My Tiki patio

I haven't posted in a very long time, but I've been around and lurking on and off since about 2002. I spent the last several years taking care of my wife full time, she had ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease, or the Ice Bucket Challenge disease), but passed away last December. Things are slowly getting back to normal, I've returned to work (my old employer re-hired me!), and I decided to finally create the Tiki space of my dreams.

I had collected a few things here and there over the years, but the project really got a kick start after the ITMP on April 21. Tikis, lamps and more came home with me, and last Saturday I got to work. Here's what I have so far!

My first Mai Tai after a long day's work.

I'm thinking of calling it "Trader Pat's Tiki Lanai."

This Saturday a friend and I are going to Oceanic Arts...good thing my Magnum holds a lot of stuff! :)

What do you guys think; good start?

Thanks for looking,
Patrick McNeal

...when drums begin to pound, my head full - BIG sound!

[ Edited by: Biotron2000 2015-04-28 05:20 ]

Looks great, have fun at Oceanic Arts.

Welcome back Pat. My condolences to you, you're a real hero for taking care of her. And hired back by your employer, wow, how awesome!

As for a start, yeah, it's a hell of a start. Looks great. I love the space. That Ku you have along the fence is awesome!!

Thanks! The Ku, believe it or not, is made from resin and was purchased at Target about 7-8 years ago as a gift from my aunt. It has held up well, and is probably my favorite Tiki.

Great start, I look forward to seeing how your lounge develops. What a great therapy to make the hours pass a little quicker and a little less lonely :). Aloha and keep us posted!

wow! Love the mid-century modern patio you've got to work with! What year was your home built? is the architecture also mid century modern too? love to see more of the patio and your pad!!

Thanks so much! The house was built in '53 or '54. The original owner was a high school shop teacher who built the patio. The inside is a lot more modern, but the living room is done in a movie theme: posters, signs, Star Wars memorabilia (in fact, if you look closely at one of my pics, you can see the Millennium Falcon hanging in my living room!).

Bless you for dedicating your life to the care of your wife, you are certainly a hero in my book as I'm sure you were in her's. Hat's off to your employer for keeping the faith in you.

Your place looks great and you have a lot of room to keep collecting and building. I haven't had a chance to make it to the ITMP, but Iwatch all the videos and can certainly appreciate how it inspires you. Keep up the great work and post pictures for all of us gawkers.

I love your tiki patio! I know how the tiki bug grabs you. :) You're so lucky to be able to go to both the ITMP and Oceanic Arts!!!! I'm on the other side of the US.

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your wife. ALS is a horrible disease and being her caregiver is such a demanding thing, you deserve a tiki space to have fun with. My mom suffered from the disease for 5 years and my dad was her caregiver. It's been just a little over a year since she passed. So I kind of know how difficult it was for you and for her as well. It makes me smile to think that your good deeds have been karmic-ly rewarded with your former employer rehiring you!

Keep posting pictures as you add things!

On 2015-05-01 16:28, LoriLovesTiki wrote:
I love your tiki patio! I know how the tiki bug grabs you. :) You're so lucky to be able to go to both the ITMP and Oceanic Arts!!!! I'm on the other side of the US.

Please accept my condolences on the loss of your wife. ALS is a horrible disease and being her caregiver is such a demanding thing, you deserve a tiki space to have fun with. My mom suffered from the disease for 5 years and my dad was her caregiver. It's been just a little over a year since she passed. So I kind of know how difficult it was for you and for her as well. It makes me smile to think that your good deeds have been karmic-ly rewarded with your former employer rehiring you!

Keep posting pictures as you add things!

Thank you for your kind words.
I'm sorry for your loss as well, Lori. ALS IS a horrible disease and I'm sorry it touched your family, too.
As far as the patio goes, tomorrow is the big day for my Oceanic Arts trip; I can't wait! I will definitely post more pictures of my finds.

I added a couple of things from my Oceanic Arts trip.

This mask:

And a palapa cover for my umbrella:

Still looking for more!

Pat- as already said: You Are A True Hero
Have fun with the ever growing Tiki space
Cheers bruddah

Jon

Just found this big guy:

He's being delivered Monday. The seller was here in Bakersfield,
and he said the guy who carved him is from Anaheim. I'm guessing
he's on TC. Any idea who the carver is?

So this happened today...

Of course, the dogs had to christen him just as I'm taking pictures...

Sorry for the plaid shirt; work clothes. Gotta pay for this stuff somehow!
Although, you could consider it a Scottish Aloha shirt :wink:

Your place is looking good and the new tall tiki looks comfortable in there.

I think that tiki might be by Big Ed = Tiki Broker. He vends at ITMP too. If you turn around from the spot where you bought those Smokin Tikis, Bug Ed would have been behind you to the right a couple steps, in his regular spot on the end. He usually has the concrete tikis at Marketplace instead of the biggies like that.

Buzzy Out!

I remember that booth at the ITMP; I'll have to stop and show him pictures at the next one. Thanks!

As always, Buzzy is spot on. Ed worked in Anaheim and lives in a neighboring city. I bought mine a few years back at Tiki Oasis and remember that he also had the other for sale as well.

Separated at birth!

Biotron2000, your tiki was carved by Bruce yoakam from B-One tiki in riverside. No questions, no doubts.

Thank you!

I have a friend taking a stained glass class, and for practice, I asked her if she would take a commission.
She agreed, and I gave her a picture I found online for reference. Here's what she has come up with so far:

I can't wait 'til it's done!

On 2015-05-12 21:34, ErichTroudt wrote:
Biotron2000, your tiki was carved by Bruce yoakam from B-One tiki in riverside. No questions, no doubts.

Yes, Bruce carved Biotron2000 and my Tiki and Big Ed sold them at Tiki Oasis a few years back. Ed has several carvers that do carvings for him. I forgot who Ed said the carver was until ErichTroudt posted the name. Thanks Erich.

Mahalo,

TikiVato

[ Edited by: TikiVato 2015-05-13 15:06 ]

A few new shots.

Mahalo for looking!

Looks awesome. I love all your lighting

Thank you! I really wanted the lighting to set a mood. The white string lights are brighter
than I expected; I'm thinking about replacing them with amber bulbs, but it's a string of 100
and will take me a little while. :wink:

I bought a bar! Needs some work, but not a bad starting point for $50.
It was a stereo cabinet at one time, and still has the holes for the speakers.
The frame is solid.

Looking forward to getting started on it!

All right! I have some matting, bamboo and trim on order, and a Bosko mask for the front of the bar. Hopefully it will be here by the weekend and I can get started. I'll post progress pics along the way. :)

Quick question: If I want to print out pictures of vintage postcards, etc., and affix them to the bar top, will coating the top with urethane cause the ink to run?
My plan is to remove the peeling veneer and sand/stain the top, then coat it with urethane (or something...any recommendations?).

Looks like the dog initiated the tiki in this photo? That has to be bad luck somewhere...

Thank you! I really wanted the lighting to set a mood. The white string lights are brighter
than I expected; I'm thinking about replacing them with amber bulbs, but it's a string of 100
and will take me a little while.

Have you looked into a lamp cord with a built-in dimmer and you can dim those white lights and they should work fine. I would buy another string before replacing 100 of them...cheaper and easier.

I wished I could find some of those concrete moai statues locally for my yard. Shipping a block of concrete adds a lot to the cost.

Your project is looking great!

[ Edited by: jimsflies 2015-06-03 08:31 ]

Actually, the Moai are resin, from Home Depot. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Emsco-Easter-Island-Granite-Resin-Head-Statue-2309/202365988
I found a dimmer cord rated for 500 watts on Amazon and it worked like a charm! And yes, the dogs "initiated" poor Fred. Hopefully the bad luck will be theirs, LOL. :wink:

Oh yeah, I remember seeing those on the HD site. I got a few of the other resin tikis for my area last fall. Your's look to be a couple different sizes, but maybe its the perspective of the photo?

Just the perspective. They are identical. They are very lightweight, too, but there is a hole in the bottom (with a plug) so you can fill them with sand or rocks for more stability.

Got started on my bar!

The veneer was peeling, so I pulled it off (in one piece! Yay!) and sanded it down...

I started applying stain (Kona Brown, from Lowes):

...and was amazed by the woodgrain pattern...

I'm going to apply prints of vintage Hawaii postcards to the top and seal it with urethane. I'm happy with the results so far!

Well, I knocked out the panels that once held the missing speakers. My mini PA speakers fit perfectly inside (I'm a karaoke nut as well as a Tiki nut, LOL):

Wrapped the front and sides with tatama matting:

And applied printouts of vintage postcards to the top:

More later when I get more time to work on it. I think I should change the title of my thread since my Tiki space is expanding to the inside of the house as well as the outside, but I don't know how.

Mahalo for looking!

Wonderful! I love the relaxing vibe of your tiki patio. Wish we could do a patio, but as we're in Vermont, we wouldn't really get to use it very much! So we're going for the indoor lounge aesthetic.

That stereo cabinet looks like a real find. What great re-purposing.

Thanks so much for posting!
Tara

[ Edited by: KonaKaiBaby 2015-06-08 13:21 ]

Love the warm and inviting feel your place gives off. Keep at it!! The progress is great.