Need some advice/help

[hockeymaniac]

Now that the divorce is final I have inherited my wife's walk in closet. It has shelves and it looks like it would make a nice walk in humidor. How hard would it be to turn this closet into a humidor. I'm guessing weather stripping the door and getting one of those machines I see in some local shops that they use for temp and humidity. How far off am I?

[YelloCello]

Line it with a vapor barrier, at the very least, or you'll cause moisture damage immediately adjacent. Next step up would be lining it with spanish cedar and that will set you back around $1-2k just for the wood, depending on how big the closet is and what type of wood (solid or veneered ply) you choose. Does the closet have a side against an exterior wall? If so you might also need to look into temp control options.

[Deriffe]

Alex is absolutely right. If you humidify a closet without some sort of vapor barrior, you WILL end up with mold and that can cause health problems. One of my neighbors ended up in the hospital with some sort of fungus in her lungs and almost died. They determined their master bedroom was eat up with mold inside the drywall. They had to hire a contractor to completely gut the entire bedroom wearing tyvac suits and respirators.

She is on steroids and mega meds trying to kill the gunk in her lungs.

[cubano67]

I'm actually building my humi for my shop this weekend. I'm trying to keep it as simple as possible. I had to completely seal and insulate 2 windows, then boarded them up from the inside. Then stating with a sheetrocked room, I put up 6-mil vapor barrier, duct-taping all the seams tight and taping over all the staples. I also tied in the vapor barrier under the laminate floor. Since I'm in an older building and two of the walls are exterior walls, I decided to insulate the entire room. so I firred out the walls, running a bead of latex caulk down the back of each firring strip to seal the nail holes. Between the firring I installed 1/2" blueboard foam insulation. Then another layer of 6-mil plastic, again taping the seams and nail holes.

Today, I'm hanging the cedar ply (1/4" x 4' x 8' Spanish Cedar ply - $70/sheet from Public Lumber in Detroit, MI). Then I'll caulk all the seams and edges (latex caulk - make sure it has no odor! Use the least possible amt.). I decided to go with an insulated Andersen storm door instead of the typical insulated entry door for maximum light. For lighting, I'm using low-voltage track lights to keep the heat down. Also, I had my A/C guy install a damper under the register for that room so I can totally cut off the heat to that room in the winter. Later next month I'm having the underside of the room insulated with expanding foam.

My carpenter is going to build my shelves from strips of 1/2" furniture-grade ply (no, I'm not worried about off-gassing) and facing them with ripped down strips of the cedar ply.

My humidifier is a Kenmore console humidifier controlled by a Traceable humidistat (see my post in the Smokin Post for the links for those). Absolutely stay away from any of the kisting-type humidifiers, they just mold machines. Also, if the room is big enough, you might consider a ceiling fan to keep the air moving. I don't have enough head room, so I'll be using a couple of little clip-on fans.

I'll be posting some pics later this week. Good luck with your project.

[hockeymaniac]

Thanks guys for the info. After reading the posts and checking the finances my 3 desk top humidors look pretty good for the time being. Maybe I'll put them in the closet and pretend for now. I mean I'll have to walk into the closet to get cigars out of the humidors. Hopefully in the future I'll be able to convert it. Thanks again.

[univibe88]

Originally Posted by hockeymaniac

Maybe I'll put them in the closet and pretend for now. I mean I'll have to walk into the closet to get cigars out of the humidors.

Now you're talkin! That's a good way to look at it.

[jaybo41]

One word for you David...

COOLERDOR

[Herfnerd]

Using SC is pricey, but you don't have to use it - Mahoganey will work as well.......

[Smokestack Jack]

Maybe setting up a fridgedor in the walk-in would work. How about setting up the closet as a small smoking room? Cigar posters or pictures on the wall. Shelves for displaying ashtrays. Is the closet big enough for a leather recliner and a small tv?