Bar Build/Basement overhaul... Progress tracker

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cruelkix

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 22, 2009
Messages
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Location
Aurora, CO
Hi all,

Just thought I would document my progress for my newly planned basement overhaul.

He are my concept Google Sketchup's:

What the basement currently looks like with the Keezer in it.
old.jpg


Real life photo of the keezer in the basement, its on the other side of the room in real life:
DSCN5330.jpg


New concept with keezer built into bar that lifts to allow access to keezer:
NewBar.jpg


Shot of "behind the bar":
Inside.jpg


Just looking for any thoughts, suggestions or tips at this point. Will let everyone know how the whole thing goes. I have got to get rid of the wood paneling in the basement first. It is all sorts of ugly. After the room remodel is done I will start bar construction. I had to sell the remodel with the bar ...... It's like getting to see that action movie that you want to see but you have to go to dinner first.

Thanks!
Craig
 
Looks good. How do you plan to maintain access to the keezer for swapping kegs etc. with it built in like that?
 
Well if you look at the pic you can see a line that goes down it. I plan on hinging the bar and connecting to the top of the keezer. that way I can essentially "open" the bar up which will be connected to the freezer top. There are some clearances and weight issues and all that. I'm not going to get way into detail with the Sketchup drawing, but when I get to that point there will def be some design concerns.

Short answer. I haven't gotten it completely figured out yet.
 
So I know it's been a really long time but I actually started my bar build!!!!:ban::ban::ban:

I am no longer able to edit the posts I saved for progress....... apparently there is a time limit on editing posts .....

Here are a few photos of progress thus far.

Wood paneling is gone and dry wall is up and mudded. Carpet is ripped out as well.

DSCN5671.jpg


Keezer tear apart started .... I only have one picninc tap so I only have 1 beer on tap ATM. First time in 2 years!!!

DSCN5673.jpg


More to come. You can see a few 2x4's where i have started to frame out the new bar. I hope to have the bar built in the next 2-3 weeks. the wife and I picked out a few marble samples for the top of the bar (the gray part in the sketchup drawings).

And here is a shot of the drip tray and hardware that is going to be on it.

DSCN5678.jpg


Thoughts and critics welcome!:tank:
 
Awesome to see some progress, and the place already looks a million times better de-wood paneled. Are you going to leave a way to get access to/remove the freezer if something should happen to it?
 
I've been thinking about that .... at the moment my mind has been filled with images of sawzalls......
 
Sawzall would definitely work to get it out, but might be a bit destructive! ;)

Maybe consider some sort of false panel on the front of thr bar (behind the freezer) so you could get to it/slide it out?
 
The more I think about it the more I really need to have someway of getting it out that isntoverly destructive/hard. I think you are right, I should leave one of the panels slightly "removable" and give myself a way to slide it out if need be....... I'll take some pics of whatever I accomplish tonight.
 
The more I think about it the more I really need to have someway of getting it out that isntoverly destructive/hard. I think you are right, I should leave one of the panels slightly "removable" and give myself a way to slide it out if need be....... I'll take some pics of whatever I accomplish tonight.

perhaps attach some 2x4's to the back of the keezer to which you could screw the outside of the bar onto. With that said, you would also have to move the rest of the bar out 2", but you would be able to get your keezer out if the case should arise when it needs to be replaced or fixed. Also, with this 2" tolerance from the 2x4's, if the keezer needed to be replaced, you could use one that was a bit bigger or smaller.

Just a thought, but really nice work man.
 
perhaps attach some 2x4's to the back of the keezer to which you could screw the outside of the bar onto. With that said, you would also have to move the rest of the bar out 2", but you would be able to get your keezer out if the case should arise when it needs to be replaced or fixed. Also, with this 2" tolerance from the 2x4's, if the keezer needed to be replaced, you could use one that was a bit bigger or smaller.

Just a thought, but really nice work man.

Yeah I mean that is kinda the current plan. I was going to make a 2x4 frame and then attach teh nice wood to the 2x4s. I think if I set attach the 2x4s properly I can give myself a way to pull the freezer out. I do a lot better with designing stuff when I stare at it......

The hard part is attaching the nice wood to the 2x4s from the inside of the bar so that teh screws and stuff arent showing on the outside when you look at it. I think that alone means I need to have the freezer removable to some extent.
 
The hard part is attaching the nice wood to the 2x4s from the inside of the bar so that teh screws and stuff arent showing on the outside when you look at it. I think that alone means I need to have the freezer removable to some extent.

You could use wooden hole plugs like this http://www.coolpierce.com/wood-plug-oew047-p-32.html on the part of the bar that needs to be removable. I'm sure only you would even notice they were there. As far as the rest of the bar goes, you can just screw from the back of the 2x4's where you'd never have any holes on the front.
 
You could use wooden hole plugs like this http://www.coolpierce.com/wood-plug-oew047-p-32.html on the part of the bar that needs to be removable. I'm sure only you would even notice they were there. As far as the rest of the bar goes, you can just screw from the back of the 2x4's where you'd never have any holes on the front.

We are on the same wave length my friend. That's what i decided on doing. I made some decent progress tonight. I'll take some pics and show you what I came up with in the morning.
 
We are on the same wave length my friend. That's what i decided on doing. I made some decent progress tonight. I'll take some pics and show you what I came up with in the morning.

Awesome man. Good luck and I look forward to some pics!
 
Hey man, this looks real good! I like how the bar really looks like it fits perfectly in that area. Like it was meant to be.

I had a similar issue with worrying about getting the fridge (freezer) out in the event that it goes dead or needs replacing. I didnt have such a good plan, and I know if that day comes, a sawzall will most likely be necessary. Just some encouragement for you to make sure you have an action plan. I definitely worry about pulling that warm pint one day, it freaks me out a bit (although I have dorm fridge coldbox extension, you have a keezer. Don't want to jinx ya but I think I have more efficiency problems to worry about than you).

Enough bad talk, keep up the good work!
 
Hey man, this looks real good! I like how the bar really looks like it fits perfectly in that area. Like it was meant to be.

I had a similar issue with worrying about getting the fridge (freezer) out in the event that it goes dead or needs replacing.

Thanks! So here is how I plan on getting the freezer out if the time comes:

Front view of progress I made Friday night before we went out (not much time...)
DSCN5679.jpg


Here is a pic of the back:

DSCN5680.jpg


So what i Did was turn the 2x4 90 degrees so that the whole fridge can slide out. I accomplished this by using a Pocket Hole jig. I will still be throwing a few cross beams across the back, but using the pocket jig so that they can be easily removed if the time comes. The "Nice wood" will then be mounted to all the 2x4s from there. Its going to be hard to hide the connectors using wood plugs and such, but its on the side of the bar that not that many people or going to sit at/see.

Also, HURRAY my piano hinge came in!! That is how the bar is going to lift up to allow access to the freezer. More pics on that to follow.
DSCN5681.jpg
 
Hey man, this looks real good! I like how the bar really looks like it fits perfectly in that area. Like it was meant to be.

I just read through your bar build man. Nice work! Looks good!! I see what you are talking about with the no exit strategy.... Fingers crossed it never happens to either of us.:tank::tank:
 
Looking good, glad you figured out a way to get the freezer out if needed. Keep at it, and keep posting pics!
 
Haha! When teh bar is finished I will throw on some Lederhosen and take a pic just for you! (Maybe .......)




(Probably not...... I dont have any!:eek:)

Those babies are expensive too! I'd put the money into the bar.
 
its all going well man if u need help with fabrication give me a pm i can send u plans and tips. my father and I have years of contractor and pre fab experience.

quick question will this be a at home bar for the friends and family or will u be stepping it up a notch?
 
Looking forward to this build I am finally starting my bar build this week and am doing the same with my keezer lid/bar top. 1 thing I'm struggling with and planning the bottom base for the proper height so with that, the height of the freezer and whatever I decide to go with for a top all comes out to 42" tall. Hard part is I have no clue what I'm doing for a top. Curious about your opinion or what you're doing for that.
 
its all going well man if u need help with fabrication give me a pm i can send u plans and tips. my father and I have years of contractor and pre fab experience.

Thanks for the offer!! I appreciate any advice I can get.

quick question will this be a at home bar for the friends and family or will u be stepping it up a notch?

This is a home bar for friends and family.

Like many of us here on HBT I dream of going big one day. I dream a lot actually. So much so that I get in touch with people on a regular basis about laws and costs of things. I have a pretty good idea on what i need to go big.

Right now I brew on my E-herms Rig. But will need to go bigger than that to start up my brewery.
 
Looking forward to this build I am finally starting my bar build this week and am doing the same with my keezer lid/bar top. 1 thing I'm struggling with and planning the bottom base for the proper height so with that, the height of the freezer and whatever I decide to go with for a top all comes out to 42" tall. Hard part is I have no clue what I'm doing for a top. Curious about your opinion or what you're doing for that.

The 42" thing is interesting. Keep paying attention in the next few weeks and you'll see what I did. I'm trying to document each step as best as I can.
 
Slowly but surely.....

DSCN5683.jpg


So as you can see I got the 5/8 plywood cut and on top. I havent mounted to the top of the freezer yet, but it is all clamped up and ready for the holes to be drilled and the T-nuts to be put in place.

My clearance turned out pretty darn good if i do say so myself.

DSCN5685.jpg


So in response to IR's question about how I'm getting to the 42 inches, look at the first post with my design drawing. See how I have the 4 chunks of 2x4 attached to the plywood? Another piece of plywood will be going on top of that to generate my 42" height as well as give me my 6 inch serving space, where the drip tray is sitting in the design drawing. It will also extend out past the back of the freezer to give the over hang for the bar. Make sense? If not ... wait two days and I'll have pics of it haha.

This shot just shows how it will bridge between the bottom frame and the top hinge.
DSCN5686.jpg


Considering I get about 2 hours at a time to work on this thing and how slow of a worker I am (I always think to much and stop working ...) I think things are coming along pretty well.
 
Curious about the heat generated by the keezer and where it will go in this setup. Are you putting a vent in the outside of the bar by the compressor area? Using any fans?
 
Curious about the heat generated by the keezer and where it will go in this setup. Are you putting a vent in the outside of the bar by the compressor area? Using any fans?

Good question. Oneof the reasons I spaced everything out was so that I could use the 2x4's as kind of an air cahnnel. I was going to use fans to blow the air around it and put a vent in the "nicewood" on the front of the freezer/teh service side of the bar. I'm going to use a powerstrip on my johnson controller so teh fans turn on when teh freezer turns on.

That's the plan at least. It stays below 70 in teh basement at all tiems and the freezer is going to stay sitting on bare concrete...... We shall see. the thing only turns on like 12 times a day for like 4 minutes.
 
What is up with the PBR tap handle? I hope you aren't going to keep PBR on tap when you are finished with your project.

Yeah dont worry. That was only for a party. I shut off most my taps and had people drink the PBR. I'm not a huge fan of people using my home brew for beer pong .... Call me crazy. Unfortuantely sometimes buying a giant keg of cheap beer is a necessity. I dont think I had a single glass of it haha.
 
what kind of material are u going to go for for the nice side (facing your patrons) and the vent idea is perfect, u can also make that out of wood to(a manual shutter design or intricate lattice probably the name of your home pub!) if that's what your going for!
man i wish my place could stay at 70.
 
I dont know. I was looking at lowes and cheery oak isnt that much more expensive than poplar right now. The basement stays 70 but the rest f the house doesnt thats for sure. Same as the ground water in CO. Always cold, good for chilling beer :).

I like you vent idea. I may have to steal that.

I mounted the freezer lid to the plywood tonight. I also totally screwed up a cut (worth $40), so I grabbed a home brew and called it a night .........

Teh wife painted. Looks pretty good down there.
 
Progress!!! Again, I only had a few hours this weekend. But I'm very happy with where I got to considering the time restraints!

DSCN5687.jpg


Different angle
DSCN5688.jpg


The marble tile we picked out for the top.
DSCN5689.jpg


IT OPENS!!!!!! WEWT!!!!!!!!!
DSCN5690.jpg


How I'm running the lines up to the taps:
DSCN5692.jpg
 
Thanks man. I bought that "Great Stuff" spray in insulation from Home Depot. I think I might also use some of the foam board stuff they sell at Home Depot as well.
 
Nice job on that hinged lid! I've been watching your thread and wondering exactly how that was going to work.
 
Nice job on that hinged lid! I've been watching your thread and wondering exactly how that was going to work.

Thanks dude. I was kinda concerned about it myself.....

I wondered if the hinge was going to hold all the weight but it seems to be holding up nicely. There is still probably like 50lbs more of stuff going on top of it so it better be strong haha.

Lining it up with the wall was a huge pain in the butt. I had some scraping issues and had to trim up the side against the wall a bit. It was slightly nerve racking and its still going to be a concern when i put the "Finishing wood" on there. I have it opening pretty smoothly but there is a pretty decent (1/4 inch) gap between the bar and the wall. The gap gets smaller as I raise the lid, which means either the hinge isn't perfectly perpendicular to the wall or the wall isn't perfectly straight. I blame the wall :p
 
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