Dan's man cave project - Page 2

woohoo!!!! I made it to the second page on my thread. Progress is coming along, brother in law stopped by tonight to texture the walls. Amazing what some texture can do to make me look like a professional drywaller. I told him that this was the first thing I've hired out on this project but he told me I didn't owe him anything so technically I think I can still say I haven't hired anyone. ( I did hold the light for him so it counts as me doing it right?) On a typical Monday note, I checked in with my carpet/tile place who had previously said that February 1st was the day, (which was the reason I busted my butt his weekend to finish drywall), and they had no record of me telling them what carpet and tile I wanted. Talk about a P*%&&ed off guy.. and they were lucky I was the easy going one in the family. Taking a day off on Thursday to cram and hopefully get paint and trim done then just a waiting game on the carpet guys, which I might add will be my "FORMER" carpet guys after this job is complete.

update on the mancave.. carpet and tile are down. unbelievable how much better I am feeling about this thing now. I'm focusing on the bar.. have put up a 32 inch in that area and working on getting the 50 inch up by Sundays race. Mounted ceiling speakers in the bar area which will go to a receiver there and then will have a soundbar with the 50 inch. I can almost see the end in sight... or is there ever an end? Bought a reclining sofa and a refridgerator that is to be delivered Thursday. Pub Table and upgraded bar stools are next on the list.








and last but not least.. It's officially become a Husker bar.

a few more updates.. got the tv up on Saturday and bought a soundbar so I could watch Daytona. Still can't believe the kid won it on his first try. Wife took over the tv on Saturday night and watched a movie on HBO. I laid the rules down though and told her absolutely no lifetime channel and no oprah in the man cave. Still need to get my shelving built under the tv but at least it's useable now. We splurged and bought a reclining couch. Thought about just chairs but the couch was very comfortable.. so comfortable that i've fallen asleep on it 3 times already. Wood is on the bottom of the bar. Still need to do the trim on the facing of it but now am working on the bar top. Messes up the first attempt at it so going for round 2. Fridge got put in so no more running up and down the stairs to get beverages.

I just took a million ideas of of this great site and pulled up pictures on the internet for ideas. This is actually my second build on it. The first one was torn down during a ''disagreement'' with the wife. Actually it worked out well though because it gave me time to think about some things and change them. I actually shortened the bar 6 inches at each end to move it away more from the wall behind the bar stools. Hopefully back in that corner I will put in the touchscreen jukebox setup (stolen from the O'shea thread). The bar top is dealing me fits right now. I like the 45 look but damn between the cuts and the chicago rail i'm trying to fit on there it's a chore. I've never done any finish carpentry work before so just winging it for now. May have to call in reinforcements before it's all done.

Thanks for the comment. Alot of hours and stress going into it but think it will be great once it's done. Really starting to enjoy it.

I originally had 3/4 plywood for the base on the first go round if you look back at some previous posts you can see it. I had started that way thinking I was going to do a laminate top until I priced the laminate tops. The bar rail I am using needed something on the edge to trim which is why i decide on the 2x4's so I could rip the plywood to 3 1/2 inches and nail to the edge like I did. I had looked at a couple other bars and I liked the thicker look on the edge of it. hopefully in the next week or two I will have some railing put on and can post new pics. I was amazed at how much more sturdy it made the top though. You can lean on the bar standing up and don't notice any movement. Downside is the thing is heavy as hell. Upside is I don't have to mount it to the floor and can be slid a bit if needed to get things in behind the bar.

Just using 3/4" Oak plywood for now. Figured that would be the cheapest way to get something done and wouldn't be that expensive if I screwed it up. Going with a "chicago rail" for the edge of the bar, I've always liked the looks of that. Not sure if I am just going to Polyurethane the top of if I will try envirotex. I'm a little nervous about using the envirotex and messing things up but if it turns out I think that would be the best look for it.

how much sanding did you have to do between coats? That is the only other issue i'm concerned with is having to make another mess in the room. Did you use semi gloss or high gloss on your top?

do you have a build thread on here or any pics of the bar top? I'd like to see it.

nevermind.. found it.

update on the bar progress.. have the top on and doing the polyurethane. I have 3 coats on now going for about 6 or 7. Still need to do the trim on the front of the bar and then will poly the front. Really starting to like the way it is turning out. First shot at finish carpentry I've ever tried and you can tell I'm an amature but I use the phrase "good enough for who it's for". I think I have a couple hundred bucks in the actual bar top so I figured I'll drink on it for a couple years and if I get tired of it I could redo it at a later time. I think it will be drinkable though. Building some shelving under the 50 inch tv now and finishing up some wall trim. I think the back bar may have to wait awhile because of budget constraints. I hope to put in some cabinets directly behind the bar with a sink. Sorry for the picture quality. Took these with my cell phone rather than my wifes expensive camera.

Bar top before poly



Bar top wet after 3rd coat of poly

Yes I considered it but my history of wood filler sucks. It usually ends up looking worse than not doing anything so I decided to just go with the flow. Once everyone gets a few beers in them they won't be able to tell anyway. lol

I cut the floor and poured a concrete footing for the pole. When I did that I sunk some bolts in the concrete while it was wet and then once the concrete was set up i put the pole on them and nuts to tighten it down. I lag bolted the top to the main beam. once I did that I built 2x4 box and filled with spray foam.