Craftsman Construction was tasked with turning a 100+ year old dairy barn into a working winery. Not only was this building very old but it had historical significance. During WW II this building was used as a monitoring station for the army. The army would monitor enemy communication and try to break their codes. After the war, the building sat empty for many years. It was at this time that Chris Pearmund and Ray Summerell wanted to open a working winery. The winery would have to work within the confines of the existing structure. Working on this building posed many challenges. First, we had to have the building cleared of asbestos, a product was used quite extensively during the war years. Once the building was cleared and made safe, our demolition crew went to work. We had to gut all the interior walls down to the studs, so we could assess the structure’s integrity. We found that a lot of the original support columns had rotted away at the bottom and also the army had cut out a lot of the original barn roof supports to make room for office space. A structural engineer had to be brought in to design a system of supports to keep the roof from collapsing.

Once our carpenters repaired the sagging roof we turned our attention to the barn loft. The client wanted to cut out a large section of the floor so customers could look down into the production area to see the wine being made. Again, we brought in an engineer and designed a system of bracing to allow the removal of the floor without compromising the structural integrity of the building. All the old floor beams that we took out weree saved and reused in the remodeling. To keep the view as open as possible from the loft we designed and built a guard rail system made out of stainless steel cables.

To make the building energy efficient as possible, the entire structure was insulated with Spray Foam Insulation. This product is unbelievable in its ability to fill every crack and seal the building tight. A geothermal heating system was installed for optimum energy efficiency. We then constructed 2 refrigerated rooms, 1 for the storage of bulk grapes when they come in off the trucks and 1 for the storage of the wine barrels as the wine is maturing. These rooms are also insulated in Spray Foam Insulation.

Our electrician completely re-wired the entire building and upgraded the old electrical service. To accommodate the cleaning of all the wine-making equipment we had to break up the concrete floor and install trench drains throughout the building. After all the concrete was patched we had a company come in and apply an epoxy finish over the floor. This finish would seal the old floor and make it easier to keep clean. The 2nd floor viewing area was covered in T&G knotty pine for a real beautiful finish.

We then hand-crafted a custom tasting bar with a galvanized steel top to match the exposed spiral duct work for a nice institutional look. To make the interior of the wine production area durable and easy to clean we covered the walls with concrete board that you would normally use in shower walls. We then covered this with synthetic stucco. This would allow the employees to hose down the walls to keep everything clean. We now turned our attention to the exterior of the building. We had to remove the old heating plant that was added to the side of the silo. After we removed this structure we had to patch the old silo up where they broke into it to run all the old steam pipes.

All the old aluminum siding was removed and replaced with Hardie Siding. This siding had the right period look for a lap siding and is very durable. The siding is made from a mixture of cement and other chemicals to make a fireproof, insect proof product. New windows were installed next. Finally our Mason installed a beautiful stone water table around the entire building. The entire project was Designed and Built by Craftsman Construction using the cost plus method. The project was brought in on budget and on time even with client changes. Everybody was happy with the project and the client is amazed at how low his utility bills are. We have since gone on to build 2 more projects for this client.