Newest Threads

StandEight · 02-09-2011, 04:14 AM

Hey all,

Building a bar in the basement to house the home brew. I'll post some pictures tomorrow as I'm almost done with the framing.

Here's a question I have for you carpenters out there. I have a finished basement that is wall-to-wall carpeted (seriously thick carpet). I have the frame of the bar drilled into the studs along the wall. My question .... do I have to drill the part of the frame that sticks out from the wall into the concrete under my carpet? That would be a serious pain the ass. It's pretty solid right now and with the weight of tile / rest of wood I think it will be secure enough.

Let me know your thoughts.

Cheers,
Brad

**ImperialLover** · 02-09-2011, 05:48 AM

If you want a permanant bar then yes, you could. But you need to make sure you're happy with the flooring OR make sure you can get to the bolts you use to anchor them. It would suck to have to rip the bar apart due to changing carpet or if you want to change the layout of the room.

Personally, I would use L brackets in multiple hidden (i.e. behind the draft system or other recessed areas) areas to get the best of both worlds. The bar could be fastened solidly to the floor yet easily accessable if you want to pull them up. It's not very hard to fasten L bolts to the concrete and then to the bar. Go to Lowes/Home Depot and tell them you want to attach L Brackets to a concrete slab and then to a wooden bar; they'll hook you up with the hardware. Good luck Boss.

**A4J** · 02-09-2011, 07:45 PM

Ultimately, it's your call. Think of the bar as a piece of furniture. You don't bolt down your furniture to the floor, but if you expect people to lean on the bar, it'd probably be a good idea to bolt it to the floor.... As a comparison tho, I have 4'x8' work island in my garage that's made up of a bunch of base cabinets. It's not bolted to the floor and that thing won't budge (not even after a 7.2 earthquake)

StandEight · 02-09-2011, 08:29 PM

Yeah good point A4. I'm not sure what i'm going to do yet. Maybe i'll see how it goes before anchoring it down. If I find it's not stable I'll throw a few anchors in it.

Cheers,
Brad

StandEight · 03-01-2011, 01:03 AM

Sorry for the delay in pictures. I've been talking pictures of the bar and keezer as I have gone along. From framing to stain so far.

Question: I searched the forums but could not find a post on it. I'm doing a keezer under the bar with a 3 draft and a 2 draft tower above it (on the surface of the bar). What's the best way of running hose/line so I can insulate the draft lines from the keezer to the draft tower. I'm looking for something flexible and long so I can avoid having to detach it when sliding the keezer out to change kegs (would only be a foot or two of movement). Already going to use a computer power supply to move the air up through the encasement. Whats your thoughts?

Thanks,
Brad

StandEight · 03-08-2011, 01:39 PM

Alright the bar is done. Here are the pictures and some explanation to go with them.

Pictures of the initial framing.

I used one 3/4 inch plywood on top of a 1/4 inch piece of plywood to allow a section for the bar mats. The wood on top is finished bamboo hardwood flooring. The front of the bar is a cherry piece of bar rail. To finish it off in the front I used natural stone slate.

Here is a good idea of what the inside of the bar looks like. The large compartment will hold the keezer, others will hold liquor / glasses.

And the finished product before the functionality is installed.

And the final touches. Three draft tower. The three beer lines are enclosed in a 1 1/2 flex tubing that has cold air blow up to to the tower via a duel exhaust / intake computer fan. That enclosure is enclosed in a 2 1/2 inch shop vac hose to allow return air from the tower.

StandEight · 03-08-2011, 01:40 PM

Saved for future updates on the bar.

Hockyplr · 03-08-2011, 03:37 PM

Nice work! Wish I had the room for something like this! Keep up the great job, I'm going to be following this!

JohnnyGunn · 03-08-2011, 07:43 PM

Not sure if you've solved your anchoring problem or not, but I thought I'd throw my 2 cents your way. Don't bother! You've got enough weight from the materials used that I wouldn't go through the headache of attaching that bar to the floor.

From my own situation, my basement bar is "resting" comfortably on my concrete floor! Of course, you can basically land a jet on my bar top...but yours looks pretty solid too! One thing you did, and I didn't was build the bar on top of your flooring. I installed my laminate flooring right up to the bar once it was finished. You live, you learn I guess!

Strngcheez · 03-08-2011, 08:26 PM

Well done! Maybe we should convert the bar on your deck into something similar