Hey Geeks!

I am looking for help, advice, sources, opinions...heck, whatever you believe will be helpful to the cause!

I am helping our local shop in Buda get ready to open up, The Cigar Vault, and the humidor is my focus. I am looking for Spanish cedar sources, and feedback on humidifier options. The humidor is roughly 8x10 with a ceiling height of about 8', and is located in an old bank vault. the walls are brick, been there over a 100 yrs. I will post pics later for reference.

It looks as though I will be working 10-15 hours per week, but the owner has already proposed the possibility of a management position if I am interested...um...heck yea!!

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!! Thanks!    

I just saw this:
http://www.customcreation.net/walk_in_humidor_kits

Nirab,

I guess a good place to start is to ask what the budget looks like?  Spanish Cedar in a good grade and quality is expensive and somewhat annoying to work with, but perfect for storing and aging cigars at optimal conditions.

I am not really in construction but in my experience, brick tends to be very porous and will suck up a ton of moisture.  Is a floating wall with a vapor barrier an option?  With the age of the wall, could it be covered?  Is the wall an exterior wall as well?  That would have a direct effect on the environmental control that you need as well.  What about HVAC and temperature control?

Sorry to pose a ton of counter questions to yours, but maybe you can elaborate a bit so we can really muster the info to help you get that management position.  I think that would be really cool if you were able to blow them away with a well engineered solution.

I don't have much to offer for help with something that large but Congratulations!

Congrats on the dream job Brian. But I have no advice.Sorry

The above suggestion from ricoishere is a good one but a pricey option.
Here are some additional links that may help from Cigar Journal
http://www.cigarjournal.co/how-to-build-your-own-walk-in-humidor-one/
http://www.cigarjournal.co/how-to-build-your-own-walk-in-humidor-two/

congrats!

i bought mine from a local company that specializes in wood siding and other exotic woods. they ordered it and planed it down to my specs. it wasn't cheap. nowadays it's probably just under $10 a board foot i would guess?

I would recommend going on a recon mission to other shops and see what they are using.  Many I have seen are not using Spanish cedar much, they are using a very large or several large humidifiers concentrating on the humidity.  If you have ever been to Corona Cigar Co, their whole facility is humidified.  Just a suggestion

Thanks for all the help so far, much appreciated!    

I think shakinghorizons built his own walk in? Maybe a good guy to ask.

There is no reason to use Spanish Cedar for the walk in as many B&M's do not. The boxes the cigars sit in is usually adequate to impart a bit of flavor and give the room that nice aroma. Most important is sealing the surfaces inside the humidor to maintain proper humidity so you aren't over-working your humidification system. A simple sealer on the brick would suffice as well as the ceiling. Painting acoustical tiles seals them quite well for this purpose (if that's what the ceiling will be) and walls of wood or brick could be sealed with a variety of water-based Low VOC sealers that will give off no odors once cured, although I have seen many humidors with simple pine paneling that was unfinished with a vapor barrier behind the pine to maintain humidity. It takes a couple weeks to get a large humidor up to proper humidity, but once there it is easily maintained.

Great info Brad, thanks!

Shelf space for Xyphos may be available...

Pics! Notice the old safe. The vault was built around the safe and weighs as much as a small car! No way to remove it, so it will be a featured part of the humidor. Maybe a place to run "Vault Specials" and other cool promotions. In the third pic, you can see the steel rods that secure the vault door. Being able to use this and maintain a seal may be a challenge.

Pics where?

E

Looks like it would make a very cool walk-in but it also looks like you have a ton of work to rehab it.  I would leave the original vault door always open and install a glass door so people could see inside.  Looks like you will need a security camera also.  
The old safe is really sweet and could see some pretty cool marketing and promotions

Might check here for an idea on sealing the wall's.   http://www.radonseal.com/concrete-sealers.htm

Chuck n Neal...thank you!!      

I like the gimmicks with the safe and the vault door.  Have fun with it Brian!

Met up with Jeff at the new shop last night...I guess this is a sign that he wants me to work for him!    

I hope you get to work there.  I work for Empire Cigars, The Vault.  It too was a bank.  We don't use cedar but I agree with Brad about sealing it or making a non porous surface to keep the humidity in.  We used a hydrofogger for a while but we had issues with it blowing mist directionaly and getting cigars wet.  We're using a house humidifier temporarily and planning on upgrading to a steam system for the new store (we're moving).  Not sure what it's called or how it works, but I could ask if you want.  PM me or something since I'm not on with any frequency these days.  Otherwise, good luck and I hope you get it.  It can be a great job.