Bar construction

Yeah- that golf thing looks cool. Oh also your basement does too. I'm jealous. Like the look the bar is taking on & the cabinets also. Are you planning a sit down bar facing that wall with the t.v. & frig... ? What kind of countertops will you be putting in ? Granite?

I know this post is over 2 years old, but was hoping mmulholland, the OP, might still be available. I love the work you did on this project, would like to know a bit more if possible about the bartop area, I am considering doing something similar myself. do you mind answering a few questions? First, after 2 years, are you happy with the laminate bar deck surface? would you use it again if starting the project over? you mentioned epoxy/resin in a later post, did you seal the whole surface with it, or the cracksealer? how did you match the barrail stain to the laminate color? you mentioned you'd build it in a way you could replace the laminate planks if damaged. How did you do that? Thanks!

Nice looking bar. Reminds me of my ex-father-in-law's place, also a golf nut. His bar looked very similar, tucked back into an alcove behind the lower level stairway. The unique thing about his was him installing a golf hole in the middle of the carpeted floor in the living room above, connected to the bar back splash with a circuitous network of 3" PVC. You opened a little door to watch the balls roll out.

Jefemundo – I’ll answer your questions in order.
1) I love the epoxy coated laminate even after two years. It holds up to extreme heat and no scratches. FYI – The epoxy coating is a MUST as the laminate alone just wouldn’t stand up to daily use – something I realized after just a few days.
2) I would still do the laminate flooring but it MUST be coated with epoxy. This means you cannot ever replace a piece of laminate but the epoxy means you will never have to. The epoxy coating I used is called “Mirror Coat” and is excellent. The clear coat “Mirror Coat” actually cost more than the Home Depot laminate. It is a 2-part mix that really is pretty easy to work with. However, it is permanent so get it right. It has a 15 minute working time so you just mix the two parts together and then poor it on the bar. You MUST make sure you’ve sealed all holes since it is liquid for 15 minutes and WILL find holes and cracks around the perimeter. Then, you leave the room for 2 days (closed vents and demanded kids stay away). My first batch was not enough so I had “spotches”. I was mortified. However, the product said to just mix another batch and poor it over the top of the first layer. It self-leveled and ended up looking spectacular. I get only complements with several neighbors planning on repeating the look.
3) The Chicago Bar Rail was an oak product I found at a local specialty lumber store (cannot find it at big box stores). I tried several stains before I found one that matched the laminate. I then put about 3 coats of clear coat polyeurethane on the bar rail so it would shine like the bar top.

I liked the look so much I even did a table with a FatHead Cardinals logo embeded in the epoxy (see attached).