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July, 2011

  1. Day 4 – No Longer Topless!

    July 25, 2011 by Felix

    Of course, all bars need a top. Where all the magic happens. Well, at least where the elixirs that make the magic happen are consumed!

    3/4″ pressure treated plywood will do it. 8 feet for the long side, 17″ wide which gives me a 9″ clearance underneath for stools, knees, & such. Short end will be a bit deeper because sink will go under there! (oooh… foreshadowing!)

     Running total: $315 (Brew not included)

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  2. Day 3 – Build dem Walls!

    July 23, 2011 by Felix

    Frame done, time to put up the walls. Duroc? I actually went with 1/2″ HardieBacker board. Regular coated deck wood screws did great for this.

    My frame wasn’t 100% perfect as far as alignment goes, so I was concerned about the board cracking when screwing certain parts of the board that might have made the board bend too much. Well, I guess I was better than I thought (or maybe it was the Hardie board) because there was no breakage, although there was “bendage.”

    At some huge gaps, I used shims or even some more HardieBoard. I just want to have a nice, straight surface area because at this point, I’m thinking tile will be lining these walls.

    Running total: $270

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  3. Day 2 – A day of reinforcements

    July 17, 2011 by Felix

    On day 1, I built the frame… or so I thought!

    What’s the most important part of any structure??? That’s right, the foundation! I want a 400 pound drunkard to be able to stumble straight into my bar and have it not move any more than the wall of my house! How do I accomplish that? Reinforce WAY more than necessary! Is there really “too much” when it comes to this stage? My opinion is NO!

    So a ton of this bar’s strength is going to come from it being anchored to the wall. When the wall is made of gunite (see yesterday’s post), it is a real b%&ch to drill through it. But, as with everything else, when you’ve got the right tools, you’ve got the right tools. In this case, it was a 3/4″ masonry drill bit that chewed through the gunite like I didn’t think was possible after attempting it with all the wrong drill bits.

    After anchoring it to the wall, I wanted more stability. I basically didn’t want it to wobble at all! Even if there were no other anchors in place. As you can tell from the pictures, I went nuts on placing extra pieces of 2x4s, metal braces, and screws to strengthen this bar. Something else I learned was the POWER of a reinforcement that takes advantage of a 45 degree angle! Add some 1/4″ Tapcons into the concrete underneath and now we’re talking STRENGTH!!

    Running total: $200

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  4. Day 1

    July 15, 2011 by Felix

    With no carpentry skills whatsoever and no actual plan,
    what I did have was a desire to build my own bar
    on our patio by the pool!

    Spent $126 at Home Depot on twelve 2X4s, outdoor deck screws, metal joiners, Tapcon screws, and a Tapcon drill bit. I then got to work for the next 4 hours.

    Something I learned about was gunite, which is apparently what my outside walls are made of. This matters because when I thought I’d simply Tapcon screw the side up against the wall, the wall started to crumble around the drill bit and then the screw. Went back to Home Depot and came across Gary, probably the most knowledgeable guy about homes I’ve come across, and toggle bolts is what I’ll try next!

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