Going tiki, Michigan style UPDATED PHOTOS at last!!!

These are some recent photos of my work in progress. Its not complete yet but will be soon and at least I can sit and have a few while I work out details. It may not be completely Tiki in some eyes BUT as I get into this things will change and be updated as I go. I am really just trying to get it done on a budget and this summer. Hope you all like the pics!!! Tell me what you think good or bad, we all can learn from input. Thanks in advance.

WOW! That looks like an awesome party & chill spot! I'm a fan.

I like the corrugated-metal on the bar-front - gives it a found-wreckage-from-the-beach look.
However, I'd cover the hut-top with thatch (personally, I'd hit it with some darker, loose-weave rolls), toss the store-bought tiki-sign & put up a hand-painted one done yourself (on driftwood to match the look), and definitely get a hand-carved Tiki in there if you're going to have a Tiki bar sign up! At least two three-to-four-footers guarding the entrance, is what I can see.
I can also picture wooden torches sticking up out of the four corners of the roof at an angle, but there might be a by-law prohibiting it (not to mention they'd be hard to light!).
Man, I'd love that much bar to work with...

you have done all Michiganders proud! i'm from G.R. myself. some good suggestions above, but i think you have a fantastic base to build upon. your bar rocks; i love the corrugated metal and wooden pilings. are you in western MI?

I am in Mid Michigan , Saginaw to be exact. The idea of tiki gods is a great one and I am working on that. The bar is constructed so that I can remove the corner poles (pictured) and carve gods into them once I am good enough and the pilings are subject also. I really wanted a thatch roof but michigan winters are tough so the metal was done to provide lasting protection. I did look into syn thatch but at 6000.00 for a roof this size was to high for my blood. I do like the torch idea NOW you have me thinking!!! Oh the tiki sign was a gift so I had to put it up (for now), thanks for the tips.. :) I have only begun !!!!

LIKE your pad site with the walkways away from the main property buildings.
What type of flooring do you have under the roof there?

Suggest bamboo facade along bar front & rattan syle chairs, assume because
of heavy winters these items could be moved indoors. Looking GOOD!

Thortiki

I love it, it's very beachy and lots of potential for tiki! And I LOVE the concrete floor. A little disappointed that you took down that little outhouse in the background. lol

Have you thought of taking out the rocks around the concrete and fill it in with water? With the pilings in front it could look like a bar at the end of a pier.

HAvent thought about rock removal BUT may have an idea or two for a water element later on. My big thing was get this built and functional before I loose my drive. I have done this without any help what so ever, so you saw photos of the frame and so on, I did all that myself. I have never built a bar before so this whole project is off the cuff so to speak, it was just an idea in my head. I wanted carved Tiki gods, different bar stools and so many other things but decided to do to this point and next year make it better. I can always add ideas from the great resource here in tiki freaks with like minds and fantastic ideas. So next year will be bigger and better thanks to all who add suggestions here, I love this site!!

Fantastic start! I'm in the midwest too and what I do with my out door tiki bar is to remove the thatch in the off season. The corrugated roof stays up all year, but the grass is on top of it just for the summer. And, you can get a good look without 100% coverage.

Cheap alternative: You've got a lot of roof there. You can just buy some grass skirts, kinda bundle two or three together and tie around the tops of your main posts, letting them just hang there blowing around a bit in that gentle Saginaw breeze. (I know you get a gentle Saginaw breeze, I've been there.)

Here is a night photo taken last night. We are cleaning scrap from the job and were burning in the fire pit plus having a mojito at the same time.

I dig the bar-top. I've got an outdoor bar and the top is oak plywood. Despite multiple coats of spar urethane, I have some delamination on one section and have been considering screwing down some backerboard and tiling it. Looks like you used broken tile, black grout and finished with epoxy?

Be proud no matter what.

You put a lot of work into it.

And I would love to sit there and have a drink at it.

Great job.

It's beautiful all lit up! If I ever get to Michigan to visit my brother we may have to con you out of a mojito.

You have poweer, so I would be putting in ceiling fans if you haven't. Keep it cool and help keep mosquitos away.

Tiki-Zen the top is broken fiesta wear dishes to be exact. And I did basically the same as tile with yes black grout and then resin to make it smooth, although I do need another coat of resin because at 2ft by 10ft ( bar top size) the resin was 1/8 inch thick and a few of the corners from the dishes are poking up and through. I am going to apply another two gallons ( resin plus hardner combined) and that will make it completely smooth.
Mojito's on me if anyone comes to michigan, thanks for all the great ideas and encouragement on my project!!

How beautiful this looks at night. Nice job on the lighting.

Thanks for the compliment, its always nice to know the countless hours I have spent since there was snow on the ground till now has been appreciated. The friends I have had over so far find it awesome and in michigan there are nearly no tiki stuff to be seen so my little place is a change of pace. I have to walk a line of tiki and convience because my wife is no tiki freak by any means so I may have a few "UN-TIKI" things in my bar but I will try my best to keep it tiki-fied!!

That's awesome...funny I have some bright tiles that I broke and used on the entry way and have a ton left over...was thinking about the same idea for a bar top. Wasn't sure if it was tiki....but who cares...it looks cool.

Where is a good place to get that corrugated metal. I think I would like to do some thing with that as well?

Jim if you want to find the metal roofing, I would post an ad on craigslist that seams to be a good source for such items. I happened to let a few people know that I was looking and got a number and the roofing was mine for a small fee, think I had 100.00 into it. Good luck on your search and to let you know if you do the plates on a bar top the clear epoxy I used is not cold tolerant so you would have to bring in the bar top over winter, its a pain top be honest. I may change mine because im not taking it in and out every year after this season, I may try heat tap or something to help but im not carrying it in again, to dam heavy.

Very nice job. I love the roof as is. I wanted to put corrugated metal on my ceiling in my bar, the Tiki Nui but couldn't find any at a good price.

What type of epoxy did you use and where did you buy it? Is it difficult to apply? The bar I recycled has to be redone and I might want to modify your great idea to fit my bar.

Just search bar top coatings and you will find more info than needed. I have used the high dollar and the cheaper stuff and each works great, as long as no sunlight directly hits the bar top for long periods use the cheap stuff. Once you bar is level, mix equal parts of exopy and resin and pour aloow to flow and you can help it with a plastic spreader and then keep adding until depth desired is obtained, as a note I used 4 gallons on my bar top because the plates I used were not totally level so I had to cover them but I could have used 2 gallons with a level surface. After all the material is poured use a blow torch to remove any bubbles and let her dry. REMEMBER this clear bar top material will not do good outside in cold weather because it will freeze and crack, trust me I know and what a pain that was. Good luck.

Really sweeeeet bar. I was thinking of doing something like this in my back yard as an outdoor kitchen. Now you have me inspired. What did you use to color the concrete? Is that a fire pit off to the right? How big is your freakin' yard? Really nice, thanx for sharing.

On 2010-06-09 17:35, TikiVato wrote:
What type of epoxy did you use and where did you buy it? Is it difficult to apply? The bar I recycled has to be redone and I might want to modify your great idea to fit my bar.

I used "Enviro Tex Lite" on my bar top. It was pretty easy to use and I got great results. They sell it at Michael's. It's not really cheap, but if you look in the newspaper or their website you can get 50% off coupons.

On 2010-06-13 07:24, Tuna Tiki wrote:
Really sweeeeet bar. I was thinking of doing something like this in my back yard as an outdoor kitchen. Now you have me inspired. What did you use to color the concrete? Is that a fire pit off to the right? How big is your freakin' yard? Really nice, thanx for sharing.

Tuna the concrete was "stained" with actual concrete stain, it is applied after the concrete is hard and then a clear coat goes over it to make it pop!, fire pit is on the right and its basically a fire ring sunk into the cement a few inches, honestly the cement is where I have the most money because everything was recycled stuff from the poles and bolts from the power company, the roofing from an old barn being torn down, and the rest is basically a treasure hunt for deals on stuff to make it look cool or interesting. Good luck with your project!!!

On 2010-06-09 17:35, TikiVato wrote:
What type of epoxy did you use and where did you buy it? Is it difficult to apply? The bar I recycled has to be redone and I might want to modify your great idea to fit my bar.

I used "Enviro Tex Lite" on my bar top. It was pretty easy to use and I got great results. They sell it at Michael's. It's not really cheap, but if you look in the newspaper or their website you can get 50% off coupons.

I like the use of retro colors in the bar top, and I wish that that could've been carried over onto the bar stool legs; any chance of repainting them to echo the palate and mosaic look of the bar top?

Appreciate the idea on the bar stools but believe it or not I may change the bar top. The reason is that the clear on the bar top can not freeze which I never knew about until it actually happened and I had to redo the bar top. If I thought about it more I should have changed it then but didnt. Either I bring this inside or redo it for next season, and bringing it in is a pain. I may come up with another idea , possibly colored cement or material I dont have to worry about.

it looks great, i am soooo jealous. i am part way through my garage/tiki bar conversion and hope it looks even half as good as yours. regards mick

Thanks Mickyfish all I can say is use this site to your advantage for ideas, inspiration and access the best minds in tiki. These guys have great ideas to save cash and get awesome results. Good luck bud, take care

WOW!! Very inspiring work!! Thank you for sharing!!

Here is a current photos guys, these were taken a few weeks ago.

This is an up view, hard to make this angle look decent.

For Michigan, it doesn't get much better

Ok, for outside tiki bars or any kind of bars, it doesn't get much better. Cheers

AWESOME, AWESOME JOB!!! How can you NOT have fun hanging out at this tiki hut?

What a wonderful tiki bar. Terrific, fun to look at you didn't miss anything ecxept a sign pointing to Elk Grove. You must have great parties. Thank you for posting, Wendy

I realy like the metal actualy, it has a sort of 'M.A.S.H.' look to it, its different and original. And best of all you did so much of this with recycled materials. Ive very little funds, and have done the same sort of thing with my bar, its made out of an old waterbed frame! :wink:

If you're still around, what did you end up doing with your bar top since it wasn't cold proof?

Wow! Awesome bar! I'm in Nichigan too... Mt. Pleasant. How did you make that palm tree??

I love it! This bar has that Billis beachside laundry vibe (you know South Pacific) and it has a TV! The bar stools are cool too. Nothing wrong with rusty old iron it adds character. 10 out of 10.

I love the vibrant colors and the blending of materials. It is so neat to see everyone's individual styles. Love the whole outdoors vibe...GREAT JOB!!!

very very cool!!!!! loven the huge chain and wood posts!!! wish I had the room to do what youve done!!
well done sir!!