Rick's bar contructions - lots of pics

Hey everybody,

I thought I'd share pictures of my recently completed bar that I built in my basement area. The bar is 10' long, 28" deep and 45" high. Under the bar is a mini fridge, microwave, beverage vault and the kegerator will soon be relocated under the bar as well. A second beverage vault was under the bar, but was relocated and recessed into the wall to make room for the kegerator. Maybe this weekend I'll have time to install the beer tower on the bar and run the lines down to the kegerator.

Here goes:

Before picture showing the area of the room the bar will eventually be.



Showing the same area as you come down the stairs to the basement. In the far top of the pic you can see the french doors leading to outside. That area of the room is the home theater.



Final before picture shows the area from another angle, which matches upwith an after picture I took.



Already tiled the bar area with 18"x18" travertine. Began the framing and skinning of the bar.




Reached the 4 picture per post limit. Continued in next post.

I had a few leftover sheets of this Thomasville paneling that was never used for the island in the kitchen remodel. So I was very happy to put them to use and clear them from leaning against the garage wall.



Completed most of the interior bar walls and have began staining. There was a LOT of staining involved in this project!



The 3/4" plywood base for the bar top is installed and I've begun installing the 3/4" unfinished red oak flooring on the base.



The flooring has been installed. You'll notice the flooring is not installed right up to the edges of the base. I left the proper spacing for the bar rail trim to be installed.



More in the next post...

Here is the bar rail along installed on the length of the bar. It is designed to sit on the bar and then rest on the edge of the 3/4" flooring. This is probably my favorite addition to the bar because it is so comfortable to rest your elbows on when sitting down.

(Two of my custom built arcade machines can be seen in the background. I've since sold the one on the right.)



Ok, a bit of progress in this pic. The bar top has been stained, the bar rail installed, the walls painted and the 37" LCD TV mounted. Also installed some trim pieces and corbels that were not used during the kitchen remodel. The corbels are just decorative and not structural.



Bar rail is being stained and I've cut a recessed area below the TV for shelves that will hold the Directv box, DVD player and receiver.



Getting there! The lights have been installed and the recessed shelves under the TV are complete. Just need to stain the trim around that area. The bar top is stained and sealed.



more next post...

A mirror was hung and trimmed at the end of the bar to give the illusion of more open space and to continue the effects of the lighting. Certainly makes the bar area appear longer instead of just a plain wall at the end of the bar. The bar stools were purchased locally off of eBay from a restaurant that was renovating. I bought 8 stools total since they were a deal at $100 each for high quality, durable stools. The labels on the stools state they were made in early 2007, so they are almost brand new. 5 stool line the length of the bar with one stool at the end. The other two stools are used for either the arcade game, or extra seating behind the sectional in the theater room when guys are over watching football.



This shows behind the bar and where both beverage vaults originally were. The vault on the left is now in the wall under the mirror.



This shows the bar area as seen from coming down the stairs. The MAME arcade machine and dart machine are seen also.



My Megatouch bar top game is shown here. Finally an appropriate home for it. Again, the bar rail is very comfortable to rest on when playing the game.



more next post...

The two well stocked beverage vaults. Each side of the vaults can be set for their own temperature which is a nice feature for keeping beer and wine.



Mini fridge and microwave under the bar.



This picture shows the trim transitioning from the tile and carpet has now been installed and stained. Also shows my second favorite bar feature - the brass foot railing. Even though the stools have built in foot rails, nothing beats the comfort of a true foot rail - plus it looks great. Oh, you can also see the recessed area for the garbage can. Didn't have enough room for it under the bar and I did want it taking up floor space behind the bar either.



Here's the finished recessed garbage can area. Above it is the wall mounted bottle cap opener and cap catcher.



more next post...

This is the kegerator under the bar. I need to drill a 3" hole in the bar top to mount the two faucet beer tower and to run the beer lines to the kegerator. But I also need to run the lines through PVC pipe and installed a small blower motor inside the kegerator. That will blow cold air up to the beer tower and keep the beer lines and tower cool. Otherwise the warm beer lines would cause a little too much foam when pulling a beer.



Here's the kegerator where it sits now next to the arcade game. I installed the two faucet tower, tap handles and ceramic tower cover. This would be looking at it as if you were standing behind the bar. Beers on tap right now are Bare Knuckle Stout and Sam Adams Boston Lager.



Reverse side of the taps. Still have to use some paint thinner to remove the silk screened Budweiser logo. The camera flash also makes the tower look brown, but it's black with brass trim.



The two sixtel kegs (5 gallons each) inside the kegerator. The Sam Adams is already empty and tonight I pick up a slim quarter keg to replace it. I've found that I should be able to fit a slim quarter and a sixtel in there.



And that is all the pics for right now. Still have others on my memory card that I'll add which reflect some other minor work.

Thanks for looking!

Rick

Boy, you are gonna have a lot of friends! Cheers.

Excellent job. Thanks for showing everyone what is possible with a little hard work, and help from your friends.
So how much did this forum help you?

I'm getting thirsty!

What time did you say you were open

Bar was open all day yesterday for NFL Season Ticket action.

I just miss all the fun lol

I love it! I think I will copy your design but use tower taps in the bar. I found a good deal on the basic kegerator kit that I wanted share. http://www.kegcowboy.com/

Wow what a nice looking bar!! You did a really good job. thanks for showing us your project. enjoy a beer for me
Justin

great idea with the flooring. i used tile on my top.

Where did you get the refridgerators, do they keep the beer cold enough?

It looks great! The final touches really bring it home.

wow very nice.
If i get to this will these pics as a model.

Wow that came together beautifully! Excellent work

Nice job. I hope to do the same thing.