The finishing of my basement began back in March of this year (2009). I hired a professional to do the bulk of the work, but I left the bar for myself to complete. This forum provided me with all the inspiration I needed to decide to tackle the project myself! Anyways, I thought I'd share some pictures of my progress, talk about some of my lessons learned, and maybe get some feedback and advice for the remaining tasks.

I began building the bar around the end of July. Two and a half months later, and I'm quite happy with how far I've gotten, but there is still much more to do, especially taking care of all the little finishing details. So, let's start with some pictures going back to the start of the basement project:

Here is where the bar is located:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN2575.jpg
This is right at the bottom of the stairs that come down to the basement. The pole is to be incorporated into the bar. At this point it was still just a general idea of what I was looking for, no specific plan yet.

Some more shots of the area, as the subfloor was laid down and the wall framing was going up:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN2580.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN2588.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN2592.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN2593.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN2606.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN2921.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN2922.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN2923.jpg

More to come...

Carrying on with the finishing of the area that was to become the site of the bar:

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN2992.jpg
The above picture is looking away from the bar area to the other side of the basement where the home theatre was to be.

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN2993.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN2998.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3000.jpg
The picture above shows the kid's playroom/guest room that is to the right of the bar area.

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3012.jpg
The flooring was installed by my father-in-law.

And now, the first purchase for the bar was made, the bar fridge! Back in April, so the fridge was in place for several months while I planned out the design for the bar:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3029.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3034.jpg

The electrical and lighting was also done by myself, with the help of an electrician friend.

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3058.jpg

And now we're in the middle of July, you can see the 2 by 4's and masking tape being used to mark the area that the bar would occupy as I was planning things out. I ordered the kitchen cabinets from Ikea around this time, and this really dictated the final layout. The post made the planning more difficult and did limit my options somewhat. It made the cabinet sizing decision more difficult, as well as the decision about the location of the bar frame (in front of, in line with, or behind the post). So the back wall where the bar fridge was to be located was using regular 24 inch deep base cabinets, whereas the front bar area was to be built using 12 inch wall cabinets.

Well, a picture is worth a 1000 words, so here are a few more:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3304.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3305.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3306.jpg

Here's some of the rest of the basement, namely the future home theatre area:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3307.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3308.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3309.jpg

And back to the bar area. At this point I had purchased a granite double sink to use for the wet bar:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3311.jpg


The decision was made to not just do a straighforward L shape for the bar, but to have an angled section:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3312.jpg

Really, at this point I was still trying to come up with the final design for the cabinets.

So while I went with the 12 inch wall cabinets for the front, I wanted the bottom counter depth to be deeper than that. I decided to build some wine racks to fill in some of the empty space behind the wall cabinets and to the side, you can see this in later pictures when everything is in place. So once the cabinets arrived and they were put together, I began the framing of the bar:

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3455.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3456.jpg

Here you can see the gap between where the cabinets will be and the front of the bar:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3457.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3458.jpg

Still no big screen TV...
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3459.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3460.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3461.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3462.jpg

Initially the base for the front cabinets was to be built using 2x4's:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3462.jpg
This was later discarded, and I switched to 1x3's for the base. I had to lower the cabinets in the front, as I did not have enough clearance for the electrical outlets that I put in the front frame.

The plywood skin of the bar:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3464.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3465.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3466.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3467.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3469.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3470.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3471.jpg

Whew! Time for a break...

Okay, let's carry on.

The sheets of plywood that will be stained and used for the fronts and other places where some dark panelling might be required:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3472.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3473.jpg

The bar rail:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3474.jpg

Staining some pine panels to build the wine racks:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3658.jpg

The Ikea cabinets we went with were the Nexus black-brown (although the glass doors are the Tidaholm black-brown, not exactly the same but close enough), so finding a stain to match was a bit of a challenge. I used a mix of two Saman water-based stains, the Chocolate and the Black. My original intent was to mix them together, but what I ended up doing, and I think it worked quite well, was first staining it chocolate, then black, and then a few more passes of chocolate and black until I was happy with it. It's blacker than the Ikea cabinets, but I like it.
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3659.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3660.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3661.jpg

Now, I have stained the bar rail and the bar to pthe same colour as well, I think that is okay, but not sure if I should have some contrast instead?

The revised base for the front cabinets:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3711.jpg

A completed wine rack:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3712.jpg

The stained panels for the front:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3713.jpg
For these, I actually did a base coat of minwax ebony stain first, I needed something more liquid that could soak into all the grooves of the wood to cover it completely. The ebony didn't provide dark enough coverage for my liking, even after several coats, so then I went back to the Saman stain to finish it off.

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3714.jpg

One of the wine racks in place on the side where it will fill in the gap between the cabinets and the front of the bar:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3715.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3716.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3717.jpg

The other one is on the left side of the cabinets, where there is some space because of the angle of the front frame:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3718.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3719.jpg

The rest of this angled area is to just be some open shelving.
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3721.jpg

The panels were glued and stapled on. Any gaps and staples will be covered by trim.
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3720.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3724.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3722.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3723.jpg

Next, the bar top construction begins!

Looking great, I like the design of the bar to nest into the stairs and encompassing the pole. What are your plans for wrapping the pole? Same as the others, boxed in?

Not sure I would do the bar front at an angle if I had to do it all over again. It's making for a lot more work... And a lot more cuts. of course, cutting around the post was a pain.

The bar top was built up in 4 layers. I already had some 3/4 in plywood, which I had originally planned to use for the back counter and lower front counter, back when I was planning to use granite tiles for the counter. I changed my mind about this and went with laminate instead, but I had already bought the plywood to use for the base under the tiles. No problem, I just used it for the bar top instead. You can see the layers in later pictures with the bar rail sitting on top.

For the bottom layers, I cut around the post by first cutting the plywood sheets at that point, then clamping them together and cutting out for the post with a 3.5 in hole saw. For the last layer though, the good finish layer, I decided that I would rather minimize the seams at the front of the bar, so I left it as one piece and cut out a section on one side of the post, and then cut a piece to drop in and fill in the cut out section.

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3729.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3730.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3731.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3732.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3733.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3734.jpg


The laminate countertops arrived! So these were installed:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3739.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3740.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3741.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3742.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3743.jpg

Getting closer to the present...

The pole at the bar, the plan as it stands today is just to sand it and paint. I'll trim it somehow at the top and bottom, although not sure how I'm going to do that yet! Maybe cut some pieces out with a 4.5 in hole saw, then cut out the middle of that with a 3.5 in hole saw? Hmm, if I only had a lathe...

As far as painting it, I'm thinking of trying a metallic colour. Perhaps silver or aluminum. I don't think I want to spray it though, so not sure how well brush painting it will work.

And, by just painting, we can use the pole to stick magnets on...

Okay, where was I now? Oh yeah, the final layer of the bar top:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3744.jpg

The picture of the bar rail test fit is a bit blurry, but you get the idea:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3745.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3746.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3747.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3748.jpg


Yeah, put the sink in last weekend:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3751.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3752.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3753.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3754.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3755.jpg

The coat of chocolate stain is on in these pictures. At this point, a coat of black stain has also gone on now, and I have started finishing off the cabinets, installing doors and cupboards. No pictures of that yet, though.

So, we're pretty much up-to-date now. Here is what is left to do:
- finish staining and attaching panels to cabinets
- add toekick to back cabinets
- tile backsplashes as well as inside wall of bar on side
- trim front of bar
- cut bar rails and attach (ouch, not looking forward to this, because of those angles - I have to build a jig so I don't have to cut compound mitres, just cut the 22.5 deg angles)
- sand and paint pole
- trim around bar top
- attach sink to drain
- install faucet
- finish the electrical wiring for the bar
- build a box for the glass racks that are going above the bar

Also, I have a collection of beer labels that will be used to decorate the bar top. I hope to lay those down and then cover with a layer of e-tex lite. Not sure when I will undertake that, but in the meantime I am just going to put on a couple of layers of varnish to protect the top, as it is already starting to be used, even though not complete! I will be getting a foot rail for the bar as well, but will likely wait until next year to put that in. Still not sure if I should go with traditional brass or brushed stainless steel though. What do you think?

looks good so far bro

What a great thread. I have to tell you that this is exactly what I was looking for in terms of confirmation of my approach on my bar.

I am intending on doing similar panelling (although no angled section) in mahogany (crotch mahogany for the inset, solid mahogany for rails and stiles). Now you've got me thinking that maybe I should look at getting IKEA cabinets instead of building my own, that way I can either build mahogany overlay doors or even just add my own face frame to the IKEA cabs.

Here's a picture of the proposed bar for me, and one of the current bar I am about to take out:

http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv343/bhuttman/bar2.jpg

http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv343/bhuttman/bar3.jpg

http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv343/bhuttman/IMG_2920.jpg

We'll do enclosed cupboards behind the bar (not shelves). Am going to be watching the rest of your thread with keen interest!

A couple more shots, the black stain is on the top now. I have not glued the topmost layer yet, when I paint the pole I will just remove it so I don't have to worry about getting paint on the top.

With the Ikea cabinets, the frames either come in white or birch (as I have). You can get panels for the sides to match the doors, but I thought they were pretty pricy, so I just decided to use the same panels for the sides of the cabinets as I used for the fromt of the bar. Not all the panels for the cabinets sides are in place yet in my pictures, as you can see... I have to shim the side of the bar front frame as it is not quite vertically level, unfortunately I didn't pay as much attention as I should have to that when I was building it. There is a high spot in the floor where the pole is.

Anyways, I think Ikea may be having their kitchen sale again. I bought the cabinets when they had it last time in the summer. Only helps if you spend at least $1000 though. I was just over that, with the doors being about half of that. I have some stuff that I never ended up using (legs and an extra piece of toekick), I should have returned them when I still had the chance. Oh well...

I must say that I kind of like your bar the way it is now, only thing I don't like is the colour really. Well, and the wall cupboards, I wish I did have some wall at the back of mine to put up some shelves to display the liquor bottles.

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3756.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3757.jpg

One of my co-workers wanted a shot of the bar from further away to get a better overall look. The pantry area is the open door to the left of the stairs at the end of the picture. The stand-up freezer is in there, as well as lots of shelving. It's currently unfinished, so my wife does not like to see it when the door is left open. So I may be drywalling that at some point. I actually have enough floor tiles to tile the area in there as well, 4 boxes, not sure if I should lay down some sort of subfloor there as well, or if I can just tile directly onto the cement floor? Would that be a good idea?
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3758.jpg

The pictures also remind me that I have to finish the stairs as well. I will also be panelling the wall coming down the stairs. But I'll wait until after the large TV cabinet in the family room is moved to the kid's area in the basement, once we get a new flat screen for upstairs the old CRT will be for the kids to use. I hope there are some good deals this year on boxing day, I'll be out there trying to buy two new flat screen TVs (hopefully a 60" for the basement, and a 46" for the family room).

Carlos

Just came across this image, it's sort of my basement plans, dated the day before work actually began on the basement back in March.

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/m2525fl-2.gif

The bar obviously changed from the initial rough idea I had there. The other big change from the initial plan was the closet in the kid's play area/spare room. It ended up being shrunk down to the size of the indented area instead of going all the way across. It just made the room too small if we had gone with the original plan.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow canucks on the forum. The family is no longer coming over this sunday due to a change in plans, so I'm in no rush to get much done this weekend now, just going to enjoy some time off for a change. The ultimate deadline for my bar is the beginning of January 2010 anyways, it has to be ready for my wife's 40th birthday party...

Got the cabinet doors installed in the front tonight:

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3796.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3797.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3798.jpg

I must say that it was very easy to install the Ikea cabinet doors...

Still have to install the handles, but I'll have to ask the 'boss' first to see where she would like them to go, at the top or on the side. I'm guessing the top , but I could be wrong... Now that I think about it, I'm not too sure that I still like the handles we picked, I think they may be too big. Something smaller may look better, or maybe even the hidden handles that go on the top - that would keep the lines nice and clean.

Progress has been slow. With me being sick since the middle of last week, and my kids being sick, I haven't really had much energy to work on things.

But some things have gotten done, so I am further along than I was a week and a half ago. In this time I have installed the slide out door/drawer set in the cabinet on the back wall side. The pole has been sanded, primed and painted. The bar top has been glued down, and one coat of varnish has been put on, more as a sealer than anything else.

The kickplates for the cabinets on the back wall side have also been cut and installed. The bar fridge has been moved into place. The tiles for the backsplash have been purchased (a friend who does tiling will help me with this when I am ready).

I bought most of what I need to hook up the sinks to the drain. Just need a couple more pieces though (I was going to do this myself, but a friend has offered to come over and help with his father who is a plumber, in exchange for a few beers of course!).

A few more updates.

All the cabinet doors, drawers and handles have been installed, except for the ones on the sink cabinet, I'll leave them off until I finish the plumbing hookup:

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3800.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3801.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3802.jpg


The bar rail pieces have been cut, but I have not glued and screwed them down yet. I need to get a few more clamps big enough to use on them:

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3803.jpg

I added more storage space in the loft area of my garage, so I'll be able to clean up more stuff from the storgae area in the basement. Oct 31 is almost here and the container full of Halloween stuff is buried somewhere back there...

The backsplash tiling is going to happen this coming weekend, I hope, along with the remaining plumbing.

Well, no tiling yet this past weekend. My friend who is going to help me with that is a bit busy at the moment as his wife is about to give birth, but hopefully sometime next week it will get done.

In the meantime, lots of work still got done, though. I painted the underside of the bar countertop, as it could be seen from the seating area.

I also finished up the plumbing for the sink:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3821.jpg

So that means all the cabinet doors have now been installed, as the ones on the sink cabinet were the only ones still left to be done:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3820.jpg

I applied a veneer to the edge of the bar countertop:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3822.jpg

In the above picture, it is still unstained. You can also see some of the clamps still on the bar rail after it was glued on (and later also screwed in from below). The unstained trim pieces on top of the paper that is on the lower countertop are for the top edge of the top countertop. In the next picture, you still see the clamps, and you see the beginning of the staining of the veneer on the countertop edge:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3823.jpg

The bar rail, after I sanded the glue off the joint areas:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3824.jpg

The veneer staining completed, the bar rail stain touched up at the joint areas:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3825.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3826.jpg
You can see the stained trim pieces on the floor in the above picture.

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3828.jpg

That square hole in the wall looks into the furnace area, also a storage area and where my workout equipment resides:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3827.jpg

I am planning to put a recessed cabinet in that hole, for displaying glasses, bottles, whatever.

The slide out cabinet door:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3829.jpg

Now here's a question for the folks here. I put some LePage polymer caulking in the gaps between the countertop and wall, and around the pole, and when I wiped away the excess, the clear coat and stain also came off! I had used waterbased clear coat there, so is the caulking stuff that hot that it will dissolve the waterbased clear?

This is really shaping up nice - I like it !!!

the LePage polymer caulking - what a bummer

Don't know the answer to your caulking question either, but man! That's coming together nicely! I decided to go with IKEA cabinets for my bar build, too, although I am going to do my own doors and drawer fronts. I really like the look of the slide-out cabinet.

Well, I don't usually get much (if anything) done on the bar during the week, but I did glue the trim pieces on that go around the back of the bartop. Don't have any pictures yet, but it does look good.

I just need to figure out now what I'm going to do at the end, I have some flat pieces that I can put against there and contour it to match the end of the bar rail. Or I could just use some of the same cap trim there, and just leave the end of the bar rail as is.

I'm also trying to figure out what I want to do with the bar top. I really want to do the enviro-tex lite thing on it, but not sure how that would turn out. Plus, I've only seen it for sale around here in the smaller sizes, I would need at least a gallon to do the top, if not more. Maybe I can just finish it with spar varnish, as I am no longer planning on embedding coins in the top (I planned on doing this at one point, and have a large number and variety of coins saved for this), so don't really need that thick layer. I do want to embed my collection of beer bottle labels instead, but I don't think that really requires a very thick layer of resin, a few coats of spar varnish may be enough?

And finally, does anyone have any good recommendations for where to buy bar foot rail brackets and tubing? Preferably somewhere in Canada? I am tending towards brushed stainless steel instead of brass, but either one would good. Does anyone know of a local GTA (Toronto) source for the tubing? I can always order the brackets online, the tubing is likely what will cost more in terms of shipping. I have seen galvanized 2" tubing at Home Depot, that just wouldn't look good though. Actually, a 2" wood rod may work as well, although I haven't seen anything around in that size.

One more thing...

Any suggestions for how I can trim around the pole that is in the middle of the bartop? All I can think of so far is to drill a round piece out with my 5" hole saw, then to drill another piece out of that with my 3.5" hole saw. Then maybe another piece with a 4" diameter, so I can build up a bit of a profile.

I wonder if you could find a nice brushed or polished metal escutcheon to put at the base of the pole. Probably not very likely to find one with 3.5-inch I.D., though.

Is there a reason why you didn't wrap your bar railing around the corner? You might try Superior Products for the foot rails. I don't know if they ship to Canada. You can also pour a thin layer of Etex and it will be fine. Try http://www.jerrysartarama.com/discount-art-supplies/Acrylic-Paints-and-Mediums/Envirotex-Lite-Acrylic-Coating.htm for Etex.

As much as I dislike Pole Wrap, in your case, if you paint it the color of your bar it may look nice around that pole. http://www.polewrap.com/
They also sell matching bases.

By the way, your bar is kick A$$! Nice work!

This is an idea. Go to a plumbing shop. They carry different sizes of couplers and things. I am sure you might be able to find something you could use as a sleeve. I would then paint it black. Might have to cut it in half/file it smooth but I bet you could come up with a pretty nice piece in the end. The problem is that there would be no way of getting it around that pole from the looks of it.

Something like they use for men's restroom urinals might work. They are pretty flat or have a slope to them. Again, getting it around that pole could be a whole different story.

http://plumbingproductsonline.com/

One more thing...

Any suggestions for how I can trim around the pole that is in the middle of the bartop? All I can think of so far is to drill a round piece out with my 5" hole saw, then to drill another piece out of that with my 3.5" hole saw. Then maybe another piece with a 4" diameter, so I can build up a bit of a profile.

Best trim they make for a bar pole!!! :D
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l138/crossroads_04/Carmen-electra-pole-dancing.jpg

what was your technique for staining the wood the black color? It looks awsome!! Im about to stain all of my oak trim ebony with cabot oil stain and would like to know how you did yours and made it look so good?

How long did you let it soak before wiping off? Brush or rag used to apply? Did you sand prior to and between coats? etc...

thanks alot, it looks great by the way!!

Well, with the amount of space between the ceiling and the bar top, it would have to be a midget pole dancer:

http://img2.moonbuggy.org/imgstore/midget-pole-dancer.jpg

:eek:

Best trim they make for a bar pole!!! :D
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l138/crossroads_04/Carmen-electra-pole-dancing.jpg

Saman water-based stain. http://www.saman.ca/ It's more like a very concentrated dye. For the panels, though, because of the grain, I actually did a few coats of Minwax ebony first, as it is very liquid and soaks into the gram very well. After about 4 coats of the ebony, I could see that it was not going to be anywhere near as dark as the Saman stain, so then I finished it off with a coat of the Saman chocolate and a coat of the Saman black stains. I was trying to approximate the Ikea Nexus Black-Brown and was going to mix the two together, but just ended up applying the two separately. Anyways, the oil stain looked completely different. The Saman was very easy to apply, I just took a rag and rubbed it on.

what was your technique for staining the wood the black color? It looks awsome!! Im about to stain all of my oak trim ebony with cabot oil stain and would like to know how you did yours and made it look so good?

How long did you let it soak before wiping off? Brush or rag used to apply? Did you sand prior to and between coats? etc...

thanks alot, it looks great by the way!!

Tech question, can you combine the signal from an antenna and the signal from a cable provider into one? I'm been thinking of putting up an antenna to get OTA HD signals. I tested this the other day with a small portable antenna and easily was pulling in about 13 channels.

Saman water-based stain. http://www.saman.ca/ It's more like a very concentrated dye. For the panels, though, because of the grain, I actually did a few coats of Minwax ebony first, as it is very liquid and soaks into the gram very well. After about 4 coats of the ebony, I could see that it was not going to be anywhere near as dark as the Saman stain, so then I finished it off with a coat of the Saman chocolate and a coat of the Saman black stains. I was trying to approximate the Ikea Nexus Black-Brown and was going to mix the two together, but just ended up applying the two separately. Anyways, the oil stain looked completely different. The Saman was very easy to apply, I just took a rag and rubbed it on.

was the minwax stain that you used first oil or water based? thanks for the info by the way, i appreciate it.

It was oil based.

Not much in the way of updates right now, the past weekend was really nice so I spect a lot of time working outside, getting things ready for winter. Also had to fix my side gate, a few windy days with it slamming shut resulted in the latch breaking off.

I did finish the trim around the back and side of the bar top though, and trimmed off the windows elsewhere in the basement. The tiling is going to happen someday, just don't know when, my friend who has the tools and is coming to help me is a bit busy right now as his wife gave birth over the weekend. No rush, whenever he's ready...

Here's pictures of the bar top trim:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3830.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3831.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3833.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3834.jpg

I started laying out the beer labels that will become part of the bar top:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3836.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3837.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3838.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3839.jpg

I would like to put some glass racks above the bar, because of the bulkhead there it is pretty low and easy to reach. Not sure if it will be too low, though. Here's where they would go, to the left and right of the pole:
http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3840.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3841.jpg

Tomorrow my wife is planning to go to Ikea. She wants to get a large mirror and hang it at an angle in the corner, above where the subwoofer is right now (to the right of where the TV will go...once I buy one this boxing day, hopefully). I don't think there should be an issue with this acoustically, but if anyone has any comment about this, let me know.

If you put the coasters into the top, doesn't that mean you have to stock those brands for guests? By the way, when are you inviting us AVS'ers over for some Leffe?

Many of the labels are from beers that you just can't get here (and in the case of the Leffe label, it is for Leffe Radieuse, I think I've only seen Leffe Blond and Leffe Brun here at the LCBO). Except for a couple of recent ones (i.e. within the last month!), I collected them all back in 1994 when I was on exchange in Belgium for 6 months. My favourite back then was the Rodenbach Grand Cru. Wish they stocked that at the LCBO...

When I get some Leffe in stock, I'll let you know (you'd have a bit of a ways to go, as I'm east of Toronto)... Mind you, if I did stock all the brands that will be in the top, I'd need a much bigger beer fridge...or two or three beer fridges... Plus each of these Belgian beers needs it's own unique glass to serve it in. Not sure where I'd put them all... I think I do have a Leffe glass though, plus a Chimay glass and a few others.

If you put the coasters into the top, doesn't that mean you have to stock those brands for guests? By the way, when are you inviting us AVS'ers over for some Leffe?

Earlier this week my friend Mark came over and the tiling for the bar got done. Here's some pictures.

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3865.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3866.jpg

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3868.jpg

Still some trimming to do at the bottom on the side. Front of bar still needs to be trimmed as well.

I've been using 50% coupons for Michael's and buying all the ETex-Lite I will need to pour the bar top, I'll probably wait until next spring before doing that. I'll be practicing on some small things first to get the hang of it though, maybe do some coasters or something.

Oh yeah, here's a shot of the Blu-ray player and collection of movies that I won in an online contest:

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab163/arloskay/basement%202009/DSCN3854.jpg

So once I get that big screen TV for the wall at the back, I'm all set... Not to mention the HD DVD player that I have, plus the WDTV media player. I think I have all my hi-def needs covered now...

man that tile looks great.

Oh yeah, here's a shot of the Blu-ray player and collection of movies that I won in an online contest:

(pic link removed)

So once I get that big screen TV for the wall at the back, I'm all set... Not to mention the HD DVD player that I have, plus the WDTV media player. I think I have all my hi-def needs covered now...

Well, today I won a PS3 in a charity raffle at my work. So now I don't know if I should keep the player as well or try and sell it. I haven't even opened it yet. :D

Ok let me get this straight, you won a BD player and movies in an online contest, then you win a PS3 in a charity raffle. My friend I'm going to send you some money and you are going to buy my powerball tickets. I will give you a cut if I win. :D

Good job...That's a great looking bar

Tech question, can you combine the signal from an antenna and the signal from a cable provider into one? I'm been thinking of putting up an antenna to get OTA HD signals. I tested this the other day with a small portable antenna and easily was pulling in about 13 channels.

I know you can combine satellite and cable into one run then use a diplexer to separate the signals because of the different frequencies. Useful if you only have one cable run going to a TV location instead of continously switching at each end.

Not sure if this helps though...

Love that tilework on the bar. Room's comiing together nicely.


These are what I was talking about:
http://www.prosatellitesupply.com/images/D2200_Diplexer_Single.jpg


http://www.prosatellitesupply.com/SATELLITE_DIPLEXERS_and_SPLITTERS.htm

My understanding is that you can use that to combine OTA signal with satellite signal, but NOT with cable, which is what the OP was asking about.

Ok let me get this straight, you won a BD player and movies in an online contest, then you win a PS3 in a charity raffle. My friend I'm going to send you some money and you are going to buy my powerball tickets. I will give you a cut if I win. :D

Sure...everybody send me some money, I'll buy you some lottery tickets...yeah, sure I will... ;)

Good job...That's a great looking bar

Thank you. Next time it should be even better...

I know you can combine satellite and cable into one run then use a diplexer to separate the signals because of the different frequencies. Useful if you only have one cable run going to a TV location instead of continously switching at each end.

Not sure if this helps though...

Love that tilework on the bar. Room's comiing together nicely.


These are what I was talking about:
http://www.prosatellitesupply.com/images/D2200_Diplexer_Single.jpg


http://www.prosatellitesupply.com/SATELLITE_DIPLEXERS_and_SPLITTERS.htm

Yes, that's what I was thinking of, but I guess that won't work for cable and OTA signals. Actually, looking at it again, it would be easy enough for me to do another cable run over to my furnace room. An antenna would go on that side of the house anyways, that's the south-west, whereas the cable signal is coming in at the north-east right now.

Not much planned in the near future for the bar now. When the weather warms up again I'll finish off the trim and other small things still left to do.

For now, I'm busy trying to clear up the unfinished area in the basement, so I can setup my workout area again. I put up some overhead shelving to maximize storage, and things are looking pretty good.

The big change was in the home theatre area. Added some mirrors on a couple of walls, a couple of wall sconces have been added, and just this weekend I hung the new 58" plasma that I picked up on Friday. Now to figure out how to hook everything up, I didn't plan on the blu-ray player and the PS3. I'm sure I'll figure something out...I've already packed up the DVD changer, but that was hooked up by component video cables, not HDMI, so I haven't freed up an HDMI port by doing that. Maybe I'll hook up the PS3 using component video instead of HDMI. I think the Wii will stay upstairs now, and it won't be coming down to the basement, but that's also connected by component video.

I may get rid of the WDTV box and use the PS3 instead for media streaming. Does anyone know if the PS3 will play flacs? If not, I guess I'll keep the WDTV, and maybe get a HDMI switch box or something.

FWIW:
Oppo makes a great HDMI switcher !

Since you have a large back counter perhaps make a light box that you can use to display liquor bottles. You can make it as long and as tiered as you like.


http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii223/Tony_M_photos/Bar%20Construction/DSC_00224-1.jpg

http://i265.photobucket.com/albums/ii223/Tony_M_photos/Bar%20Construction/DSC_00463.jpg

Since you have a large back counter perhaps make a light box that you can use to display liquor bottles. You can make it as long and as tiered as you like.


That does look great. I may do something like that, but my first plan is to incorporate a light box into the shelving that is going into the "window" that we left into the unfinished area.

Basement looks great!
What did you do to the labels. Glass or epoxy?
I'm doing the same thing with coasters and I'm thinking about epoxy.
Thanks
Coach

Basement looks great!
What did you do to the labels. Glass or epoxy?
I'm doing the same thing with coasters and I'm thinking about epoxy.
Thanks
Coach

I'm going to go the epoxy route. Haven't done it yet, nothing further got done over the winter. I'm hoping to start work on it again soon, but it's low on my priorities right now. As soon as it does get done, though, there will be pictures put up here...