allows more or less air to come in from
1:34
the outside, and it's really part of two vents. You really need two vents to
1:41
get a large root cellar like this to function properly, because with only one
1:45
you're not actually going to get much air circulation. So if you look at the
1:51
air valve up here, it's up high on the wall, and then right next to it there's
1:58
some ducting that delivers the end of that opening down near the floor. So
2:04
you're forcing circulation throughout the structure, throughout the root cellar, so you have better control, and you don't have stagnant areas where moisture and
2:17
stale air can build up. Now here, these vents have been installed in an assembly
2:25
that takes the place of a basement window, and they're side-by-side, but
2:29
making use of the existing basement window opening saves you a lot
2:35
of trouble punching holes through an otherwise pretty tough masonry wall. Another thing you're going to need is a high-quality door. It should be insulated
2:47
with weather stripping, basically an exterior door, because you don't want any
2:53
more mixing of your basement air with the root cellar air than necessary. The
3:00
ideal conditions for a root cellar for storing most fruits and vegetables is
3:06
just a couple of degrees above freezing and about 90 to 95 percent humidity. So
3:14
quite different conditions than in the rest of your basement, and you
3:18
essentially have to make a sealed and insulated compartment to help make that
3:23
happen, given the natural resources of cool soil and cool or cold outdoor air
3:31
coming in through the vents. Another thing is hanging shelves. Very useful to
3:37
have hanging shelves, because it doesn't interfere with keeping the floor clean
3:42
and it also is much more likely to allow air circulation throughout the cellar
3:48
That's very key, because without that, you can get stagnant air developing in certain places. You want as much natural air circulation as possible
3:59
If you're really going to build a basement root cellar, then you'll
4:03
certainly want to print out these plans. You're going to find other details here
4:07
than I've talked about in the video, like this light switch with an indicator
4:13
light on it, because you don't want to leave the light on when the door is closed. You really won't have any way of knowing whether the lights on
4:18
accidentally. But also, if you're going to be building, be sure to contact me
4:24
because I can help you make the most of your unique basement situation, depending
4:31
on where you live, how cold it gets, how warm it gets, the size you want, any other
4:37
conditions that are unique to your situation and that you're up against. So
4:41
make sure you contact me if you want to move ahead and make a root cellar part
4:46
of your finished basement
