Cellars are an excellent addition to facilities such as restaurants, where they might be needed for the storage of larger amounts of wine. You can also get one in your home either for the novelty or to make sure that you have a steady supply of wine that has been aged for long enough in your home. Whatever the reason why you want to get it, there are a few principles that you need to live by when constructing a cellar for any reason. It’s important that all these things be kept in mind in order for you to end up with the best value for money.
One of these is the issue of safety. There are times when cellars can be health and safety hazards. A good example of this is when they are not properly lit, and have stairways that are not steady enough. If you tend to go down to the cellar to get something often, having one that is not safe will put you at high risk of getting hurt. This is usually a very tricky position to be in, since it might be a while before you get the help that you need.
Fortunately, there are many things you can do to ensure that the safety of the cellar is not compromised. Some of the most important of these include:
Ensure that there is proper lighting
If you are going to get a cellar, particularly a large one, it’s important that you make sure that it has enough lighting in it. This is a very basic measure that can save your life. A majority of accidents that occur in areas such as cellars and basements often occur due to the absence of enough light, and this in turn means that the individual ends up stumbling over items such as the steps.
It’s important to note that when getting lighting for a cellar, simply installing a few bulbs is not enough. You also have to make sure that the lighting is enough. For instance, if you have a large cellar, it might have a maze-like structure. You would need to make sure that you put the lighting you need in the correct areas in order to ensure that adequate lighting is provided.
A good idea you can try out is to get lighting that is activated by motion. One of the major advantages of this is that you won’t need to physically press a button in order to switch the lights on or off. This becomes particularly useful if you are walking out of the cellar with your hands full.
Try to make sure that there is enough space for you to move about
If you are going to construct a cellar, it might also be wise to make sure that it has enough space for you to move around. This is very important since it reduces the risk of bumping into things such as shelves, and having them fall on you. Of course, this is not always possible, particularly if you have a very small space to deal with. However, one way to get around it is by having a creative design. If you work with a high quality cellar designer, they are likely to have plenty of ideas on how to make sure that the one you come up with has enough space for you to move around in, even if you have little space to work with.
Make sure that the structures have strength
In addition to that, you also need to focus on the structure of everything that is constructed in the cellar, from the staircases to the shelves. All these need to be structurally sound. If you have shelves that are too weak, for instance, you might end up finding that some of them collapse over the weight of the wine that is placed on them. This could be a problem for you, since it means that you would have lost quite a bit of money.
The only way to make sure that all the structures within the facility are sound is by having quality contractors making them. They should also be installed sturdily in order to reduce the risk of collapse as well.
Keep it neat and organized
Having too much clutter will result in the presence of too many obstacles in the cellar. This in turn means that the risk of falling over some of them will be higher. When you design the cellar, you should do it in such a manner that there will be very little clutter in it. Some of the ways of doing this include making sure that most of the items in the cellar have a shelf or other enclosure in which they can be put. It would also be important to try and look at other cellar designs so that you can have an idea of how to keep yours neat.
