Brian's Bar Build

Over the years I've kept an eye on many of the bar builds here. One month ago I started the renovation process in my basement whereby I removed my home office and started my own bar build. Here's a picture of the back bar of today, I'll back up and start from the beginning in subsequent days...I have about 60 pics.

Here is four weeks ago. The whole thing was triggered by a crack in the foundation wall that for years was producing dampness in the basement and eventually some mold.

Once the drywall was removed to make the repair and remove the mold, I thought...well, maybe it is finally time to build the bar.



Desk removal:





Running copper for sink



Building boxes and conduit for Philips Hue lighting. There will be three rows, 15 bulbs total.




Edited by hltr - 12/24/12 at 8:55am

The Philips Hue bulbs are pretty neat. There are about a 50 watt equivalent, but draw just 4.5 watts. Each bulb has wifi built in and can be individually addressed by the iOS app (or web browser). The bulbs last 15 years, sell for $60. They can be dimmed and can reproduce almost any color.



It is amazing what a difference it can make in the vibe of the room. I only own five right now.

I decided to leave the beams exposed. I stained them using Miniwax gel stain (cherrywood). There is one part that isn't yet stained, so you can see the difference.



For the back bar, I wanted upper cabinets to run the entire wall (15 feet). I built the boxes using stain-grade 12" pine boards from Lowes, and backed with beadboard paneling. I attached the boxes with screws, gorilla glue, and attached the paneling to the back with brads. In this photo you can also see the higher outlet box (for counter appliances) that I ran from the lower using bx cable and a retrofit box.

Here you can see three of the five boxes built and hung, and of course the tv's. Yes, way early for those, but I'm the type that needs motivation while I work.

The tv's were found on Amazon. The brand is Seiki (I've never heard of them either) and they were $179 each. 32" with 3 hdmi inputs. I bought a 4-in by 2-out hdmi switch from monoprice.com so I could send the same source to both units (or different sources, of course). The wall mounts for the tv's are also monoprice.



This cabinet had to be notched to go around the support beam. I build the cabinet in full and then cut the notch out with my jigsaw.


Edited by hltr - 12/24/12 at 5:08pm

Here is the drywall repair to cover the perm-seal work. Thankfully the guy removed the drywall carefully, so I just needed to add some support behind and I was able to put it back without much trouble.



A closer shot of the upper outlet on this side, which includes two usb ports:



Water hookups and drain:



Last section of drywall repair:

Drywall repair complete, here is the first base cabinet. Obviously unfinished, I got them from Lowes.



Here I've started to stain the upper cabinets. I went with Minwax mahogany gel stain for the sides and back, and regular Miniwax red mahogany stain for the face frames and lower cabinets.





Here I have started the flooring, and you can see the side of the basement that is unchanged. For the floor I decided to go with TrafficMaster Allure from Home Depot. I really like it, it is 100% vinyl but really does look like wood. This is the cherry style, I think they carry about 8 or so styles in stock, and many more as online orders that they can ship out. One thing to note is that the vinyl does "off-gas" and it still is not done. the smell is not very pleasant. I sure hope that clears up soon.

Staining the lower cabinets...



The sump pump was an interesting challenge. We built a box to cover the pvc that exits the cover and enters the wall. The box is removable so I can access in the future.



Now I cut the bottom off of a cabinet and set it on top of the box. This cabinet will not bear any weight of the counter top, so I can just slide it out if I need to get at the sump.

Counter top time... Kreg jig and pine used to frame it out.



Sink cutout:





The counter top is formica pre-made from Home Depot, three six foot sections. Would have loved to do real stone, but the budget doesn't allow, and for a back bar, this is plenty nice.



Two coats of Deft varnish on the cabinets..



Got this jig along with one for cabinet doors from Amazon for seven bucks, worked great. The drawer and door pulls are also through Amazon, I think they were just over two bucks a piece.

Bottle shelves: Most that I've seen for purchase have white plastic shelves, and I really don't like that look. So here is what I did....

LED lights from amazon, about $16 for 16 feet. Also bought a power supply, and a dimmer.



Dimensional poplar from Lowes... routed a slot for LED lights:







Still need to varnish, but...

Christmas morning, and I got the Guinness mirror I had asked for! The mirror also serves to hide my electronics (power strip, apple tv, hdmi switch, etc.)

First cooler!




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Thanks!


Brian

Toe kicks are stained. I used 1/4 inch oak veneer plywood.



Sure looks incomplete without the second cooler (which will be for wine)

Brian

Thanks, that was one of those rare ideas that goes according to plan, is fairly cheap, and fast.

IR repeater: So I put my hdmi switch and Apple TV behind the mirror. $30 repeater from monoprice does the trick.

Paint, and additional mirror

Second set of bottle shelves...on left. Still have to stain.

Stained

Thanks. Well I'm a big iOS user, so the Hue bulbs are an easy fit for me. I'm keeping an old iPhone behind the bar as the Apple TV and lighting controller.

LED lights done. Need a more powerful transformer, which is on order. I'll use this 30 watter for the under bar lights later.

Moulding added

Two coats of satin varnish

Moulding stained