Help! Should I use acrylic sealant on matting in my tiki bar?

Okay, I've spent the last month and a half painstakingly building a tiki bar in my roommate's garage. This thing is beautiful--tapa, abaca cloth, and bamboo on the ceiling... on the walls, bac-bac and lahala... My roommate and his girlfriend seem to believe that the room needs some type of acrylic sealant. Apparently, it would preserve the matting, stave off insects and make cleaning easier. They bought for cans of the stuff and want to acrylic the room tomorrow (Sunday) morning. They even want to put acrylic over the beautiful tapa hanging on the ceiling. Someone, please, help me! Are they going to destroy my hard work? Will the acrylic warp the matting, give it an unholy sheen? (even though the acrylic is mat finish) Or am I just tripping here at 12:33 A.M.? I called Oceanic Arts and they told me that it is NOT common to put acrylic on matting; but then I recall going to many Tiki Bars (Royal Hawaiian, for example) and seeing shiny walls... I don't know. Perhaps I just feel like somebody is kidnapping my love child... But is it not TOTALLY stupid to put clear acrylic "paint" over fabric?

[ Edited by: Hamfoot_Larry on 2004-09-12 01:33 ]

[ Edited by: Hamfoot_Larry on 2004-09-12 01:35 ]

I have seen bars where teh wall coverings are treated with some kind of varnish or the like... should not be aproblem. I would do a test patch first though!

OA probably doesn't varnish/acrylic mattting because it is not that valuable a piece of material. Simpler to replace when it gets old and ugly. And cleaning matting with a damp sponge is no more or no less trouble than cleaning matting that has been varnished.

Read directions on acrylic carefully. Test patch sounds like a good idea.

Still, sounds like overkill. Shouldn't hurt. Only things I've varnished are things that sit outside.

Thank you for the advice/reassurance... What about putting acrylic on fabric? I think, personally, it would look terrible... My friend believes that if we don't seal the fabric (currently stapled tightly to the ceiling) it will sag over the years. I seem to believe that putting acrylic over the fabric will add weight and perhaps sag it even more...

I've never heard of putting acrylic on fabric. Which is not to say that it's an incorrect thing to do. But it does sound like it's getting near the zone of characterizing your roommate's actions as "acrylic happy" -- which I understand in a way. I love doing home projects and have gone nutty with certain ideas and later thought I was off my rocker.

You are totally right... It's very easy to get carried away with that kind of stuff... Like when someone buys a home laminator and obsessively starts laminating EVERYTHING...

You should not put any acrylic on fabric because it will effect the color dyes that are used in the fabric and will change them over time.

I think the walls of the Tiki Ti have tapa on them, they look like they have been painted over more than once by a glossy lacquer of some sort. Giving it that old, crusty, bar quality I like. I don't know if it was a deliberate effect they went for or if it's just because the walls are kinda old and crusty :P gotta LOVE the Tiki TI! There have been several home bars talked about here that they have used a resin epoxy on top of hawaiian fabric on the bartops that have turned out beautifully.

the thing i'd worry about is the smell ~ a tiki bar smells of the woods, bamboos, tapas and palms ~ hermetically sealing everything with acrylic seems so unnecessary (and shiney!)..

maybe they'd be willing to hold off the sprayfest, and see how the bar holds up on its own..

besides, dusty + tiki bar = character!

elicia

Wow, the response has been amazing. All of you make very good points... Truth be told, my hands are blistered and full of splinters. I don't want to lay the acrylic. Too much work, especially for a Sunday. Fortunately, my roommate's girlfriend has stepped up. Looks like she's gonna put in the work. Thanks B!

I think that Mike Sr. once told me that he puts shellac on the walls of the Ti every few years. It fixes the tears and helps seal in the rich sumptuous nicotene stains. So it looks great, but it is hard to make out the tapa detail after all these years/coats.

(moving to Creating Tiki....)

[ Edited by: martiki on 2004-09-12 15:13 ]

I just did a piece with wood, bamboo and tapa cloth and sealed it all with polyurethane, it looks ok to me. And mike sr. at the ti does "touch up" on the laqured/shellaqed walls which have in fact darkened with age AND nicotine!!

sure. cover everything. see what happens.
to save "elbow grease" why not just spray it on? way quicker and easier.

My logic is this, all the cool tiki places I go to have been covered in layers of laquer for 30+ years, and they look great!.

Hey Larry,

Good to see you on the boards. I think the acrylic sealant should be an okay way to go.

And tell Cappy I'll have his logo tiki designed soon...

Pics! Pics! Post some pics!

What's up Aub?!?! Hope the married life finds you well. Now that the honeymoon is over, it's time to build a tiki bar of your own, eh?

To all the folks who have been giving me advice: Thank you. We've done the walls and ceiling with several layers of Minwax Polycrylic (satin finish) and it really looks amazing. Not TOO glossy, but really finished and professional. Granted, it does take some of that wonderful smell away, but not all of it. There has been no warping of the matting; in fact, it's flattened everything out (we used about 7,000 staples to apply the matting and then painted over each and every one of them... can you say OCD?). Anyways, pictures are forthcoming. Now comes additional embellishment--eg, volcano fountains, more pufferfish, vomit stains on the carpet.

Stay tuned. And say what's up to Panda-Kim!

Even though you are finished, just for the record, I tried shellaq and hated it!!. It was dull and just looked damp.I waited for it to dry and then splashed on 2 layers of polyurethane, and it rocks!!. Niether has made the tapa paint run!, must be water base paint.See my post titled "what to do with a kahiki artifact when bored" for results.

Acrylic paint was developed to be used on outdoor murals and the new versions are great. However, when you paint them on the surface it looks like you coated it with milk, but this soon dries clear. I gave three coats to my patio furniture of bare wood three years ago and it still looks good.
tikiboy:tiki:

If I may Hamfoot and Crowntiki:

http://www.crowntiki.com

Nice Work fellas!

Checked out the website. Looks great H_L! It's scary to experiment, but sometimes it just all works out. Great bar!

A-A

THOAMSONS wood protector. no shine,no build up . protects from mildew and rot. still lets the naturals breath