The problem with home tiki bars

I've been collecting 'stuff' for a number of years in order to design/build/put together/make it happen/erect (?) my home tiki bar. 2 weeks ago I acquired the focal point itself - a vintage rattan tiki bar complete with 2 carved tiki masks on the front. Since then I've been a possessed man. Night and day I've been in my garage hammering away. I haven't showered or changed clothing in days; I haven't eaten solid food in a week (do you know one can actually survive on pineapple chunks and orgeat syrup?). My wife and kids - don't know and don't care. They cowar in their rooms as the man that was once their father rummages around for his car keys in order to go to Home Depot for something or other. I don't know what's come over me. It's like getting new pu@@y, er.. I mean a new girlfriend or something. I can't leave it alone. Not that I'm a recovering alcoholic (yet) or something, but every, and I mean every, time I pass by my tiki bar it calls out to me - Mai Tai, Mai Tai. I'm a mess. I want to quit my job just to hang out in my garage with my new best friend. If I have to break into neighbor's homes to support my habit - so be it. Don't let this happen to you fellow TC's. This is the Police - put the swizzle stick down and step back from the tiki bar!

[ Edited by: Tiki_Bong on 2002-05-28 17:58 ]

Dude,
I share your pain. Last week I decided to thatch the ceiling in the bar. The job was way way bigger than I anticipated. I ended up having to take the room apart piece by piece and putting it back together. I had to go to Home Depot a dozen times. I had to drive to Hunington to "Franks" to get the mat. It took a whole week. But, MaiTais taste much better under the new canopy. Wait till I make the new Beachcomber Lamps. Please post a pic of your new bar.
Al

Hey Al,

Call me technically-challenged, but how exactly do I go about posting pictures, in this case of my tiki bar, on Tiki Central. My wife has a digital camera and she's pretty knowledgable, but geez... a man can't actually ask the wifey-poo a question.

Tiki Bong

I think you can find that info by clicking the HELP above. I know it's here. First thing you need to do on your end is upload the pictures somewhere on the internet, then putting them here is fairly simple.

The Swank Pad - Live365.com - If it's Swank...

[ Edited by: Swanky on 2002-05-28 11:52 ]

I posted these pics on the old Yahoo Tiki Central, then Ilinked them here. The FAQ will tell you how. I hope this works. These are pics of my new ceiling.
http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/groups/tikicentral/Miscellaneous+Tiki/tiki+celing3.jpg?bcCjo.8ANcYFCYS4
http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/groups/tikicentral/Miscellaneous+Tiki/tiki+celing4.jpg?bcCjo.8AmjVBjDjk

[ Edited by: alnshely on 2002-05-29 21:04 ]

[ Edited by: alnshely on 2002-06-01 15:08 ]

Al, that is beautiful. So professional looking! It also looks like it was a LOT of work.

These are pics of my new ceiling.

I was looking at the pics, w/o reading ALL your message. I was thinking, "enough of the ceiling, show the bar and the other goodies!" Ha ha, then I see the pics were supposed to show the ceiling. Doh!

BTW, love the mugs, but all the way up there on that little shelf? No can do for me. Little quakes here or there and I have several thousand dollars of bits and pieces! We had a wee 5.2 up here coupla weeks back and I made a mad dash for the bookshelves holding my collection.

"Save the mugs, or all is lost!"

I gotta move to a more stable topography.

[ Edited by: midnite_tiki on 2002-05-28 16:03 ]

A small dollop of silicon adhesive holds the mugs nicely; and if they need to be moved it pretty much lifts off with a little pull.

Silicon adhesive? Sounds like it doesn't mess with the surfaces it is affixed to. I have been using earthquake putty, maybe I should try silicon.

I'd stick with the earthquake paste. I've tried the dot of silicone adhesive in the past, and it can be way too permanent at times. I even shattered something held down with silicone when I carefully tried to remove it.

Another earthquake prep is to make sure the shelves themselves are securely attached to its brackets. Wouldn't take much of a shake to bring down the whole shelf itself, after spending all that time setting your mugs with quake paste!

:tiki:

Bong said "If I have to break into neighbor's homes to support my habit - so be it."

Geeze...glad I don't live anywhere close to you!!! Actually my house has been robbed a couple of times (You'd think a professional crime fighter like myself would have a decent alarm system!) and that is a big fear of mine.
Luckily few people around here know or care what a Stephen Crane mug is worth.
Kids who break into my house are so stupid that they leave cash and diamond rings for a crappy '85 class ring and every weapon in my house.

And, hey - I finally found an Ohio perk that you west-coast-lucky-bastard types don't have...no earthquakes! (Knock on wood!)

Hey, thanks for sharing the pictures - very nice!
:sheckymug:

I too am using Eearthquake Putty on my mugs. I picked it up at Home Depot for around $3.99/package and each package was good for about 50 mugs! Traderpup is right - secure your shelves too. Mine are screwed to the brackets which are tightly secured to the wall.

I thought you all were kidding about the earthquake paste, then I realised there really must be such a thing. This amuses me greatly, for some strange reason!

I thought you all were kidding about the earthquake paste, then I realised there really must be such a thing.

Indeed there is! As a matter of fact, I know that several museums in the Southern California area use earthquake putty to secure their valuables as well.

In addition to the earthquake putty you can also string some wire across the top of you mugs. If you want to get real fancy loop some wire through the handle (if there is one) and use a eyelet screw to secure to the wall. These are just the many things we have to deal with in earthquake areas. The eyelet screws also work great for pictures. I saved the glass on my pictures and paintings on the last big one.

Swanky,

There's nothing wrong with drinking every day; it's the every 'time' I walk past my tiki bar occurance that causes me concern!

"I only drink to make other people more interesting"

Use the clear earthquake wax. Thats what we use in the trade. Stay away fom the brown stuff, it can stain. And when removing your item, get a thin guitar string, place it at the base of the item in question, and pull gently. Don't pull the item upwards, you can pull the finish off of what it is resting on, or worse possibly damage the item itself.
Had someone decide to move an item of theirs themselves, pulled up, click, broken 10,000 dollar sculpture. Glad someone else from the company was around.
Now when hanging your artwork in earthquake country, use what are called "Mirror Hangers", They have adjustable brackets so when you hang one lower than the other, you just spin a nut, and everything gets nice and even. German hooks, or brass brads can pull out of a wall during an earthquake.
Now if you really want to secure something to the wall ala the pictures in the downtown El Chollo, get yerself some T-bolts, and some silicon putty. But T-bolts usually do the job, the silicon putty is just way to much overkill.
Oh, and when you really reall y want it to stay on the wall, put a screw in the center hole of the mirror hanger, and do all of the stuff above.
More art installation tips later.
TG

On 2002-05-29 14:36, Tiki_Bong scribed:

There's nothing wrong with drinking every day; it's the every 'time' I walk past my tiki bar occurance that causes me concern!

Yes my friend! Don't you ever under estimate the power of the TIKI BAR

Serve it well and I promise it WILL serve you well! :wink:

I finally decided to weigh in on this topic... When Maggie and I first started working on Castaway Cove, we would often get off work, then go out to the building where the bar was going in and work until 10 or 11 at night. It was a huge ordeal, including the moving of over 3 TONS of various collectible rocks like petrified wood and geodes (the building had been used as a rock cutting and polishing shop by previous owners) and piles of rat poop. Still, we were obsessed, a condition I can tell many of you understand...

The wallpaper mural brought us closer than we've ever been to getting in a huge fight - that was a MAJOR pain in the ass to hang, let me tell you, but judging by the feedback we get from it I'd have to say that it was still worth it.

If you're like us (and God help you if you are), your bar will never stop being a project. We're about to start rebuilding the waterfall - it's not big enough - and we never seem to run out of refinements and improvements. Don't be afraid; let others be afraid FOR you!

regarding quake hold:

On 2002-05-28 23:11, PolynesianPop wrote:
and each package was good for about 50 mugs

how are you using your quake hold? i followed the instructions (make a little snake of putty around the base of the mug, then smooshed to the shelf. i got about 10 mugs done...

e

Wow- blast from the past. Hard to imagine a Lagoon Room without a ceiling anymore. This hits home right now since I'm covered in sawdust as we speak. But it's special tiki bar sawdust, so it's OK. :wink:

The reall tough day is the day you look around and notice that your Tiki bar has been growing organically, little bits at a time, for years and years, and what it REALLY needs is a major overhaul.

I didn't build Aku Hall all at once - I added little bits here and there for years.

One day I had to fess up that the whole thing was a jumbled mess, and the only thing for it was to completely empty the room, take the shelves off of the walls, reapaint, and start from scratch.

Spent all of this past December and January on that project - but it's a MAJOR improvement.

And yet here I sit, still tiki barless!

(I did pick up some more bamboo at Hobby Lobby real cheap this evening, so I'm still on my way...without the need for quake puddy!)

On 2002-05-29 14:36, Tiki_Bong wrote:
"I only drink to make other people more interesting"

I will drink to that!
Side Note: Nothing personal to the people.