Often mistaken for the oldest building material, bricks have been frequently used in cellar construction resently but not because it's considered the best building material. No, because it's mainly the cheapest!
While we don't advise against a natural product, we're not in favour of it's use in wine cellars. The main reason being listed futher below, a major reason being the bin size. In oder to make aesthetically appealing, the bins must be quite large.
With today's buying habits of lesser quantities of higher quality,
those large bins depicted above have a capacity of 50+ bottles.
You'll find yourself constantly moving bottles about. Furthermore, the flat bottle shelves will not prevent your individual bottles from rolling about. That's just half the story though...
The major downside of using small bricks to convert a basement into a wine cellar is the sheer amount of concrete a builder has to apply. You'll find yourself with 25% of concrete! Let's leave aside the chemical admixtures that might be contained. Improper usage and excessive water can lead to corrosion. Chlorides are used to shorten
the setting time of concrete. However, calcium chloride and (to a lesser
extent) sodium chloride have been shown to leach calcium hydorxide and cause chemical changes
in cement.
