Custom Refrigerated Bar

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Moonpile

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Apr 5, 2007
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Location
Pasadena, MD
I'm finishing out the first floor of my split level house and as a result I'm able to build in a custom bar. I don't have a huge amount of space and I wanted to maximize the number of Cornies I could get in there so I'm building a custom insulated refrigerated space under the bar.

I've had a HUGE amount of inspiration from so many threads here I can't even count them. Thanks everyone!

Over the last few days I've finally gotten a chunk of time to work on this, and it's taking quite a bit of time.

Here's the basic frame of what I started with:

562-just-getting-started.jpg


Behind this picture is my utility room, and to the left, the back of the drywall you see is the drywall for my bathroom. The main living room will be behind me.

Here I've dryfit the Haier 5000 BTU window unit air conditioner I'm going to use to cool the space. The box above it is a cleat for a removable draft box to rest upon. I've insulated this in the same manner I've insulated the rest, as shown below.

563-air-conditioner-dryfit-its-aperture-above-back-panel-draft-box-2x4s-protrude-wall-form-cleat-removable-box-will-rest.jpg


This is the wall between the bar and bathroom where the sink will drain and where the water supplies for the sink will be. I've insulted the space with two sheets of 1 1/2" Dow Super Tuff-R, which has an R-value of 9 per sheet. Needless to say, there's a lot of Great Stuff in here too. What I'm doing is spraying it into the corners in the back of the space, pushing in a sheet of insulation, spraying more into the corners of that space, pushing in the next sheet and spraying still more into the cracks that are left. Around the plumbing I just sprayed lots of it. I think I've used about 6 cans so far on this alone (not counting the rest of the basement build!).

564-hot-cold-water-supply-very-first-panels-insulation.jpg
 
Here's the air conditioner base, looking from my utility room at the back of the bar area. The crossbar in the front ensures that it drains back. To the right is a bulkhead above which will be a removable panel to aid in access to everything under the fixed side of the bar, including kegs, bottles I'll store in the space under the sink where kegs won't fit, and the water filter.

567-utility-room-looking-back-bar-platform-air-conditioner-lower-bulkhead-right-will-have-removable-panel-access-area-under-fixed-section-countertop.jpg


Back in the front, half the countertop will be fixed and have a sink in it. This is two sheets of 1/2" plywood laminated and screwed together, then screwed down to the bar whick will form the substrate for the surface:

566-just-screwed-down-lamiated-plywood-substrate-fixed-side-sink.jpg


I'm using cork floorboard for a surface material, and will take advantage of the interlocking boards to interlock with the removable part of the surface to the right. I've tested the cork floorboard for condensation and other water resistance and even after several hours it had no discoloration or other ill effects.

565-dryfit-fixed-portion-lid-cork-surface-material-sink.jpg
 
In this shot, I've got the insulation installed in the three walls and in the fixed portion of the lid. The sink is still just dryfit. A Corny is shown for scale. I'm hoping to get 8 to 10 in here total.

568-doorway-utility-room-looking-through-bar-sink-dryfit-corney-showing-clearance.jpg


Here's the underside of the sink. Still just dryfit:

569-under-sink-after-surface-has-been-affixed-but-before-sink-has-been-clamped.jpg


I'm going to line the entire thing with FRP pebble board and in this shot I've got the floor installed. For the floor, the pebbleboard is laminated to 1/2" plywood with liquid nails. The walls will all have Reflectix in the small gap left by the sheet insulation.

Also, right before I got to this point I had the brilliant but time consuming idea to install an outlet inside the bar. It may be hard to see here, but it's in the upper right corner. It's protected by a GFI in the utility room and one outlet is switched so I can turn the rope lights on and off. The other outlet is for an always-on fan, if I need it. The rope lights are actually plugged into a different outlet in this picture:

600-wall-between-bar-bathroom-reflectix-place-note-outlet-inside-kegerator-has-switched-outlet-rope-lights-always-outlet-case-i-need-fan-there.jpg
 
In this shot, I've got the pebbleboard applied to the wall between the bar and bathroom, which also has the sink drain and water supplies, which are barely visible on the extreme right. I've applied Reflectix to the inside of the front wall of the bar.

601-frp-pebble-board-has-been-applied-wall-between-bathroom-kegerator-plumbing-finished-there-drain-sink-water-supplies-reflectix-place-front-wall-bar-most-parts-bar-have-going-outside-1-2-plywood-two-sheets-1-3-8-dow-super-tuff-r-r-value-9-one-sheet-one-layer-reflectix-finished-frp-pebble-board-oh-lot-great-stuff.jpg


And this is where I left off earlier today. I've got the pebbleboard applied to the inside front of the bar. I'm using the pebbleboard trim and clear silicone in the corners. There's Liquid Nails on both sides of the Reflectix and I've screwed the pebbleboard to the framing studs, since I've heard that the glue might dry out and delaminate.

602-frp-pebbleboard-inside-front-bar.jpg


Here's the water supplies and sink drain, with the rope light plugged into it's switched, GFI protected outlet:

603-water-supplies-sink-drain-rope-light-plugged-into-switched-gfi-protected-outlet-inside-bar.jpg
 
Tomorrow I'm setting in the sink, lining more of it and adding the wall opposite the bathroom wall, which is in the passageway to the utility room. I've been using that gap to get inside to work on it, so that's going to be about the last thing. I'm pooped and I just drank a sixer of Flying Dog IPA, so goodnight. More tomorrow.
 
Very impressive! This is the route I would have gone with my refrigerated bar build (AC Unit) if I didnt have an extra mini fridge laying around!

So the "outside" portion of the AC unit is behind the bar, toward the utility room? What are your plans for cooling and condensation? Are you going to rig the thermostat up so that it stays on longer to bring the temps down? How low are you expecting that thing to go?
 
The back of the AC unit is in the utility room. I tried to put it high enough that I can run a hose over to my sump for condensation if need be. I've looked at the unit and I'm not sure where it drips out though. If it just has to go into a bucket, that will be fine too.

I'm going to test it out and see what it does with the factory thermostat at the lowest setting, but I'm fully prepared to have to override that and get a Johnson.
 
Today I got the sink installed and some more FRP pebble board. Here's a shot of the sink with the regular hot and cold water on the left and the filtered water on the right.

610-hot-cold-water-filtered-water.jpg


And the plumbing underneath, including the filter. Not a drop of water down there on the first try!

611-plumbing-water-filter.jpg


This is step one of insulating the sink so that it doesn't sweat. Reflectix and duct tape. I'm considering building a bit of a box around it and spraying in some Great Stuff Gap Filler (black can). I'd have to leave an area around the water supply hoses.

612-under-sink-lots-reflectix.jpg
 
Oh yeah, and I used my step bit I bought from bargainfittings.com, which I'd previously used to drill out my keggles, to drill another hole in the sink for my water filter faucet!

Seriously, the DIY aspect of brewing has given me both the confidence and the tools to approach a project like this and the rest of my basement build. And this forum has been a big part of that!
 
So now I'm at a crossroads and would like some advice. The plan was always to build some kind of insulation box around the bottom of the sink, but my plan contacted reality.

The Reflectix and duct tape had partially fallen down over night. I'm not so concerned as long as the box is there to hold it all together.

How am I ever going to service the faucet hoses if I box them in all the way? Should I even care? You can see what I've done so far. The screws are just holding the insulation together until the Liquid Nails dries.

Anyone got any better ideas than just finishing this box in the manner I've done so far?

I originally was going to spray Great Stuff up in there, but while I think I could still remove this insulation box if I ever had to, the Great Stuff would probably make that pointless.

Advice?

613-close-off-faucet-related-plumbing-semi-permanently-not.jpg
 
I wouldnt think you would need the great stuff. Just make sure you seal that box up and maybe stuff some fiber insulation up in there. I doubt that your going to see condensation on the sink. If you do, you could double up the sheet insulation on the underside of the box.

Are you planning on insulating the hot water supply line at all? Or ya think that it is so insignificant that you wont have a problem with it?

Looks freaking awesome dude.... I really wish I would have done this with my bar. I cant wait to see what temp you can get this down to and how often the unit runs.
 
Yeah, I'm going to put some pipe insulation on the hot water line, but I figure it's pretty insiginificant.

I'm weighing two options for the remainder of the sink "box".

Either finish the box, but I'm going to make it a bit more complicated to just protrude around the water lines. If I ever have to get into it I'm going to have to rip out the sheet insulation box, but it's just held in with screws and glue, so that shouldn't be too hard. I need to do everything I can to keep the cold water supply faucet accessible, which is the upper of the two, and getting boxed in back there. I'll need to turn that off occasionally to change the water filter.

The other option is to cut and shape several layers of Reflectix to cover this end and tape it up. I'll need the real tape for that though, as the duct tape seems to fail.

I'll definitely report on it's temps and running times, etc.
 
Yea I would definitely use that aluminum foil tape. As long as it is dry when you apply it, shouldnt have a problem.
 
I should have grabbed that tape when I got the Reflectix. I was at a Lowe's that's a bit farther away. I couldn't find it at my nearby Home Depot this afternoon. Well, I didn't look too well.

Anyway, I got to the point where I no longer needed to be able to crawl inside, so I put up the smaller of the outside walls. This is an opportune time for an overview shot:

631-overview-bar.jpg


As you can see, it's not very big overall, and it's a walk up bar. If I had a few more feet to work with, I wouldn't be doing this whole sink insulating rigamarole.

The white panel is an insulated section that will be the back of the draft box. The missing area of surface will be the removable draft box and in front of that, a removable surface.

SWMBO is sanding, priming and painting the beadboard panels which will go up on the outside. Here's a question, use drywall screws or finish nails? I feel more comfortable using the screws because I have better control and I'm sure it will pull out the slight warping of the plywood beadboard, but I'm concerned that the screws will be harder to fill with wood filler?
 
SWMBO is sanding, priming and painting the beadboard panels which will go up on the outside. Here's a question, use drywall screws or finish nails? I feel more comfortable using the screws because I have better control and I'm sure it will pull out the slight warping of the plywood beadboard, but I'm concerned that the screws will be harder to fill with wood filler?

BOOOO... Use finishing nails and some underlayment glue... screws can tear up the edges and will be really noticable!
 
Got stalled there for a week. SWMBO has primed the bead board and that will go up on the sides of the bar very soon. With finish nails.

In the meantime, I'm considering temperature control. Is there any reason the Love TS2-010 would not be appropriate for my use?

Again I have a Haier HWF05XCJ-E 5000 BTU window unit.

My plan would be to wire the Love TS2 to control an outlet and simply plug the air conditioner into the outlet, turn it all the way down, and move the air conditioner's temp probe outside the refrigerated space. If need be I will perform surgery to bypass the air conditioner's thermostat.
 
I've managed to get back to this after a few weeks of extra hours at work and other obligations.

First, my question about the Love TS2-010 didn't get any traction in this thread, so I started another one for that, and on advice ended up getting one. In fact, it's fit in the wall in the pictures below, but I haven't hooked it up yet.

I got the bead board up and the cork surface material installed. Yes, I used finish nails not screws on the bead board! This picture is where I just left off a few minutes ago, in the middle of building the draft box.

902-surface-complete-building-draft-box.jpg


I am very, very pleased with the way the interlocking cork flooring allows me to make a removable lid. The seam is almost completely invisible, and looks the same as any other place where I permanently joined two of these boards.

Here it is with the lid out and off to the side:

904-surface-lid-pulled-slightly-off.jpg


And here it is with the lid in place:

903-surface-lid-closed.jpg
 
Oh, and I completely boxed off the underside of the sink with insulation. It's a bit messed up looking, but I needed to fudge it on the right side there to still be able to get to the cold water supply shut off.

905-underside-sink-completely-boxed-off-insulation-kinda-messed-up-looking-but-there-water-supply-shut-off-just-right-i-needed-able-get.jpg
 
Well a lot has happened since I last updated this thread! I finished the rest of the basement project, found out I'm having a third child and, just recently finally started brewing at my house (I had been brewing at a friend's the last several years). Actually having beer gave me the impetus to put some finishing touches on this project.

Here it is in overview, just before I put the finishing touches on the draft box, and apparently, before we put the carpet in:

4078-bar-97-done-still-needs-trim-beer-faucets.jpg


And here it is ready to pour! There will eventually be six taps. The final piece of the puzzle is the trim for the main surface.

4167-kegerator-ready-pour.jpg


My first batch isn't really carbed up properly yet, but I'm drinking a flat Mild and loving it!

:mug:
 
Thats a very nice build! Im trying to decide how to put mine together and that might be an idea I use!
 
Thats a very nice build! Im trying to decide how to put mine together and that might be an idea I use!

In retrospect a normal keezer, perhaps under some kind of finished nice looking bar surface would have been WAAAAY easier and considerably less expensive.

The upsides of what I did are that it absolutely maximized the space I had available, allowing me probably at least 8 corney kegs. I don't think a keezer big enough to hold more than four or six cornies would have fit.

Also I got a sink.
 
Nice Job!!! I'm contemplating revamping my man cave bar using a window air conditioner setup to cool it.
How has yours been working, noise level etc?
I will be posting pics and progress when i get started.
 
Bump on this I am also curious as to your performance with the window A/C unit

Sent from my iPhone using HB Talk
 
Sorry, got too busy for Homebrewtalk for a while there and, unfortunately, too busy to brew for some of that time. Three kids will do that to you.

Just got back into things with two batches a few days apart.

To answer the questions about the window unit A/C, at first I was kind of disappointed. It ran a bit too much and dripped out the back whenever the heat in the house wasn't running most of the time. Someone (in real life, not on this board) had told me not to seal up around the unit with Great Stuff, so I jammed some black foam weatherstripping kind of stuff in there. Also, at first, I had not overridden the on-board temperature control, but had just bent the probe around the side and out into the room behind the A/C. There were times in the winter when the Love controller would kick on but the A/C would not.

At one point I was out of beer anyway, so I shut the thing down and pulled the A/C out. I'd been rather hesitant about overriding the built-in temperature control on the unit, but it was really just a matter of pulling two wires off of it and connecting them with a wire nut.

I put the unit back in and after I was satisfied that the override was working I sealed around it with Great Stuff. Now it never drips and it maybe runs about 5 minutes every hour. It's a bit noisy if you're actually in the utility room with it, and if I'm watching TV out in the room with the bar, I tend to close that door, but closing the door is all it really takes.

I added a secondary regulator to the wall outside and behind the bar, just above the A/C unit when I did all that other work.

Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with this setup. I could have done it more easily with a chest freezer, but the amount of space I have is fantastic. Now I need to fill it with kegs!

I'll try to get some pictures on here in the next few days and fix all the broken links in previous posts.
 
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