My bar....n build (bar in the barn) thus far

Hello all, this is my first attempt at a post, so figured I would share some work ive been doing on a bar for my buddies and I to drink at this summer! Well to start I recently finished college, and found myself with a surplus of time while looking for a job... Thus far this has been the result of said excess time on my hands (and of course my old man being willing to let me build a bar up in his 200 year old barn!) so here it goes

First task was to rip out the old floor that had rotted away to alomst nothing (saved the old board for later in the project)





Then had to rip out an old beam that was rotten and cut/put in a new one (this was a hell of a task)



Then Dragged some logs from the bush to fix the floor



And took them to a rather dodgy sawmill, hahaha. Great guy, but he is crazy (72 years old and crawling around a 54" diameter open blade)

 

And now, some more stages of the bar construction!

After a day at the sawmill this is what my buddy (pictured) and I ended up with



Then we took it home and screwed it all down to the beams! now the real fun begins



My brother in law and myself roughed in some new vertical and horizontal beams to build the bar around



Next was framing in the bar, and getting the fridge in and level..... no easy task (apparently builders were less then concerned with squareness and level 200 years ago)



This is where the old floor board that had been stripped of nails came back into play, were using it to cover the front of the bar to stick with the barn theme

 

Very Nice look forward to more photos! What size fridge are you using?

 

Sorry but here is where the pictures of every stage stop, there will be some large gaps between stages (we were going hard at it all weekend and little time for photo-ops)

Its really starting to come together now,

Well the front is now covered and the top plywood base for the bar top is on,



Sink area tiled in and sealed



Lights and wiring all installed and pine up on walls



Same as before, but a different angle



At this stage I also decided I wanted to build a coffin box, but didn't take many pictures of the process, none the less here it is assembled and almost ready to get stained and lacquered



That is going to be it for a few days as far as pictures go, going to be working up there hard and hoping to have the bar done and the coffin box mounted by Sunday so the coffee porter, wheat beer and pilsner I have carbonating right now can get pouring!

 

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We actually came across an 8ft stainless under bar fridge in a restaurant in Toronto, bought it for $300. Pretty confident the only reason it was so cheap was due to its location (a basement). Apparently 6 people had tried to drag it out with crews before, but we finally got it out of there! I have never lifted anything so heavy in my life, and had the lady not told me that if we failed to get it out she was going to cut it in half and scrap it, we'd of likely left it too.

 

great work!!!

 

This looks awesome!
what are you going to do to the bar top? not leave it as plywood i hope

 

Man that id awesome! I cant wait for more updates.

 

No sir! going to be 2'x2' tile grids of limestone (home depot clearance at $0.36/sq.ft) recessed in oak, on the wider side of the bar there will be 5 sets of those tiles and on the short side it will be be straight oak. and the edges will be a simple oak bullnose

 

Looks great!

 

Nice looking build! I take it that it doesn't get to warm there?

 

It was 38 C the other day, errr sorry 100ish F with the humidity(mind you this was way out of the ordinary for this time of year), but right beside the bar is a 20x15 door we open up to let a draft through, with exhaust fans in the top of the barn to draw out the warm air from the top

 

looking good.. yes its been brutal last few days.. im not too far from you.. hour or so drive..

 

That barn is oozing character. Can we see a picture from the outside?

 

Nice use of curly maple on the coffin. reclaimed wood for the front. Very cool!

 

Awesome work man. Oh to have the time and space...

 

Unfortunately the pictures I have of it are when we almost lost the whole barn last spring before my sisters wedding, big windstorm blew in and the west main support beam snapped. Luckily the fire department consists of 90% family and they chained a tractor to it and anchored it out in the field so it wouldn't blow in. None the less here are some pictures from that, to give ya an idea of the building.

 

Well turns out I have updates sooner than I thought, here is tonight's progress!

Got the oak all framed in for the tile to lay into, gotta sand it all tomorrow



Also Stained up the coffin box and put a coat of lacquer on it,



And finally, mounted the flatscreen on the back wall

 

Yeah not far at all! We need some rain pretty bad down in our area, our lawn is turning proper brown already, very strange spring thus far.

 

You have no idea how jealous I am of this project. I'm a hobbyist woodworker and full-time structural engineer, so this project would play to both of those interests. I can't wait to see the finished product (love the tiger maple on the coffin box btw).

Oh, and please tell me you guys added some horizontal bracing to the barn after it almost blew down in the wind storm. I would hate to see you lose your bar build under the collapsed roof should that happen again.

 

Yeah we did, 2 14"x14"x28' hardwood beams mounted with 9/16" plate steel brackets and 1' threaded rod, along with 3/4" steel wire and tensioners on the opposite wall! Maybe a bit of overkill, but insurance was buying so might as well hahaha.

 

Thanks for the pictures. I like old barns and it looks like you could have a huge party in that one.

 

That looks awesome! Looking forward to more updates.

 

Actually we had my sisters wedding in there last May (which is what started this whole cleaning out and using the barn kick), 190 people comfortable with tables and chairs!

 

Looks fantastic. I love the look of old reclaimed materials. Nice job man! I went with a more rustic log decor with basement bar and love the final results. That is going to be an awesome place for you and your buddies to hang!

 

Well here is the weekends progress, we got a good bit done.
Someone is coming to pour the top sealer tomorrow we hope.

First here is an old skid we got that I lacquered up and put bottoms into, going to use it as a liquor shelf with under counter lighting in it



Here's the bar with the tiles set but not mortared, mortar is laid down, but haven't got any pictures of that yet! Sorry the pictures kinda blow, it was dusty in there and the camera had trouble focusing

 

Your profile says Ontario but I don't know anything about what summers there are like. How hot does that barn get? And cold in the winter? In my experience here in MN (which is pretty far north by US standards) it still gets nasty hot inside barns in summer.

 

It gets pretty hot, but we have 3 exhaust fans in the very top set to draw all of the hot air out of the building, and a return fan for fresh air, the idea is to insulate the area where the bar is for winter eventually

 

Smart man. I had a feeling you had thought this through but I figure it never hurts to ask questions and make sure. That would make for a sad day at the barn/bar otherwise.

 

This is an amazing build! So much character in this bar!!!

Looking forward to your progress pics!!!

 

Well last night we had a pig roast and party to watch the holland and germany soccer games, but before everyone got there was able to snap a pic of the bar with the stools in and a few of our homemade wheat beers sitting around! More pics and additions to the bar to come

 

love it!

 

Almost done getting the brew area together, this is 10 feet from the bar! New camera and wide angle lens on the way, will get a pic of it all together soon.

 

Absolutely incredible! Congrats man!

 

Very cool. Keep up the good work and dont hesitate to send some old reclaimed barn wood to Southern California.

 

Well I finally got some decent pictures of everything, sorry for the crappy cell phone shots thus far. Did two brews this weekend, and though it wasn't automated to the extent it will be in the end it is still a whole lot easier and more efficient than it used to be.

Here's the bar (near complete, needs foot rail and a few odds and ends still)


Another shot of the bar


One of the brew area in relation to the bar


And just one a shot I thought was neat