Post #760123 by Aloha Daddy on Thu, Mar 3, 2016 9:43 PM

I've been working really hard on this remodel, my wife told me I bit off more than I could chew, what's new? I always do but it's what keeps me always reaching higher and not being satisfied with my bar always being in a state of "under constuction". I will get ideas in the middle of the day and I have to write it down and develop it on paper and I can't rest until I do.

Anyway, Tiki Central and my fellow tiki bar owners are a big part of that inspiration. I may be looking at other bars and I will get an idea totally unrelated to the photos I'm seeing, but the creative juices get going from seeing such talent and creativity in others' bars.

Anyway, I'm posting progress photos, which for me is hard because I don't like people to see my work while it still looks ugly. But I know I like to see others' progress photos so maybe some people would like to see mine, so here goes.

The centerpiece of the new bar will be a waterfall/volcano. I've always had a fountain in the middle, but I've had problems with the splashing running the thing dry. I'm making this volcano with a waterfall that runs down a piece of acrylic that I have painted the backside orange & red. The top reservoir where the water starts will have an LED smoke unit in it. In this photo I have a frame of lightweight wood and I draped metal window screening over that. I laid plastercloth strips over that to create the mountains. I also cut up an aquarium piece of ancient ruins and placed it in the mountain to simulate a lost city covered in lava.

The cabinet that holds up the volcano had to be beefed up and expanded to accommodate the new 32 gal aquarium tank I'm putting on it. I tried to make a tiki hut look, I covered the legs with large bamboo and I designed the lid of the box to be hinged for easy access to the tank and I covered it with thatch for the tiki hut roof piece. The sides of the enclosure have 20" high tiki masks hinged again for good access to the sides and back of the tank.

One of my favorite things that has been in my mind for a long time is the lighted panels that will go on both sides of the bar showcasing exotica album covers. I built the light boxes and the lights are LED strips attached to the insides of the boxes. I am planning on moving my bottles of booze to the lower shelves and I will be showcasing my tiki mug collection on the former bottle shelves in front of the light boxes. This photo is of the first one, I will be framing them with bamboo poles so they will be more finished looking than this.

More to come soon...

aloha!