Basement Bar Build Thread

[HopHog87]

After a little over three years of living in our home and, having spent about that much time finishing out our unfinished basement in stages, I have finally broken ground on my new basement project...The Bar! Something I have been looking forward to for a long time. It was always "when we get the bar finished" or "once we have the bar done," well finally it is well on it's way to setting a benchmark in finishing our basement.

I spent literally hours looking through threads of home basement builds, staring at photos of various home bars and generally just drooling over what others had done. However, while I found several projects that I said "Ah Ha," there wasn't one just like the bar I had in mind with good pictures throughout construction. I was actually keepign me up sometimes at night thinking..."how do I do that?" or maybe "one countertop or no countertop." Even "2x4's or 2x6's?" So I post this thread more for the benefit those contemplating and planning a build but have the same logistical questions I did.

Realize that I am not a pro at construction/woodworking, just a guy of average DIY skills and a some imagination. Also, at the time of this first posting I am still not finished so this could still turn out to be a disaster. But if it helps someone say "well hell, I can do that," and it looks pretty decent, then I'll feel my effort wasn't wasted.

So let's start.

First off, I didn't want to hassle with making this a wet bar. I simply don't have the patience to plumb it all in and, in all honesty, I don't think it's totally necessary. This will be a simple escape for me where a beer or two will be had at a time, not a major party spot with hundreds of mugs/dirty glasses/drink orders will necessitate a sink. I can carry a glass up the stairs to the dishwasher when I feel like it. Plus, that would up the cost greatly.

So a straight bar with a counter top below, some cabinet space and under-the-counter space for two mini fridges (one for a see through fridge for my beer and another for a regular fridge/possibly a kegerator later on).

After hashing out some rough plans the fun begin:


To get a visual I lay out the "footprint" of the bar on the floor and wall with painters tape. The blue represents the actual footprint of the framework while the white represents the overhanging bar top. Kinda nice to image what will be there.


The cabinet is from Lowe's and measures 36 inches long by about 24 inches deep. The countertop will mount directly on top of the prefab cabinet (with support of some 2x4's a little later). The whole assembly will be tied into the cabinet as well once it's all squared up.


Bottom 2x4 is treated lumber.


A craft brew after some hard work!

 

[HopHog87]

Sorry for the double posted images. I can't figure out how to get them uploaded and then into the text where I can add captions and then not have them appear twice. I used the image insert function to add into text but can't get them to disappear as an attachment at the end. Any help there would be appreciated.

 

[cluckk]

I load images as attachments. Once they are uploaded use the paperclip icon to insert them into the post.

 

[Vlint]

I love me some Dirty Bastard. My Founder's favorite

 

[HopHog87]

First day finished...had to have a beer at the future bar!

 

[ImNoExpert]

Good Luck!

 

[HopHog87]

Progress for day two.

With some help from the Father-in-Law, we tied the corners together, anchored the bottom 2x4 into the floor with a hammer drill and Tapcons, and also framed in the 2x4's which run horizontally to add strength and support to mount the lower counter top to.

We tied the cabinet into the framework as well by running wood screws through the inside of the cabinet straight into the 2x4 frames. When the countertops get added this thing will be very solid.


Countertop and bartop are now cut and added. The countertop was the easiest as it is a simple rectangle.

Beer of the day is Lion Stout.

For the bar top, I went with three layers of 3/4" board. I'll explain why when we get to the bar rail moulding part but, because of the bar moulding I chose, I needed a lower layer that sticks out farther than the two top layers to accommodate the moulding later on. Since the total length of the bar top is greater than the 97" particle board I had, I had to cut two smaller sections and then screw them into the framework so that the whole thing comes together.

 

[HopHog87]

Day three is where we get to put on the actual bar top.

This final layer of 3/4" birch ply will the be actual bar top. Underneath you can see we already put a second layer between the particleboard and this upper top. It didn't have to be the nice plywood, it could have been another layer of anything 3/4" but I had extra ply so we used that. This upper top is all one piece, cut with a skill saw and then jigsawed in the corner so that there are no seams on the bar top. Secured with liquid nails and then underneath from screws ran up through all three layers.


I lamented whether or not to spend the money on the bar mouling for the arm rest but, after much deliberation, I figured if I was putting this much effort and cash into the rest of the bar I might as well make it look official. The best deal I could find was through Deenoon Lumber. They're poplar bar rail was roughly $6/linear foot which blows the other bar rail out of the water in terms of a good deal. We had to splice the long piece together since they only come in 8' sections and the bar is just over 8' long. I don't think it will look bad when finished, though.

Here is an idea my wife had. I wanted a chalkboard to display the beers when it all gets finished. We hot glued some caps around the edge and painted the edge black. Cool.

Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout. Not bad.

 

[HopHog87]

Day four.

Trimming up the bar front/side with simple 1x6 and 1x8 whiteboard and a nail gun.

Also using some cove moulding for the inside of the "frames."

Miter Saw on a stand makes this much easier! Thanks to the Father-in-Law for almost every single tool.

 

[HopHog87]

Day Five

I've been planning on putting a nice mirror behind the bar but I didn't just want a plain ol' Generic Name Beer mirror you can buy, nor did I want to pay upwards of $300 for one you buy already made with the shelf and all.

So what I did was buy a $37 mirror at Lowes measuring 30"x40" and then just improvised. Some 1/4" ply, some ripped 1x6" boards and some J channel hidden behind cove moulding mounted the mirror.

Then I Mitered and ran some Crown Moulding around the top board.

The bottom shelf is actually a stair step I bought for about $10 again, at Lowes, and supported with some brackets. All in All I think it turned out pretty well.

Schlafly Coffee Stout makes it look even better!


We're getting there!!

 

[Rivenin]

Looking good!

 

[HopHog87]

Bought 1 1/4" galvanized pipe from Lowes and, with a few elbows, nipples and floor flanges, finished adding the footrest.

The store was able to cut the 10' section I bought down to size and also thread the ends for free.

 

[HopHog87]

Almost all done! It has been a while since I posted any finished pictures but my progress was slowed down quite a bit.

 

[Yaason]

That looks great.