Make your own homemade freezer to stock up.
Homemade walk-in freezers are usually constructed for convenience by people who like to buy in bulk, are avid hunters who often bring home an abundant amount of wild game, or want to save money over purchasing a commercial walk-in freezer. They can be made of many materials depending on their proposed location. One of the best spots for a freezer is a garage corner where there are already two walls and a ceiling and an existing electrical supply available. A utility room or large walk-in closet can also easily be converted into a walk-in freezer with minimum effort and cost. Prefabricated insulation panels and refrigeration systems easily adapt to home construction use. The materials can be found from local building suppliers or from Internet sources and are relatively easy to install. Some help may be needed with the installation of a freezer refrigeration unit, but it too is not very difficult. Plan on selecting final finishing materials to your own aesthetic taste, desires and budget. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Choose a spot in your garage, utility room or walk-in closet for the freezer location. A concrete or hard tile floor is preferred. The room should have drywall sides and a ceiling. If it has a door, keep the door in the same location. If ceiling lights and electrical outlets are in the chosen room, retain them for use or remove and patch the wall and ceiling.
2. Clean drywall walls and ceiling. Let all surfaces dry completely. Clean the room's concrete or hard tile floor and grout joints with good grade cleaner if the floor is not clean already. Then seal the hard surface floor with a good grade floor sealer. Use three coats of liquid sealer on the floor. Ventilate well with exhaust fans to remove fumes. Let the floor sealer applications dry completely between coats.
3. Mark walls and door location on floor.
Lay out the freezer room in a corner with 2-foot modular spacing (if an existing room is not being used). For example, if you lay out an 8-by-8 foot floor area in a corner of your garage, you can purchase Styrofoam panels and Lexan in modular sizes like 48-by-96 inches (or 4-by-8 feet). Allow about 1/16-inch clearance to fit the panels in place on the walls and ceiling up against the drywall. For example, if you want an 8-by-8 foot room, the room dimension would be 8 feet, 1/8 inch square when allowing for panel clearances. Chalk or pencil mark wall locations on the floor and the spot on the floor where the entry door will go. Allow for a 36-inch door to allow wheelchair access and the use of rolling carts for loading freezer contents. Mark the spot for the door to allow for a prefabricated door and frame assembly -- about 38 to 40 inches clearance.
4. Build wood stud and plywood walls before installing Styrofoam panels
Build the final two walls off of the corner location where the walls and door were marked on the floor (skip this step if you're using an existing room). Construct walls of 2-by-4 inch lumber at 24 inches on center, floor to ceiling, and attach 1/2-inch plywood to both sides of the wall. Use standard wood wall framing techniques. Optional: fill the space between wood wall studs and plywood with more foam insulation panels or use several spray cans of foam to fill between the studs and plywood after the wall is erected.
5. Install Styrofoam panels on the walls. Use the manufacturer's recommended construction adhesive for Styrofoam panels, making sure to ventilate the room well. Use two layers of 3-inch-thick panels, gluing the first panel to the wall and the second panel to the first. Cut foam around electrical outlets and extend wiring as needed to apply a wall plate to the outside of the finished wall (allow 1/8 inch on top of the Styrofoam for Lexan panel wall finish). Follow the manufacturer's directions for this or contract with a professional electrician to help install the wall outlets, ceiling light, and final refrigeration assembly later. Glue on ceiling foam panels in a similar manner.
6. Glue Lexan panels to the surface of the foam panels. Allow for the door opening. Complete wall assemblies by spraying foam from cans into all open joints, around electrical outlets and ceiling lights and any other wall penetrations including the door frame. Install a threshold at the door and door seals to keep the air sealed in. Duct tape all joints inside the freezer walls and around the door frame head and sides.
7. Install preassembled Mellcon Cold Room refrigeration unit (or similar) to the ceiling (secure to wood joists above ceiling) using manufacturer recommended refrigeration unit connection fittings and tools. Be sure the unit is wired to an electrical connection with a stand-alone circuit breaker of code-approved capacity and connection.
8. Insulate an existing door by attaching foam panels with glue and covering with hard material such as plywood. If desired, install a clear vinyl air curtain similar to those used on commercial freezers just inside the door and attached to its head so that it can swing loosely as you enter and exit the homemade freezer doorway.
Tags: Styrofoam panels, door frame, electrical outlets, foam panels, refrigeration unit, walls ceiling