HopHog87
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2013
- Messages
- 51
- Reaction score
- 3
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!
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!