Bar Rebuild

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GarrettMD

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I have a very unique opportunity. I am in a fraternity, in my senior year of college, and the alumni have all agreed that they would finally like to see the basement bar in our house re-done. They are paying for everything and have put me in charge of the project. I plan on replacing the bar top with an infinity mirror. The bar-top infinity mirror will be about 18 inches with an additional bar about 6 inches lower for the bartenders to work on and where the taps and sink will be mounted. That bar will be about 12 inches. The taps I plan on getting are 2 dual faucet tower taps. I will also be getting a 19.7 cubic ft. chest freezer that will be able to hold 2 sanke kegs and 2 corny kegs (or no sanke kegs and a lot more cornies). That along with a 4-way gas manifold and a 10# CO2 tank should take care of the functional aspect. As far as as aesthetics go, the only thing I really want to try to do is that infinity mirror, although, it conflicts with other potential plans. I also want to try bricking over the whole back wall and sketching the current mural on top of the brick, just not a full color thing like it is now. I feel the brick wall and semi-futuristic look of an infinity mirror bar top will conflict. Lighting is going to be a key element in this rebuild, especially since the main purpose of the bar is a party bar. Switching from fluorescents and black-lights is going to be necessary.

Here are some pictures of the bar as it is now.

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Any input or ideas on how to go about this rebuild would be greatly appreciated, especially if you have an idea on something that would make it actually look good and not just random things thrown together.

I'm good with functionality. I will make this one of the smoothest operating home bars around. I'm just terrible when it comes to figuring out how to make something look good, although I know when it doesn't.

I will post pictures as I go through the build. I will be giving the list of materials (for the functional aspect at least) to the alumni this weekend and hopefully will get the build started in the next few weeks. But once again, any help will be appreciated as I have never designed a bar before, and while it is a nice challenge, I don't want it to end up looking worse than it started (though I don't think I could mess up that badly)
 
* subscribed *

I know its a Frat house, but I'd love to see this turn out very upscale and legit looking because it looks pretty wretched. I should hope no ladies get to see that in sober daylight.


-=Jason=-
 
Complete stainless build with a drain in the middle of the floor. I know how those frat parties get:)
 
I'm with the others.

And money on glass and infinity lights = crazy. Expensive and it is bound to be trashed first bash.

I'd spend the money (and I'm guessing the budget is limited) on cleaning up; plenty of paint (goes a long way, makes things look new, and can be changed at any time if you don't like or are bored); taps, CO2, fridge; and then upgrading the bar and other structural stuff with materials that can be easily cleaned (read: pressure washed, ha!) and stand the bashing it's going to see (wait, sorry, someone already said SS). :D

Chicks dig sanitary (or do they?) and fraternity's dig chicks.

Cheers!
 
* subscribed *

I know its a Frat house, but I'd love to see this turn out very upscale and legit looking because it looks pretty wretched. I should hope no ladies get to see that in sober daylight.


-=Jason=-

The last time that bar saw any action was about 6 months ago and it was a blacklit basement, behind the bar as well.

Also, we've been rennovated damn near everything in the house including the basement with contractors doing all of that work, the bar is the only thing the brothers have been put in charge of, so the ceiling looks like a mess because they have to do all sorts of electrical and plumbing work. Hopefully when the bar is finished, they will have finished with that and put a ceiling back on. The bar looks like **** because it's never used so people see no reason to clean it, hah.

As far as upscale, it will still be used for parties, and the room it's in is usually the dance floor/where the band plays, so I don't know how upscale we can make it. I would like to make it look classier than the typical slab of wood and drywalled bar you see at every other fraternity house, though with the ideas listed above, I don't know how a brick covered wall will mesh with a modern looking bar top so the looks we will get to once we get the functionality fully planned.
 
I'm with the others.

And money on glass and infinity lights = crazy. Expensive and it is bound to be trashed first bash.

I'd spend the money (and I'm guessing the budget is limited) on cleaning up; plenty of paint (goes a long way, makes things look new, and can be changed at any time if you don't like or are bored); taps, CO2, fridge; and then upgrading the bar and other structural stuff with materials that can be easily cleaned (read: pressure washed, ha!) and stand the bashing it's going to see (wait, sorry, someone already said SS). :D

Chicks dig sanitary (or do they?) and fraternity's dig chicks.

Cheers!

We will be making the infinity mirror ourselves, not expensive at all. It's going to be about 200 LEDs (not even $10), a slab of plexi-glass with a roll of reflective tint (also very in-expensive), and a mirror. Also, I can imagine that you would think the bar will take a lot of abuse, but I've never seen that to be the case. For the most part, the unruly crowd is upstairs with the beer pong tables. Also, since the bar-top itself will be plexi-glass, it is much less likely to be broken than a glass top.

I don't much like the idea of painting, just because I wouldn't want to paint over brick or concrete walls (I don't think that would look good), and if we dry-wall to paint, I think the dry wall is more likely to damage than the bar top.

Right now the idea is to brick over the back wall and essentially get that whole area to have that red-brick underground look (we will be power washing the bar face so it's the actual brick showing and not the red paint that's there now). That's the part I like, once again, I just don't know how the infinity mirror everyone wants will look with it.

In the first post I describe most of the things we plan on getting for the functionality of the bar, so that's mostly planned out. The only thing not set in stone is what it will all look like.

Also, I don't actually know what the budget is yet, they haven't given me one. They wanted me to get a list of necessary materials together first and then go from there. With a 19.7 cu ft freezer, 2 dual faucet tower taps, a 4 way co2 regulator, 2 corny kegs, a used 10# co2 tank, and all the tubing and fittings to attach everything, the cost comes out just about $1080, and I know I can get enough brick to cover 19.5 sq ft of wall for $35, so that cost won't be too large either. As far as a temperature regulator goes for the freezer, I'm at an engineering school with 6 electrical engineers in my fraternity, I'm sure they can build one, no need to buy one.

If we brick-wall the entire area behind the bar, I don't know if we should keep a brick face for the bar or change that, and if we change that, to what?
 
First off get rid of that freestanding stainless urinal.
Start with a rustic look using old pallet boards butted tight on the walls, finish it with a Polynesian decor.
Cheap and fast.
 
man i wish i had those days back sometimes... but i would redesign everything.. first i would redo the bar with something that would last for a long time (bottle top bar with epoxy over it all? maybe some blue led's in it to highlight it all) then under counter freezer to support kegs and towers, backed by maybe glass fridge with bottle racks. red brick walls or something that would cover nicely.. over the already bricked (granite color, maybe follow old cathedral colors)
 
+1 on the DUAL STRIPPER POLES... I'm seeing a "Strip Off" in your frat's future... haha!
 
That's pretty sweet, what Fraternity by the way? I'm a professional handyman and can probably answer a lot of questions you may come across. I'd do like someone else mentioned and paint, paint, paint - especially that nasty wall behind the chest freezer. You'd be amazed what fresh paint can do. Also that sink looks like it's going to get torn off during a party and flood the place. How does the drain go into the floor? Maybe you could move it to that space between the freezer and the bar or or something so it's a little less precarious.
 
That's pretty sweet, what Fraternity by the way? I'm a professional handyman and can probably answer a lot of questions you may come across. I'd do like someone else mentioned and paint, paint, paint - especially that nasty wall behind the chest freezer. You'd be amazed what fresh paint can do. Also that sink looks like it's going to get torn off during a party and flood the place. How does the drain go into the floor? Maybe you could move it to that space between the freezer and the bar or or something so it's a little less precarious.

Also, get that keg of "Anheuser" out of there!

We're not entirely sure where the drain goes for that sink. Most of us are convinced they just drilled through the foundation and have it drain straight into the ground. Though, I don't think we will be getting rid of it, just because the plan is to build a lower bar to mount the taps, that the bartenders can work on, and that the sink can be built into, so it's not just hanging there attached to a piece of wood jutting out from the bar.

The keg is disassembled and being cleaned to use as a half barrel fermenter, hence the rubber stopper. We will be brewing our own party beer for parties rather than buying kegs of it, risk management issue involving insurance. So we will be using 2 of those kegs to brew 1 bbl batches of "fizzy yellow beer".

Also, do you think just painting the walls behind the bar would be better than bricking it over? I was thinking of trying for a look similar to this. At least as far as the contrast from the wood faced bar and the brick walls goes.
 
If you have extra brick lying around I say go for it. It will give it the good look of old basement bars you see in older cities/speak easies. I definitely think the infinity mirror bar top will look horribly out of place. Maybe just hand make a brand new bar top yourself out of wood the same as how cutting boards are done and then distress it a little before staining and sealing. I've mentioned this before but as a bartender one of the biggest things I would love to see is the entire below bar working counter done with high density plastic cutting board material. Easy to clean up, you can cut fruit on it, damn near indestructible, and it's cheaper than SS. Just some humble opinions. Good Luck
 
If you have extra brick lying around I say go for it. It will give it the good look of old basement bars you see in older cities/speak easies. I definitely think the infinity mirror bar top will look horribly out of place. Maybe just hand make a brand new bar top yourself out of wood the same as how cutting boards are done and then distress it a little before staining and sealing. I've mentioned this before but as a bartender one of the biggest things I would love to see is the entire below bar working counter done with high density plastic cutting board material. Easy to clean up, you can cut fruit on it, damn near indestructible, and it's cheaper than SS. Just some humble opinions. Good Luck

Definitely plan on doing the working counter out of some high density plastic. The rest of the house still wants the infinity mirror, so I'm still searching for a way to make that work.

For now, here's a CADed proposed model for what it would look like.

barfront2.png


Here's a view of the bar from the back. The 6 cabinet doors that are shown will be sliding doors.

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Your alumnus are generous for helping you actives/associates out.

That little "urinal" is probably useful in catching freshman yak.

Whatever you choose to build I would go for quality/strength over aesthetics. It's not uncommon to your house damaged with holes in the wall after a good night.
 
Your alumnus are generous for helping you actives/associates out.

That little "urinal" is probably useful in catching freshman yak.

Whatever you choose to build I would go for quality/strength over aesthetics. It's not uncommon to your house damaged with holes in the wall after a good night.

I'm actually considering covering the bar front in plexi-glass, after covering the brick with the wood design. We do still want this bar to have a certain class to it, but at the same time we are worried about the bar front and how likely it will get damaged. The bar top shouldn't be a problem for damage either, unless someone really heavy leans on it, and I mean really really heavy. Behind the bar we shouldn't have to worry about damage as the only people who are allowed back there are sober. We take our TIPS seriously, especially since our insurance relies on it.

As far as generosity of the alumni goes, yeah, I guess they are pretty generous for doing this, but we are renovating close to the entire house. The bar was originally a project they had when they were actives and, while we have contractors working on the rest of the house, they wanted to see the bar built by the actives, keep it in the tradition.
 
We're not entirely sure where the drain goes for that sink. Most of us are convinced they just drilled through the foundation and have it drain straight into the ground. Though, I don't think we will be getting rid of it, just because the plan is to build a lower bar to mount the taps, that the bartenders can work on, and that the sink can be built into, so it's not just hanging there attached to a piece of wood jutting out from the bar.

The keg is disassembled and being cleaned to use as a half barrel fermenter, hence the rubber stopper. We will be brewing our own party beer for parties rather than buying kegs of it, risk management issue involving insurance. So we will be using 2 of those kegs to brew 1 bbl batches of "fizzy yellow beer".

Also, do you think just painting the walls behind the bar would be better than bricking it over? I was thinking of trying for a look similar to this. At least as far as the contrast from the wood faced bar and the brick walls goes.

I'd say paint what has been previously painted, but if you want to leave the brick exposed that's ok, it would look a lot cleaner if you put a clear sealer on the exposed brick. You forgot to mention what fraternity?
 
I'd say paint what has been previously painted, but if you want to leave the brick exposed that's ok, it would look a lot cleaner if you put a clear sealer on the exposed brick. You forgot to mention what fraternity?

Judging by the startegically placed smudging in the first pic, I think he wants to keep that to himself...haha.
 
I think you have a definite chance to make the place awesome. Use that brick!!! Sandblast it clean, seal it up nice, and be happy. I think the biggest thing will be the lighting. I would go for some cool stylized track lighting. It can be cheap and very effective for creating a cool look, and could be easily used to tie the older look of brick and the new age infinity top (which i would try to steer you away from, but you sound pretty set).

I would also suggest a shelf or two levels of shelf on the bar back and a large bar mirror with your Frats insignia etched on the mirror.
 
I feel qualified to comment since I lived in the fraternity at Washington State between 87 and 91 when it was considered one of the top party schools in the nation. 8+kegs in one night was considered "adequate" and we often ran out.

I like the mirror idea for the wall behind the bar, that will be fun for people at the bar to see who is behind them and to be able to see the action while they're waiting. Make very sure it is well supported so it won't break when some gonad falls over into it.

Space out the taps so everyone isn't all crowded up against one spot. Four single tap towers is better.

Spray the ceiling/pipes flat black. Don't try to drywall/finish it, it will just get damaged and beer splattered.

Knotty pine on the walls. The original stuff is likely too far gone but pine boards with a bevel edge are easy to get, easy to finish, hide damage well and would likely be in keeping with the age of the house.

I like the lighting idea. Suggest you put some thought into drainage, and buck up for some of those thick rubber anti fatigue mats that you see in restaurant kitchens. Easy cleanup for the next morning. Just light the serving area, not the back bar.

For the front of the bar...people are gonna beat the hell out of it. Plexiglas over wood will not last, either. Nor will wood. People drop most of their drinks right in front of the bar. Splattered beer will get behind the plexiglas--until it gets inexplicably shattered somehow. How about steel panels, held on over a wood backer. Spray it with muriatic acid and then water, let it rust, and then clearcoat it. It will be bombproof.

For the bartop just make sure it's not disco looking. This is a big project and you want to make sure it gets done but most of all that it lasts.

Put lots of thought into crowd control. If people are happy waiting for beer, then they will have more fun when they get back out dancing, talking etc which is the whole point--get em drunk and then offer to show them the fishtank that you have up in your room.
 
No updates yet, still in the planning phase, but I have been told some of the equipment for the functionality aspect is going to be coming in to us soon.

I don't know if I'll really update too much on that, since it will initially be setting up the 2-tower tap/kegerator system into the existing bar.

It seems that most of the renovation will be done over the summer, or it will entirely be done during a week-long period right before the semester starts in August called "work-week"
 
As of today, all of the equipment needed for functionality of the bar was purchased. Seeing those invoices was amazing. I don't think I've ever been more excited for packages to start coming in.

In the order was a brand new 19.7 cu. ft. freezer, 2 cornelius kegs (we already have 2 sanke kegs which will be used), 2 10# CO2 tanks, and 2 dual faucet tower taps. (all the connections were also there, just not as exciting as the things listed)

When it starts coming in, we will be assembling it for use in the parties we will have the rest of the semester.

Over the summer, the aesthetics will be addressed and then we'll start making it look good, rather than just having it function well.
 
Subbed!

I love these building project threads, inspires me!

Cant wait to see what you do with that, no offence, manky looking space.
 
The freezer came in yesterday and we brought it down to the basement to replace the old one.

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The inside almost makes it look like we're having a party... curious... Also, buying 24 30-racks gets you some weird looks.
Rest assured as soon as it's completely assembled, taps and all, there will be much better beer flowing out of it than that. All homebrew, all the time.

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Next week we should be getting the rest of the equipment and I'll start putting it all together with the current bar, just to have it functional for the last party of the semester. Over the summer we will be doing the aesthetic rebuild.

If we didn't all have to be bothered by classes, job searching, and being able to use the bar for parties, this would be a much quicker project, but I anticipate this mostly being worked on and completed in August. I will still update on the rest of the build I will be doing next week though, and as always, ideas are welcome on how to make this bar look good.
 
The rest of the parts came in today. I'll post pictures of it later once I get back to the house. It includes 2 dual faucet tower taps, CO2 tanks, corny kegs, CO2 manifold, and a whole bunch of connection pieces.

Still need to get ball lock fittings for the corny kegs though, they were out when everything else was ordered.

Either this weekend or next Wednesday I will work on putting everything together, the rest of this week is pretty busy.
 
Stumbled across this thread. I wonder if the bar was ever finished? That manky looking original bar was basically identical to the one at my fraternity house. My senior year we also rebuilt it. Unfortunately we didn't have any home brewers at the time so it was always just Keystone Light or Natural Light. The thought of that last one makes me slightly nauseous.
 
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