How To Convert A Closet Into A Walk-In

[Filliphy]

» Last week, I posted the following information about how I converted a

» closet into a walk-in humidor:

Outstanding!

This is probably one of the dreams of all the people on this board! I know that when I walk into the walk-in humidor at the store that I buy from, I love the smell. It's intoxicating!

Thanks.

[dizedean]

Wow!

After I retrieve my jaw off the floor , I will say congratulations that is very impressive.

Now I will dream about making my own some day.

First the cigars.

Did you use a special tape to make the seal?

Why do you ziploc your boxes doesn't that prevent the humidifier from working on them?

Maybe raise the bottom shelf off the floor in case the container overflows.

Great Job.

Good Luck.

Dean

[Mike33]

Looks great!! Thanks for sharing so I can drool a little bit :-D

[smokum]

Serious envy..Contemplating this myself down the road. Also curious about bagging the stock. Can you tell us how you accomplished sea;ing the door to floor and door closure areas ? Did you use foam gaskets or ???

[rallones]

» Did you use a special tape to make the seal?

» Why do you ziploc your boxes doesn't that prevent the humidifier from

» working on them?

» Maybe raise the bottom shelf off the floor in case the container

» overflows.

»

There is a specific kind of tape needed for the vapor seal, but it isn't expensive and Home Depot will have it. I don't remember what it's called, but if you tell them you're looking to vapor seal something, they should be able to identify it.

I Ziploc my cigars to slow their aging and to preserve as much of the essence/aroma/cigar oil as possible. The bags aren't completely airproof, so some humidity does get through. I have never had a problem with the cigars drying out. In fact, some of the boxes furthest from the humidification unit (i.e., at the bottom of the stack on the lowest shelf) have the most heavenly (but subtle) plume you'll ever see.

I haven't had any container overflows yet. I empty the container once every ten days in the summer, and once every three weeks in the winter.

[rallones]

» Serious envy..Contemplating this myself down the road. Also curious about

» bagging the stock. Can you tell us how you accomplished sea;ing the door

» to floor and door closure areas ? Did you use foam gaskets or ???

The handyman rigger the door top and bottom with the vapor seal tape to prevent humidity/temperature fluctuations. I don't think it was too hard for him to do.

This whole project was much easier to pull off than I had envisioned when the notion first hit me. The biggest obstacle, by far, was convincing the wife to let me commandeer a closet.

[rallones]

» » Last week, I posted the following information about how I converted a

» » closet into a walk-in humidor:

»

» Outstanding!

»

» This is probably one of the dreams of all the people on this board! I

» know that when I walk into the walk-in humidor at the store that I buy

» from, I love the smell. It's intoxicating!

»

» Thanks.

Before I Ziploc-ed everything, the aroma when I walked in was amazing. It's now very faint. But when I open one of the Ziploc-ed bags and take out the box of smokes, more often than not I get hit with an intense and heady aroma.

[havanaclub7]

That is really cool. I see you keep some wine in there too. I love my desktops but at some point, I think that's definitely the way to go. What temp do you keep the walk in at?

[rallones]

» That is really cool. I see you keep some wine in there too. I love my

» desktops but at some point, I think that's definitely the way to go. What

» temp do you keep the walk in at?

62 degrees Farenheit. I keep the humidity at 62 as well.

[Miami101]

Thank you my wife was on me about buying so manny cigars...

I told to look at your photos.....and did not say anything more about me buying cigars...

[zuma]

Awesome!

I seems to be the best and most affordable way of getting massive quality cigar storage... definite bang for your bucks!

Thanks for sharing.

PS. Hmm... I would be concerned about the effect of humidity and darkness on a carpeted floor (mould primarily).

[Jimmy2]

Very nice set up enjoy all those cigars..

[El Presidente]

Congratulations on the ultimate cigar storage environment

I will move this to Humidor Tutorial as a reference to those seeking such a conversion in the future.

[ndtoronto]

Increidble!! and a job well done. I am in awe I have to ask where the heck did you store all of those before the closet and how long did it take to aquire all of those boxes? I can't imagine you had a dozen cabinets in the house

[rallones]

» Increidble!! and a job well done. I am in awe I have to ask where the heck

» did you store all of those before the closet and how long did it take to

» aquire all of those boxes? I can't imagine you had a dozen cabinets in the

» house

When I first completed the conversion, I had a cabinet humidor (that I eventually sold). Once I completed the walk-in, the pace of my purchases increased substantially. It's frighteningly easy to talk yourself into buying more cigars when you know (absent any freak accidents) that you can store and age them in optimal conditions 24/7/365.

[Jay Hemingway]

» Thank you my wife was on me about buying so manny cigars...

» I told to look at your photos.....and did not say anything more about me

» buying cigars...

:-D

this is exactly what i just did.lol

i told my wife to come in the room and look at your pic's. i asked her "you think i have alot of cigars?' he he he.

little does she know that i plan on having something in some what comparasion within the next 10 years.

great job on the room and the collection man!

;-)

[Jay Hemingway]

» » Thank you my wife was on me about buying so manny cigars...

» » I told to look at your photos.....and did not say anything more about

» me

» » buying cigars...

»

» :-D

»

» this is exactly what i just did.lol

» i told my wife to come in the room and look at your pic's. i asked her

» "you think i have alot of cigars?' he he he.

»

» little does she know that i plan on having something in some what

» comparasion within the next 10 years.

»

»

» great job on the room and the collection man!

» ;-)

oh btw, can you explain the information that you have written on the green and white labels, on the front of every box?

thanks!

[Claudius]

- Why dont you route the condensed water into the humidifier?

- How long do you keep the cigars unbagged, if at all, before you zip them up?

- isnt the room basically full? It looks like it.

[rallones]

» » »

» oh btw, can you explain the information that you have written on the green

» and white labels, on the front of every box?

» thanks!

The labels indicate box code of the box inside the bag.

[rallones]

» - Why dont you route the condensed water into the humidifier?

» - How long do you keep the cigars unbagged, if at all, before you zip them

» up?

» - isnt the room basically full? It looks like it.

I don't think the condensed water that comes out of the cooling unit is clean (the browning of the drainage tube supports that conclusion). I have thought about it, but figured it takes so little effort to empty the container that captures the condensed water that it isn't worth potentially compromising the quality of the water used to humidify the closet. I use only distilled water for the humidification unit.

When I get a new box, I double Ziploc it, freeze it for four days, transfer it to the fridge for two days, put it in the walk-in for a day, remove it from all Ziplocs for a day, and then re-bag it in a single Ziploc before putting it in the shelves.

The room is completely full, which is why I don't buy any more cigars.

[MaytagMan]

Amazing job and an amazing colletion -- very nice!!!

I am filing that away for our next house! :-D

[Claudius]

» » - Why dont you route the condensed water into the humidifier?

» » - How long do you keep the cigars unbagged, if at all, before you zip

» them

» » up?

» » - isnt the room basically full? It looks like it.

»

» I don't think the condensed water that comes out of the cooling unit is

» clean (the browning of the drainage tube supports that conclusion).

Oh, that was transparent in the beginning? I was wondering why you had a brown tube, but that explanation didnt cross my mind. Have you checked the unit's filter? Was it in place when the shelves were installed? My A/C picked up a lot of dust after I had the room tiled.

» When I get a new box, I double Ziploc it, freeze it for four days,

» transfer it to the fridge for two days, put it in the walk-in for a day,

» remove it from all Ziplocs for a day, and then re-bag it in a single

» Ziploc before putting it in the shelves.

I leave the boxes unbagged for 3 - 4 weeks, pretty much like a lot of people do after receiving cigars by mail. Not sure if that's too long, but a day does sound a bit short.

» The room is completely full, which is why I don't buy any

» more cigars.

Funny, that: I stopped buying, too, although I still have some room. It's just too many cigars after a while...

PS: thanks for the tracking number, Lisa! :-D

[Sir Diggamus]

Thanks for posting pics! This looks really nice!

[lutharthegreat]

WOW

That is very nice. :-P

[rallones]

Last week, I posted the following information about how I converted a closet into a walk-in humidor:

I bought some Reflectix insulation to line the closet; an active humidification device from Vigilant, Inc. (Guardian 500); and a wine cellar cooling unit (Breezaire WK2200). I had a handyman install the Reflectix and tape off the seams/gaps etc. to make sure the closet would have a decent vapor seal. He also ran a power cord into the closet so that I could plug the humidification and cooling units into a power source. Finally, he built a shelf on which to mount the cooling unit. I could have done some of the manual tasks myself, but the handyman was a family friend who was doing some other stuff for us anyway. I think I paid him $100 for the work for my walk-in. I had also bought a decent number of Spanish cedar boards which the handyman made into shelving.

Here are some pics:

Here is the view looking in, with the active humidification unit prominent. I keep the humidity set at 62, but it temporarily spiked to 73 while I had the door opened to take this series of pics:

Here is a close-up of one of the corners showing how the tape is applied to create the vapor seal:

Here is the empty container I use to capture the water that the cooling unit produces:

Here is the cooling unit. The brownish-looking tube is for the water the cooling unit gives out (in producing the cool air) to drain into the empty container depicted in the previous picture:

Here is a view from outside the walk-in. I Ziploc bag all my smokes, which explains the baggies on the shelves:

A close-up of the cooling unit:

A close-up of Ziploc-ed cigar boxes on the shelves:

A close-up of the tape/vapor seal around the cooling unit:

A close-up of the bagged cigar boxes on the rear wall of the walk-in:

The whole set-up cost me less than $1700 total. It's far and away the best cigar-related investment I've ever made.