Renovation

8/19/2016 0 Comments

The Bar!!!

It all started with the floor. Our basement was a concrete crap shoot, complete with old asbestos tiles (I think), and exposed foundation walls and cobwebs galore. So, the first thing to do was cover the floor.

In an effort to design, build and finish the coolest bar in the world, the biggest factor in choosing the flooring was the price. So we found this "special buy" laminate at Home Depot and I brought it home and went to town. Now, normally, this stuff is pretty easy and straight forward. You snap it together, a small tap with a mallet, you're good. However, if you don't have a 100%even floor, it can be a huge pain in the ass! I wasn't about to spend the money to float out the floor to the right level, so I just took it as it was. It all started out fine, but towards the end, the closer I got to the far wall and lost leverage, it was the worst thing in the world. All in all, though, I got it done!

Hooray!

The Bar - The Half Wall

Now, because of some plumbing, I had to get creative on one wall, so I decided to do a half wall. Similar to what you would have in pool halls. A good height to rest your beer at whilst talking amongst the closest of friends. I measured and framed out the wall, as seen in the picture below! Notice how I framed out an access door in front of the main shut off. Additionally, the tall drywall piece next to it on the left is covering the main drain. More on that later. . .

The Bar - Designing and Framing

Usually, if I have a project I want to do, I can see it in my head as completed and I am able to put that down on paper and make it happen. The bar was the first thing I couldn't do that with. I didn't know how I wanted it to look, the angles, the depth, the features, etc. So began the graph paper planning, drawing and idea phase. This eventually led to me utilizing the wall that already existed and coming up with a corner and everything. Additionally, there are a lot of helpful articles online in regards to height and depth. I designed mine a little deeper and a little on the tall side, while still remaining in the realm of normal height bar stools.

Next, I put on the sub-bar. This is a 3/4" plywood that will be what the bar top itself sits on. Depending on how you plan on doing a spill rail and bar rail, you would pick different dimensions on both. The way I did it, I was able to add the bar top , and then add the spill rail afterwards. Once I had the bar top on, I added the walls, pre-stained in the garage. This is one place I wish I would have spent more money. I used a quarter-inch plywood. It stained nicely and I like how it looks, but it really adds to the hollow sound when people's feet hit it. I feel like a 1/2" or 3/4" plywood would have muted that more, considering my stud spacing.

Notice the lip where the sub bar comes out further than the top. This is specific for the bar rail I chose and each bar is different, so measure nine hundred times before cutting and gluing anything

Like I said, I love how the walls turned out, but in addition to the above picture, I wanted to cover up the seams, so I squared some 1x4's and stained them the same. Putting one on each seam and doing a long miter cut to handle the corners, it worked out really well! The angle, by the way, was 33.8 degrees or something like that. It's a preset on most miter saws. Octagon cut and what not. I cut some 2x4 templates of different angles to see how they all fit together before cutting everything else. Here's a picture of the walls with their finished frame pieces.

The Bar - The Damn Ceiling

So, before I got to staining and finishing, I wanted to make sure I didn't have any drywall or painting to do, so as to not mess up my beautiful new bar. The ceiling in this room was half dry wall on one side and nothing on the rest. Exposed basement ceiling. Pretty typical: plumbing, vents, etc. Initially, after researching some ceiling ideas, I settled on a black ceiling. This blends in all the imperfections and plumbing and wires and makes for a seamless looking wall. I drywalled he remaining areas I didn't need access to and got a cheap-o paint sprayer for the rest. I don't recommend being cheap here. Especially with a latex paint. This thing was from Harbor Freight and a huge pain in the ass!

Note that drywall that was next to the half wall is gone. That's cause our main drain backed up over the new floor and I had to rip it out and snake the drain. That was a long, bad Saturday!

The Bar - The Feature Wall

In the spirit of visualization, I had an idea for one of the walls. Inspired by one of my favorite local restaurants, I wanted to to a pallet wall with back lighting. Unfortunately, all of my terrible experiences with pallets helped change my mind to not do that. So I had another idea that was similar, but a bit more artistic. I was going to frame out the wall and in between the studs, put different color 2x4's. It even looked good on paper, but I began my skepticism as I started painting and assembling. Thankfully, as rough as it was getting it together, the finished product, both lit up and not, are probably one of my favorite and definitely the most unique pieces in the whole house!

The Bar - The Finish, the Accessories and the Seating

With everything finally coming together, I was able to begin staining the bar and putting poly on it as well. In addition, I found some great bar accessories on a restaurant auction site and even an old 1930's cash register I was able to restore a little bit. All in all, it's the coolest place in the world! Enjoy the finishing pictures below!