The Loma Kai Sailing Club and Grotto! UPD: July 2022

The way you pay homage to the classic
tiki architecture makes this project go right off of the awesome meter.

I can see that when completed, this will be a often referenced source of how it is supposed to be done.

Donavan, thank you for that super kind comment. And yes! you and I did meet at Oceanic Arts almost 2 months back. This build has taken a lot of time, I haven't even got to the part of the interior yet when I can utilize some of the things I bought that day. I can't wait. And your place is mind blowing! l look forward to seeing the progress - you could really host some epic events there... I'm envisioning Jason Lee and RIPtides playing live at Donavan's Reef!

Mahalo! -Commodore

Thanks for the roofing info... I'll have to check those out. I had looked at rubber roofing that was formed/colored to look like slate, but couldn't justify the cost.

It's amazing what manufacturers are doing with their products these days, and even more amazing that you don't have to be a contractor with a huge million dollar budget to procure them.

Your build is really taking shape.. keep it coming!

[ Edited by: tikitube 2018-12-11 07:41 ]

On 2018-12-11 07:40, tikitube wrote:
I had looked at rubber roofing that was formed/colored to look like slate, but couldn't justify the cost.

Some companies offer metal roofing that is formed to look like slate as well. Not cheap, but then again nothing's cheap these days. We've come a long way from dark asphalt shingles being the only option.

A big update today, the roof gets essentially completed! And just in time, some rain came down shortly after. No Leaks! We've really had great fortune weather-wise up to this point. Because of the curving center beam, we of course have a curvy roof line, so that was a little different to navigate.

So much more work to do, the updates will probably have to slow down but there is a lot of pressure from the local Ohana to get to opening day!

That roof is gorgeous. I'm glad to hear that you're water-tight, leaks are, IMO, the stuff of nightmares.

Roof turned out fantastic! And the light color should help cut the heat in summer.

Congrats, no leaks!

No leaks was one thing - but I was more pleased about no falls! That roof got pretty slippery as time wore on. Now time to get to some other cool things - happy the lid is done!

-Commodore

Finishing up the panels, here's the name panel!

And here's one I don't think I've shown, complete with our temple guardians.

Stay tuned for how we are going to use these!

Pulling the boards together and getting some finish on them. The plan is to alternate a carved board with a plain board to make up the siding on the primarily visible side of the building, including the sliding side door that will open up the bar to the deck/hot tub.

Man, those are just gorgeous! I can't wait to see them finished and installed.

Beautiful! This just keeps getting better!

Preparing the plain boards, and we are close to assembly of the side and sliding door.

[ Edited by: W8N2Surf 2018-12-19 12:02 ]

Absolutely amazing!

Words cannot express how much admiration I have for this build. No corners have been cut in the construction of this tiki bar!

Merry Christmas from the Loma Kai! Y'all are the best! The Tiki Central Ohana provide all the encouragement we need, More progress soon!

Working on base materials for the large sliding door. This is nautical hardware we are aging with good 'ol salt and vinegar to achieve some patina.

And the Tiki Guardian Spirit Dogs would like to wish you a Happy New Year, here with their favorite compadre at you-know-you-know-where. Happy New Year TC Ohana!

It must be Mai-Tai time because there is slobber.

You're working pure magic with that router! I hope mine come out half that good when I get to that stage. So far I haven't seen any part of this build that isn't a home run.

You're working pure magic with that router! I hope mine come out half that good when I get to that stage. So far I haven't seen any part of this build that isn't a home run.

Thanks Donavan! There certainly are some router mistakes in there, but its imperfectly perfect as they say... Key for me was making sure I got the vacuum set up effectively which was not easy... and then being patient and going slow... hard to router the design with all those shavings flying around - a bit like driving in a snowstorm - good luck!

Let's get a holiday themed update in real quick. Not only can Commodore router a board or two, bend some beams and slap a roof up, he also hand makes pretty awesome Christmas gifts. Check out this Traveling Mai Tai Bar, which includes everything you need to make a Mai Tai including limes all in a form fitted case. He gave this to one of our brothers. Sweet!

Getting back on track now, here is where we're at.

For fun, we threw some boards up just to get an idea.

We'll be building a sliding door as part of this wall.

On 2019-01-07 21:14, W8N2Surf wrote:

That Traveling Mai Tai Bar is the coolest! Man I want to make one!
Great job.

Thanks Skip! I found the wicker suitcase on eBay for cheeeeap and thats what got that going... that and you know... some people should just have a traveling bar... The case has some cool details to it for sure that you can't really see. The rest took some trial and error but with plastic wrap, some careful spray foam (messy!) and felt we managed to put it together. I figured my brother can put his own MaiTai glasses in there - the plastic ones were placeholders only!

ok back to the real bar build!

-Commodore

I got a whole set of the wicker suitcases the lighter shade ones.
Plus would guess I have most everything else too.

Used to make bamboo tools for bars as well.
The hard part for me is trying to find stuff that looks old like the shaker ect.

If you want you could PM your address and I will send you a tool or two for your case.

Those are next level Skip! PM sent - cheers!

Wow, those are amazing. Nice work sir. I have never seen a shaker like this.

Today let's get you caught up on the wall including the sliding door, located on the starboard side of the bar. Here we're lining up boards, figuring out which ones we want to go where.

Here's a shot of the hardware beam that will support the sliding door. You can see some of the actual nautical hardware we are using under the beam that will actually function to make this door slide. Nice!

The beam is solidly attached to the structure, and is now part of the structure itself.

Next Commodore had to build the door! He's using alternating carved panel with a regular wood panel, all reclaimed vintage wood. You can see that aged metal that we showed before.

So, those aged and distressed metal strips actually become straps that loop right around the nautical hardware we found for a pretty seamless and might I say ingenious hanging door system. Can't buy that at Home Depot!

Yes, it took some trial and error, couple second takes, but we got it perfect. The door looks great and opens and slides on the track smoothly. Sure, we have a lot of detail work left, lots to finish and polish up, but we'll get there! Here's the view from the outside as it is now.

More to come soon, Mahalos for following along!

Looks great, except....

Is this panel "upside down" on the door?

Love the look, hardware and ingenuity. Great function without sacrificing space. Super well done.

On 2019-01-14 22:33, Hamo wrote:
Looks great, except....

Is this panel "upside down" on the door?

Haha! Nice eye Hamo! Yep, like I said there were lot's of "do-overs" and that was one of them. It was fixed the next day. You know what it's like when your head is way in the game......I meant to leave that picture out but I'm glad it's there....a real life DYI Tiki bar is going to have these moments....

On another note, did you know that one of the major contributors/agitators of carpel tunnel syndrome is holding power tools? Yep, and all this routing has taken it's toll, Commodore has a serious case of it and the pain is pretty non-stop, I am hoping this passes soon.

Some good stuff here - thanks for posting W8N2SRF! - those tracks are vintage solid bronze sail tracks off an old sailboat - the 'cars' are mainsail slides - found them at a nautical vintage surplus store with some other odds and ends. They weigh a lot! Secured them with mostly bronze screws and a few through bolted for good measure. I 'antiqued' those brass straps, but then in making the doors found I could hide them pretty well under the panels - so in the end all you will see is the tops of the straps. I wasn't sure how well the doors would slide and at first they really didn't - uh oh! One shot of WD40 and they're absolutely perfect. Funny that I put that door on upside down - ugh!! Definitely fixed it and you'll see that in photos coming up. All in all it looks good and except for the carpal tunnel that has developed (painful!) all is well... Wish it was moving faster but its going along!

Mahalo for all the support!

-Commodore

And here is another shot of the left starboard wall and sliding door completed.

With the door open. Here you can see a section of "strong wall" on the right that we need to put an exterior wall on. Hmmmm, I think Commodore has a surprise for that. In addition, we need to fill the space between the top of the sliding door and the arch.....

Excellent.

Aloha Ohana. A couple shots of items we like.

Check out this ladder from Papua New Guinea. Not procured. :)

From some local Tiki Ohana downsizing.....we were able to bring these home.

And then something to help everyone be clear on the whole "port/starboard" thing-

[ Edited by: W8N2Surf 2019-01-26 05:39 ]

The above ladder was not bought as it was not for sale and if it was would probably be 5 figures... but look at that thing! Its a carved ladder/totem that was used in Papa New Guinea to climb up to their huts... anyway... progress is continuing and super happy with those brass lights we acquired for the front.

Mahalo!

[ Edited by: Commodore 2019-01-26 06:37 ]

Your buying great stuff for your space.
It at times costs more but damn it's worth it.

It kills me to see some of the old coke and other real old diner stuff I had in my restaurant I sold at sales now selling for so much money, and my wife always rubs it in.
But I hated seeing these "diners" with that fake new coke BS, so cheesy.

It costs more but you are always more happy with the real cool old stuff.
People would come in just to see it, and others would insult me with low ball offers thinking this grill cook rube does not know what it's worth.
Heck I paid a lot for it when I got it.

It costs more and can take a long time to find great stuff but it holds it's value and is way better to wait than waste money on so so tiki crap.

Been watching this build and I gotta say awsome work so far. The roof work is dead on. Ive been working up plans (to many probably lol) for our new builds after moving. I wanted to do a swept roof line but the work, course you made it look easy ?

Building the port wall, which I will remind you nobody will see as it's right next to the yard fence. Nevertheless, solid ship lap construction and it looks great.

Remember we have that one Port facing "window" where we inset the oriental grate-panel piece? Here is the outside of it, with the colored "glass" that will keep it weather-tight but allow the light to filter through the panel.

And the Port side wall......which again no one is going to see from this side.....but still.....there it is.....

Hey Faithful Tiki people!!!! Look what came in the mail.....more to come on these.....

Now, here is some interesting material......I'm sure you know what they are. Yes, that's right, LAVA rocks. Hmmmm, what can we do with them?

Well to start off, I think we can cut them in half. Then they will be ready for the next step!

And something to end the weekend with. Cheers Ohana.

An exterior lava rock wall! This will be on the side of the structure, to the right of where the sliding door ends. Making sure the mortar is the right shade of black, to be seamless.

You have the coolest vision for this space!

I've got a couple of those same jade tiles. They're quite nice. Need about four more, but have to come up with the money first!

Love your lava rocks. I have a vision to use some as well, but having a damn hard time coming up with any in Texas, real or faux. Faking it with mortar/concrete is a rabbit hole I'm not willing to go down at this particular point in time.

On 2019-02-21 11:18, Bam Bam wrote:
You have the coolest vision for this space!

Thanks BamBam!! that means a lot and its fun pulling this together!