Kai-Lei Tiki Shack

Hello Everyone,

I'm a tiki fan from Maine and a long-time reader of the forum. I've been inspired and amazed by so many of the incredible projects on here. So thank you to all! I'm excited to be starting my own project now and plan to chronicle the build on Tiki Central as we go.

Here's a little background on our "Kai-Lei" Tiki Shack. This shack will be 15 by 14 feet on a concrete slab. Next to the shack we'll have a tiki-style pergola, under which we'll (eventually) have a hot tub. The shack will be about 10-15 feet from our pool.

Ideally the shack would be completely enclosed with no windows, to create a true exotic tiki bar feel. But that doesn't work so well with a pool bar. So the idea is that we'll have a few solid doors and a bar service window, all of which can be opened or closed depending on the pool activity and the weather.

The exterior will have a little tiki flare to it, but will basically have siding and shingles to match our house (got to at least try to keep the neighbors happy!).

The interior is a different story. I'm going all out! The style will be a mix of Polynesian Tiki Pop, Hawaiian, and Nautical. I'll have some Disney Adventureland, Caribbean, and Beachcomber theming as well.

As I'm basically useless with tools, I have a builder (I'll call him "Tiki Dave") helping me out, i.e., converting all of my crazy ideas into reality and adding a whole bunch of his own ideas, too. He's super talented, and I feel really lucky to have him on this project.

Here are some pics.

The slab before we got started...

About two days later.

And here we are through early last week. You can see the beginning of the pergola, which will have a style like one of the structures at the Polynesian hotel at Disney World.

Should have the pergola done this week, and then we'll be on to the inside. Can't wait for that!

Welcome to tiki central posting! I dig the shape of that roof. Excited to see where you take this. Good luck!

Looks great so far and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes!

Great start. Loving that roofline.

Pergola is pretty well done!

And Tiki Dave is off to a great start inside. You can see the basic layout. A tiki hut within a tiki shack!

Excellent progress! I'm really liking how this one is shaping up. That bar looks like a great use of space, and like everyone else, I'm diggin' that roof line!

Thanks for the new pics. Really digging the Pergola. I really like the way you have combined modern standard finishes with that pergola and the unique roof line. Creative thinking.

Sweet
Love the slab to roof builds
Lookin good
Keep posting
Cheers

Thanks for the encouraging words! We're having a lot of fun. Dave is making great progress on the inside. Here is a pic of the thatch we have above the bar.

And here is the back bar area, which Dave basically banged out this afternoon. I'm so excited to fill this space with all of my tiki mugs, books, etc.!

Now for the first of what will probably be many questions for you. Does anyone know where I can find some faux palm trees or greenery? We're hoping to create a bit of a jungle feel in the Shack, so I would be grateful for any recommendations you may have. Thank you!

I would start by searching on Amazon believe it or not. They have have nice looking ones if you search "Artificial Palm Trees".

Really like the back bar area. Fun build to watch.

I’m very jealous of your build. That pergola is great.

To you question about greenery: the Cevolas (Dan and Wendy [TC’s “danlovestikis”]) have a tiki jungle room in their house, and I believe Dan got the leaves, vines, plants, etc., from Michael’s using coupons.

Yep... Sign up for Michael's e-mails... They give loads of coupons all the time and let you know when things are on sale. We get plants from there at an average 40% off. It's a gold mine.

Also keep an aye for artificial tropical plants at your neighborhood Thrift store or Goodwill. I have found all kinds of tropical flowers, trees and greens this way for real cheap.

Thank you! These are great suggestions. Will keep my eye out!

Here is some of today's progress:

Lookin good

Great start!

Looking good. What kind of plans do you have for the bartop?

It looks great so far, TravandTiki! Thoroughly professional.

This is amazing! You make it look so easy! Obviously some serious carpentry and cabinetry skills are coming in to play here. Or at least, a lot more carpentry and cabinetry skills than I could ever hope to have!

Nevertheless, inspiring! Please continue sharing the progress!

Glad you guys like it! Appreciate all the comments!

littlegiles, thanks for asking about the bar top. We've been giving it a lot of thought. I'm going for a dark, natural wood look, but Dave has some great ideas about adding tiki accents to it. I'll post pics below of our bar top progress so far!

RichC and davidd, thank you! Your comments reminded me that it's been a few days since I've noted that ALL of this work IS being done by a professional -- Dave! He's a carpenter, craftsman, artist, you name it. I'm trying to get him to comment on here! We also have Everett, who works with Dave. He's no slouch, either.

Okay, here are some pics from the past few days.

This is a picture from Friday night. You can see some of the bar wood detail, and the back bar bamboo design in place. (Those are tiered shelves within the bamboo slats for bottles.)

The next picture is from late Sunday afternoon. Dave put in a full weekend and spent Sunday doing insulation. (Required to make my Shack a four-season hideaway!)

Here's a good one of the bar top thus far...

This is how we left it late last night. (Dave finally agreed to call it a day.)

Lastly, Dave and Everett did nearly all the sheathing today.

Will post more soon!

Excellent! Really like the dark stain on the bartop. Resin finish on top or just a thick varnish?

Really coming along nicely.

Such progress! This is going to be an awesome space when it's all put together, I can tell.

This is serious tiki!

Good evening all. This is Dave, affectionately previously referred to as Tiki Dave. I’m the carpenter/craftsman/artist lucky enough to have been chosen by Travis to bring his long time desire to have a tiki bar to fruition. He wanted something tasteful, yet in some areas whimsical. Sensibly conservative on the outside while holding little back on the inside. Original, yet inspired from a long history of admiration of other iconic locations. In the end though, in a word, Authentic. The collaboration has been a joy from the get go and I have to confess, I may be as obsessed and invested emotionally in this project as he is. Stay tuned for far more regular posts, pics and a more in depth look at our process now that we are getting to the real Tiki details. There is certainly going to be a learning curve, because as a carpenter, I haven’t worked with a lot of these materials. But as an artist and craftsman, I am up for the challenge. I hope all of you that follow enjoy the journey. And Trav, I hope I make you proud.

P.S. littlegiles, definitely going with the bartop resin/epoxy

Great to meet you Dave. Can't wait to watch this progress more. We love pics and details. :)

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to share some recent photos of our build.

We now have a chair rail of rough sawn white pine. Here it is before the stain.

And here it is after the first coat (English Chestnut / Dark Walnut stain combo).

The collar ties will have stained rough sawn beam "wraps." The tops of the beams have electrical boxes and some switched outlets that are controlled from behind the bar. In the below pic you can also see the roof shape of the hut within the Shack, and the start of the thatch.

Here are the beam wraps. (Dave has some tiki "extras" planned for those.)

I think we're doing matting on the walls this week, and maybe reed fencing on the ceiling, too. Dave may chime in to correct me.

Welcome, Tiki Dave. Everything is coming along nicely. Trav, my jealousy increases.

And the dark, cozy, mysterious feel starts to develop! Great work.

Have been playing with the matting, the reed fencing, bamboo and thatch. The ceiling is like building in reverse and there is certainly a learning curve to building with these materials. I keep jumping around different areas as I’m able to advance them. Need to respect the process though. It’s humbling, but getting the hang of it. Looking forward to adding the rope. Also made some progress on the beam detail around the top of the wall, between the matting and fencing. This beam will conceal the RGB strip lighting that will wash color down the walls

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Hey guys,

Lots of Tiki progress this week. Here are some photos.

I'm so excited for this wall. I'll have all my favorite framed artwork here.

And here's a shot of the ceiling opposite the bar. I like the way Dave mixed the bamboo slats and poles on top of the reed fencing.

We now have the collar tie beam wraps on...

Here is a pic of the bar with a lot of the matting and fencing now up.

And here is a shot from the backside of the bar, looking up at the roof of the hut (within the Shack!).

Can't wait to see what Dave has in store for next week.

In the meantime, hope you all have a great holiday weekend.

Wow, this is really coming together nicely. Great work guys!

Hi all, I'm writing to share some questions from Dave regarding treating lauhala matting. Any insights you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

"Should I spray the matting with thatch safe fire retardant or not and more importantly, should I apply any poly coating on it? And if so, do I brush it on, roll and back brush for bubbles, spray...? The homeowner likes the look of the matting as is so whatever treatment I do, I want to alter the appearance as little as possible. I did already purchase the honey teal wood finish for the bamboo but I don’t want to change the color of the matting at all. A test on the bamboo does make it look more rich but deepens the color a little bit. Thanks for any help."

Hey Everyone,

A good friend and fellow tiki fan reminded me today that I'm overdue for an update on the Shack. Lots of great progress by Dave over the past two weeks. It's getting so close I can practically taste the Mai Tai when I walk in! Here are some pics.

It just keeps getting better!

Really looking great. Love the lashing on the beams and the carved wood look nice.

Nicely done, love it.

Looking awesome!

On 2018-05-29 19:06, TravandTiki wrote:
Hi all, I'm writing to share some questions from Dave regarding treating lauhala matting. Any insights you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

"Should I spray the matting with thatch safe fire retardant or not and more importantly, should I apply any poly coating on it? And if so, do I brush it on, roll and back brush for bubbles, spray...? The homeowner likes the look of the matting as is so whatever treatment I do, I want to alter the appearance as little as possible. I did already purchase the honey teal wood finish for the bamboo but I don’t want to change the color of the matting at all. A test on the bamboo does make it look more rich but deepens the color a little bit. Thanks for any help."

Didn't see any responses to these questions yet. I sprayed my bac bac matting and reed mats with fire retardant and brushed on Rust-Oleum triple thick poly. My room is a screened area that is somewhat exposed to the elements, though.

Your build is looking great!!

Thanks, tikitube!

Really appreciate all the kind words from others, too.

Will add more photos soon!

Hey Everyone,

It's been a while since I've posted about our build, but we have been busy! Happy to report we are mostly done (for now). Here is how it has shaped up!

(I'm putting a Tiki Tony carving on that rum barrel!)

We had our first tiki party last weekend. Such a fun time! We have another one planned for this weekend. Need to break it in, right?!

Thanks for all the great feedback along the way!

Looks great! Love the lighting and how you used the ropes.

That all came together wonderfully! Great job.

Great job.

Thanks, guys! It's been a lot of fun. Now I get to enjoy it while following all of your awesome builds!

Oh dang
Homerun.......

One of the best recent builds on TC IMO!

Looks great. Inspires me to do more on mine.

Agree with jimsflies. Have really enjoyed seeing this one being built, great job. Sadly mine has been on the back burner for a while due to a lack of time and funds but seeing the raw passion for the build in this thread might just be the thing that gives me a bit of a kick in the pants to get back into it again. Now if only I can find some affordable tiki stuff here in Australia...