Pappy's tiki lounge

I've been inspired by Finkdaddy's great work to post work on my bar. Hopefully, this will shame me into working on it nights and weekends.

Space is 11x22 and I'm starting with bare concrete and NO electricity. (Well, no outlets. I'm plugged right into the fusebox.)

This first pic is actually quite far into the project. Everything I know I learned from This Old House so the going is slow. The walls I built with screws because I can't drive a nail straight. Bottom studs are pressure treated.

The subfloor is a basement owner's dream from Superseal.
http://www.superseal.ca/dimpledmembrane.html
It comes on a UPS truck and you just roll it out and cut it with a utility knife. Seal the joints with duct tape--no fooling. I recommend it to everybody. It's exactly as nice as I hoped it would be.

On this wall, I added some furring strips to the only studs in the basement (besides me!) Floor is 3/4" cedar OSB that I put down with my friend Chris who was smart enought to own a jigsaw. He rules.

Here's Karol the electrician. He rules too; a fast worker from the old country. I decided to forego the studs on this wall not to save labor but to save space. Drilling into the concrete for the furring strips was incredibly hard. I kept hitting rocks in the foundation and had to make new holes. The furring strips on this wall alone (also pressure treated fir) took a week of weeknights and much cursing. I plan on two tiki head sconces on these walls.

Here you can see the sconce mounting on the long wall and the rest of the subfloor on the big, black roll behind the unfinished stud wall.

More pics soon. If anybody wants to help me name my new lounge/bar/baby refuge, I can offer you a swell, restored, antique electric clock for your trouble. Also, if anybody has good ideas for the ceiling, I'm needing them in a hurry. Aloha!

[ Edited by: pappythesailor 2010-07-28 13:53 ]

Hey Pappy,
You are welcome to come visit the Lava Lounge here in Maine for some inspiration. For the ceiling, what I did probably won't work for you, but other thoughts include matting, cool fabric, or painted ceiling tiles.

--SBiM

Congrats on a solid start. Any drawings or sketches of what you envision available? I found it helps alot. It is also a fun thing to compare when your work is done. My finished products rarely come close to the initial concept. Keep the pictures coming.

See how I'm busy? OK, these are from tonight but the drywalling was done Thanksgiving weekend.

I'm out of drywall not because I messed up my cuts (I did) but because I'm bad at math.

Thanks, SB. New England's small but Maine is kind of a fer piece from me. Got any pics?

Matt, no. No sketches. I always figured I'd kind of add the tiki later. It will feature a painting by my friend, Nate and a cool 5 ft. Lono commissioned from Benzart during da Hukilau and if I'm REALLY motivated, a teeny replica of the Kahiki fireplace. But for now, I want to have it done for the Superbowl (don't crucify me--yes I want a TV in there.)

[ Edited by: pappythesailor 2010-07-28 13:16 ]

I'm really happy for you Pappy!

Exciting stuff!

Can't wait to see it progress.

Carl

Thanks, Carl. I can't wait either.

I found a pic of the basement I took during the home inspection way back in April or May.

A couple people wanted to see the subflooring stuff. Up close, they look like little muffin tins you'd have if you were on Atkins.

Here's the drywall all done. Tomorrow I call the plasterer. He needs to come cover up all my mistakes!

My sconces came today and I couldn't resist seeing how they might look...

[ Edited by: pappythesailor 2010-07-28 13:17 ]

i love threads like this... Post alot of pictures!
Good luck!

Pappy, I've got a t.v. also. Just gonna figure a way to keep it hidden untill a special event like a boxing match or something. Then unveil it. It looks like you are making good progress.

On 2005-12-06 13:35, Matt Reese wrote:
Pappy, I've got a t.v. also. Just gonna figure a way to keep it hidden untill a special event like a boxing match or something. Then unveil it. It looks like you are making good progress.

Exactly! Glad you understand. If things work out, there will be a false window with a nighttime island scene but during the Superbowl, a TV will replace the that idyllic view.

I just spent $300 bucks on grass mats and lauhala--oh, it hurts!

A question for anyone and everyone: I've busted the bar budget all to hell. There's no way I can do everything I wanted for awhile. Should I go ahead and build a bar without a sink or just wait and build the one I want (and enjoy the bar-less tiki room)? Is it really that big a deal to bring dirty glasses back to the kitchen sink? Do I really need that sink. Obviously it's all a question of money but how much better is a bar with a working sink?

thanks loads for any input :)

Screw the sink, mix the drinks!

I think you should always do everything you can, when you can on a project. It will feel finished enough. Nothing's ever really finished anyway, so do all you can.

Get a nice, lightweight bamboo topless box to gently carry mugs to and from the sink. (the following morning)

Can you retro-fit the sink later? Full speed ahead, before you lose your spark of inspiration and determination.

You could always put in a cheap sink now and replace it with the sink of your dreams later; just make sure they both fit in the same cut-out.

Well, the bar I want is big and built-in. The bar I can afford right now is kind of a scrap lumber bench with raffia glued to it so it's not really a question of just building it w/o a sink.

Plasterer comes Tuesday to give me an estimate...

Yeah, unless you've just won the lottery, there's always a disconnect between what you want and what you can afford. Are you financing this through a loan, or just doing it pay-as-you-go? I found that financing took off a lot of the pressure to compromise my vision of what my bar should look like, but other factors still forced me to cut a few corners.

I do not think PAPPY is questioning the cost of the sink ,but the cost of the plumping for the sink. my opinion, do it! ,find a way. it will cost less now than later ,when you wish you had one but do not. Just my opinion ,i could be wrong.but in this case i do not think so.

Sincerest thanks to anyone who's given any thought to my tiki lounge. I'm paying as I go. Let me restate my current dilemma:

I've decided not to compromise my vision and eventually make the big, built-in bar of my dreams. Should I bother making a temporary, bar until I get the real bar? Anybody have any simple bar plans?

Tiki room update: I'm the proud owner of 22 pieces of exterminated 12' x 2" Tonkin bamboo!

Mahalo for listening!

NO. You should buy the WITCO bar i have for sale.Then when you build your bar use the WITCO and stools up against the other wall.just thinking out loud here.

Hmmm... I'm trying to avoid any solutions that would force Mrs. Pappy to cut up my credit cards.
:wink:

I would build the bar you had originaly planned. Why have 2 bars?
Good Luck Pappy
moon

Pappy,
I agree with Moondance.
Build it once and build it right! I'm building a bar for a relative right now, so I can say don't cut any corners, you will not regret it, and in the long run, if it takes a little longer, so what? You have the rest of your life to enjoy it, make it like you want it the first time, be patient, and the good times will be not far behind!!

When I put a sink into the Lagoon Lounge, I went to the junkyard and found a small stainless one for uhhh... free. It was a tiny bit beat up and perfect for an outdoor Tiki Lounge. Then I bought some cheap fixtures for it and ran a hose off of the faucet outside and just drained it into the garden outside the door. I looked for a way to hold it up and just got creative with a bit of garden iron I had out behind the garden.

Unless you're running the drainage a long way - plumbing is about the cheapest thing there is. A biit of PVC, some putty and go slow and steady and you could do it for a lot less than you may think. You could build a cabinet for it with a few scrap 2x4s and cover those with lahala or a trapical cloth until you get some cash to finish. I actually store torch oil under mine so The Amber Love Goddess covered it with a little bit of tapa looking cheap pillow-case cloth and we left it that way for a good long time and the place still looked great and the sink remained functional.

Just a few ideas here in 4:30am jet-lag land. Hope it makes sense. But the orange flare gun was the staple of a good diet for those pool champions who had their toes painted with leprechauns rage sallow brendage zzzzzzzzz.....

Mahalo.
I'll forego the bar until I can do it right. The pickle is the waste pipe is higher off the ground than you typically see in a house (you can see it in the BEFORE pic). This means this means I have to use some kind of anti-gravity pumpy thing for any sink I put in and it'll cost.

Lounge update: Lauhala and sea grass matting arrived yesterday. Plasterer comes today to give estimate.

New dilemma: I want to use 2" bamboo (going only one direction) as 'beams' for the ceiling. They're 12' and the space is 11 so I'm good there but what's the best way to mount them? Sorry for all these questions. I guess I had more enthusiasm than brains but I still got some enthusiasm left!

[ Edited by: pappythesailor 2010-07-28 13:19 ]

[ Edited by: pappythesailor 2010-07-28 13:31 ]

New dilemma: I want to use 2" bamboo (going only one direction) as 'beams' for the ceiling. They're 12' and the space is 11 so I'm good there but what's the best way to mount them? Sorry for all these questions. I guess I had more enthusiasm than brains but I still got some enthusiasm left!

Sorry, shoulda been more clear again. I wanna lay bamboo "beams" 15 inches apart and lay sea grass matting on top of them making a cheap suspended ceiling. For this to work, I've got to connect the bamboo to each wall--not to the ceiling.

Looks like you're off and running Pappy. I'll be watching this thread for sure! I have a ton to learn before I break ground on my place.

Good luck with the rest of the construction - you're gonna need that little getaway once the little feet are running around (bwa-hahaha).

Thanks, Johnman! Little feet are due in less than 2 weeks...

Tiki Lounge Update: fireproofing stuff came yesterday. Although it smells like water, Mrs. Pappy made me promise to apply it in the garage. (brrrrr...) Plasterer says he'll come some time b4 Christmas (a.k.a. "Holiday") and will charge me $350. I'm asking Mrs. Pappy for some nice socks and a swizzle stick for Holiday.

ok, new idea for the beams. Find some chair feet that fit your bamboo. These might be ugly, but you can disguise them somehow. These are the things that slip over the ends of chair legs to protect the floor. screw them into the wall where you want them, then slip the bamboo into them and screw through the side of the foot into the bamboo to secure it. You might have to adapt this technique depending on how flexible your bamboo is.

--SBiM

Find some chair feet that fit your bamboo.

Alternatively, you could try using metal holders for closet rods; they're designed to screw into a wall, and they come in nice shiny brass, so you wouldn't have to disguise them as much. I believe that you can also find wooden closet-rod holders that you could stain to match the decor. Closet rods only come in one standard size that I'm aware of, so if your bamboo rods have a larger diameter than the holders, this idea might not fly.

Update:
Got a call about my bamboo. My Tonkin Bamboo is held up in the port of New York (hey, I've never had anything held up in a port before--I'm feeling more exotic already) so they said I could have my pick of the Golden Bamboo for the same price. Very cool. So I work through lunch and drive there but nobody's home at the Ashland warehouse... Gonna try again tomorrow. If you see 22 bamboo poles strapped to roof of a Ford tomorrow, give me a friendly toot.

Update: Where there's a will, there's a way.

[ Edited by: pappythesailor 2010-07-28 13:22 ]

owesome stuff cant wait to see more.

Yesterday I got plastered!

The dark spots are where it's still wet. It's drying pure white. Now it really looks like a room, not just a project. I went downstairs about 6 times last night just to see it. Next step: primer.

[ Edited by: pappythesailor 2010-07-28 13:22 ]

Pappy, it looks loke the place has all the beginnings of a great room, and I Love your Work Bench too!

Ran out of primer-drat!

Looks blood red. It's not, really. It's more of a ruddy brown.

The first piece of bamboo up on the ceiling. There's about 60 ways to do this. I bet no one in history has done it my way.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah, everybody. Baby is due on Monday so this may be last update for some time--but maybe not!

"I can't die until the government finds a safe place to bury my liver."
Phil Harris

[ Edited by: pappythesailor 2010-07-28 13:50 ]

Way to go Pappy!! Bar is coming together!
Merry Christmas to your growing family.

Yeah Way to go, I want to know how you attached thet lonley piece of Bamboo. Merry Christmas and enjoy the birth of your new family member.
HappyHappyHappy
Happy

Thanks for all the kind wishes, everybody. I spent the day waiting for Mrs. Pappy to go into labor and keeping busy in the basement. It's amazing how fast you can sling paint when you don't have to worry about the floor, ceiling, walls or yourself! The primary all color's done now excepting for touchups a'course.

I stuck the bamboo up with an 8-inch spike on one end (bamboo is hollow but I had to open the end up with a forstner bit) and some wire and an electrical connector thingie on the other end. Works for me.

I didn't think I'd get all these bamboo poles up but I just plugging.

Here's a preview of the ceiling. I have to take it down because I haven't fireproofed it yet. That's enough for to-nite.

[ Edited by: pappythesailor 2010-07-28 13:51 ]

Looks great! Very creative solution to hanging the poles.

Very cool. How do you fire proof it?

On 2005-12-26 20:41, GMAN wrote:
Very cool. How do you fire proof it?

Just spray fireproofing spray from a spray bottle on it. It's expensive but the Mrs. insisted on it. I imagine I'll sleep better too.

Looks like another great lounge in the works, but no tiki bar or loung should be without an original kirby painting...just a thought...

A real carpenter would have figured out what he wanted to do with the ugly fusebox before the plasterer came. My building methods would make a real carpenter bust out crying so it's best that I work alone. I'm buiding a wee closet in front of the fusebox. Work halted today because I ran out of screws. One day I hope to get to the decorating part of this project.

[ Edited by: pappythesailor 2010-07-28 13:54 ]

Are you just laying the matting over the bamboo poles or are you attaching it to the ceiling joists?

Scotty

I wanted the look of the whole pole up there and I wanted easy access to my plumbing and wiring so I decided to just lay the mats on top. This doesn't work because bamboo poles are slippery and the mats just sag(&%^#^!) so I'm thinking of staple-gunning them to some sticks. I'm not sure if that will work either. I stopped work on ceiling for a while to finish construction.

Pappy,
What if you used bunjy (SP?) cords, one end of the cord attached to ends of the mats and the other to the wall(or whatever). That way the mats are held taunt but can be easily removed if you need access above. You might have to figure out a way to attach the cords to the mat so the tension is evenly distributed and also won't rip right out.

JP

I really like the look of your ceiling. The sag is an interesting challenge, but I'm sure you'll solve it. Other than the sconces, what do you plan for lights? I guess you won't be having any ceiling mounted lights.