Basement Bar Build: Unfinish to refinish

So we bought are first home an of course the first thing that I thought that i needed to do was to unfinish the finished basement. The previous owners just finished the basement and chose a paint pallette fit for a 9 year old girl (sea foam green, lavender and pink), Sectioned off the 1000 sq ft. space into 6 rooms and generally made the space unlivable. So I thought that I would post my project b.c other than a few builds on this site it is very hard to find plans and information. So here it goes

so the first thing I did was employ the help of my friend the engineer and he and I used google sketchup to design what I wanted ( file to big to post here) then we started demolition. We chose the area we did for the bar due wholly in part to water and sanitation lines so we can run water and a sink ourselves without a plumber. It was by mere chance that they were in a closet which made framing the bar rather easy

Subscribed. Looking forward to seeing how this progresses

Gonna be GREAT!! :rockin:

Subscribed! Can't wait to see another cool basement build. Good luck and looking forward to seeing it all come together.

I also "unfinished" my basement. The people who finished it didn't do anything right (carpet directly on the concrete, batt insulation directly on the block walls, etc), so I took everything apart. I have yet to refinish it, though. I can't wait to see how yours turns out!

So did some work on the bar last night. Finished framing and started skinning the outside..

6 rooms and child-friendly paint? Maybe they were running an illegal nursery or daycare in the basement.

Funny, my current home had a legal daycare downstairs. The main room is 700 sq ft. Pulled about 1000 staples out of the walls and ceiling. I'm turning the daycare kitchen into a wetbar. Pulled the second sink out last week and I'll be putting the kegger in its place.

Ya this basement had a kitchen in it. with water running to a sink, However there was no sanitation line ran to the sink! This all started with me ripping our a small section of drywall to remove moisture damage and to seal it up. Now im into a full remodel after getting a little to feisty with the crowbar and sledghammer!

so as you can see I got the bar skinned with quarter inch oak ply and applied a coat of stain to it. Went to lumber liquidators and purchased the materials for the bar top that will be coming soon.

Looks good so far. I will expect an invite when your all done. I'll come up and help you break it in.

Well I have moved a little farther south than you now even though I have not updated my profile. I am in southern portage county now and still driving to cleveland daily

couple more pics. More Coming tonight hopefully will make some progress on the bar top

The Electrical engineer is coming over to move the switches and put in a junction box. Last time he wired it wrong and blew my breaker. he said something about knowing the theory but not the application.... LOL Typical engineer

WiseEyes said:

The Electrical engineer is coming over to move the switches and put in a junction box. Last time he wired it wrong and blew my breaker. he said something about knowing the theory but not the application.... LOL Typical engineer

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As an electrical and computer engineer I am offended! Ha, actually I'm not, sounds like a typical engineer to me. Look forward to seeing your progress. Good luck!

Looking good, That load bearing support is gonna be perfect, Id wrap a ass ton of lights wrap in plexy with beer labels stuck to the inside, not sure how it would standout though.

I'm following this!

So with the bar build going on I decided to build a keezer to slide under the bar. Picked this up today and put a 1x4 collar on it. I really don't need the collar but thought that the extra head room might be nice. Plan on staining and painting the outside. Its on casters so I can slide it out from under the bar.

I picked this up the other day. Its an antique came from a barn and was dirty as hell, but i polished her up and it looks pretty good. Going to have to get a few handles for it

that is NICE! reminds me of the old Schell's taps in their sample bar area!

nice work!!! cant wait to see your progress

Nice! Can't wait to see the progress rolling. looks like you've got a good start. (SUBSCRIBED)

Speak softly and carry a large beer

Looking good!

looks like your makeing a lot of head way ... cant wait to see u finish it

Well I got a ton of work done this weekend. Me the wife and a couple of friends made a lot of progress. Got the bar top on and some lights recessed into the ceiling.
The bar top is unfinished oak flooring from lumber liquidators then finished with cabot stain and varnish. After we are all done we are going to put a bar finish on it that i bought from Lowes that you have to mix together and spread on. Underneath the hard wood is just subfloor.

The ceiling is rough wood siding. We bought cabinet lights that have a dimmer switch and then recessed them using a hole saw. We are going to finish the ceiling with another panel but need to have access to that area to plumb in the sink later whenever my plumber friend gets around to it.

more pictures

and her is the ceiling

Next up is to build some columns, drywall, trim and paint

Loving it!

Wow i didnt even realize you were from Cleveland! I'l be awaiting my invite once this is complete

come on, where's the follow-up pics?!