Kiki's Tiki Village

finally getting around to starting a build thread for "Kiki's Tiki Village".
it's pretty much done structurally, now to get to decorating.
the idea was a split bar and lounge in 2 different styles. Mrs. muskrat prefers a more Polynesian pop sensibility while i'm more of a adventureland type. the build got under way in February and we had a soft open of the bar on may 31 for our daughters graduation party, we finished most of the little things, that got over looked for the tight timeline for the party, over the last few weeks as time permitted and now we need to focus on the task of decorating.
my friends seem to think it's done but we keep telling them it will never be done as there's always something new to do/make/hang...
well, here we go!

[ Edited by: muskrat 2014-07-10 11:47 ]

Welcome to the fray...looking forward to seeing more pictures of your fun project.

so here's what we had to start with.

an uneven slab that pooled water, a poorly constructed cover made from pine 2x4's that was ready to come down and at 10x20 (half of which was at a different level as a step for the slider) wasn't much space.

so, what was the first thing we did...

yep, we got a hot tub.
i built a slab from pavers and built a privacy fence, added some tiki torches and plants and we we're off to a pretty good start.

[ Edited by: muskrat 2014-07-09 20:58 ]

next up was leveling off the existing patio.
we we're on a tight budget so we did sand and pavers.

the view from the hot tub

then came concrete.

and with concrete came Samoans.
Samoans who'd never heard of bocce, so i taught them.

they had more fun playing bocce than anyone i'd ever seen playing before.
i said life is good and one of them said "manuia lou olaga" which means it's a blessed life.
indeed it is.

concrete finished

with the concrete done i started gathering furniture on craigslist.
scored some good deals.

Red the dog approves this purchase.

now it's time to get down to business.
we decided to build a cover and put the bar on the new patio area next to the hot tub. i drew up plans, bought the wood and got out the router.
made some stencils, laid out the patterns and got to work.

next up...FIRE!

[ Edited by: muskrat 2014-07-10 08:52 ]

Nice routing work. Good stuff indeed! Can't wait to see more.

Really nice looking! Love the privacy fence around the hot tub and the routing work is amazing.

Can't wait to see more of your work.

• Dale

Nice work.

I've also got a bocce Ball court at my tiki bar.

Rum and Bocce just seem to go together.

-Longboard

thanks for the props!

longboard, what type of surface do you have on your court?
i've got the traditional crushed oyster shell and oyster flour which was great til the drought came along, now my court is pretty much unplayable.
i'm looking to redo the surface and so far decomposed granite with a thin layer of oyster flower is at the top of the list. the rubberized artificial surfacing which is used in all "officially sanctioned" courts is way out of my budget.

next up, torch time.

mmmm, crispy.

then comes the brushing.

purty.

i decided to burn the wood on the upright poles several times to really bring out the grain in an almost witco-esque style.

after doing 2 of the uprights with the small torch and looking at the huge amount of lumber i had to burn, i decided to break out the big gun.

after several days of burning and brushing i was ready to move on to sealing the wood.

"sorry ladies, he's taken" - mrs. muskrat.

(please wear a mask and safety glasses when brushing the wood)

[ Edited by: muskrat 2014-07-10 09:39 ]

Nice work!!

I like it Muskrat. Nice deep router work. Longboard likes rum and bocci, I think I like the rum and hottub combo better :lol:

next up was sealing all the wood.

4 coats of gloss polyurethane then it was time to get building.

with all the wood carved, burned and sealed, it was time to start building.
i got the uprights up then my buddy rob showed up to help me get the 16' 4x8 up in the air.
once that was done the stringers started going up and pretty soon we had the makings of a cover.

with the basic frame in place it was time to build the corner supports and the gutter.

next up was building the gutters. i wanted bamboo gutters but the cost was prohibitive and they would need to be replaced more often than i'd like so i made some from 5" half round sheet metal gutters. i used epoxy to make nodes and used a paint process i came up with to make them look the business.

i did a step by step tutorial on how to make these. you can see it here
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=47292&forum=18&23

[ Edited by: muskrat 2014-07-12 09:32 ]

now it was time to install the gutters.

all it needs now is a rain chain.

now to put a roof on it.

next up was wrapping the hardware with manila rope to make it look like it had been lashed.
i wrapped the ends of the rope with electrical tape then used finish nails to attach lengths that went over the top and down the other side.

once that was done i wrapped around the uprights.

with the massive hardware i used to attach the 4x4's to the 4x8's, corner braces weren't necessary but i had an idea and i think it panned out.

ok, now we can put a roof on it.

I love the whole project so far, but the "bamboo" gutters look amazing!

Thanks for documenting the process and keep the pics coming.

AWESOME construction...just love it!!!

Really coming together nicely!

The progress you've made is very impressive. Thank you for posting before and after pictures of the beam designs, i'm motivated to try making my own.

Excellent design and fab skills on display here. I feel the need... the need to steal!

Looks GREAT!

Thanks for sharing your efforts.

This is pretty rad!!!! Like those routing skills. Those war club supports are a great idea. I'm digging your style. Can't wait to see the finished product. :D

thanks to all for the kudos.
feel free to steal whatever you see, that's why i'm posting it.

before i move on to the roof i thought i'd share the story of how we came up with the name, as this is about the time during the build we solidified it.

we had been tossing around a few names but only one of them was sticking.
as a young boy, if there was a special occasion the family spent it at Albert's Tiki Village in sacramento.

it was my favorite place and introduced me to exotic drinks in fancy mugs (shirley temple with an umbrella).
i wanted the name to be an homage to my favorite tiki bar and as my mom calls me kiki (something i hated and tried to hide most of my life) this seemed like the right name. mrs. muskrat wasn't convinced but then wendy "danlovestikis" cevola introduced the sacramento crawl mug for 2014 and it was sealed.

we contacted wendy and told her about our bar and asked if we could commission her to make one mug with our name and script instead of albert's.

we went to meet wendy and dan and got the grand tour of their collection (it is most impressive) and bought a coral reef mug while we were there. wendy agreed and here's the beginnings of our very own mug.

wendy's work amazes me and it was her mug that solidified the name choice for our bar.

thanks wendy.

tomorrow...the roof.

Awesome build. Looking forward to more!

Please share your bamboo painting for your eves trough...looks great!

thanks jimsflies.
ask and ye shall receive:

i did a step by step tutorial on how to make the faux bamboo gutters. you can see it here
http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=47292&forum=18&23

now...on to the roof.

i decided to use corrugated tin for ease of installation, low cost and the sound it makes in the rain.

i painted all the tin brown on one side in preparation for the install.

i had already carved, burned and sealed the cross supports so they were ready to go up.

while the paint was drying on the tin, i started to unroll reed fencing across the beams, stapling as i went.

then i would put up a piece of the tin roofing and fasten it down.

repeated this 7 more times and this is what we ended up with.

this completed the first major portion of the build.

we moved the furniture from under the old patio cover to the new and set up the temporary lounge.

next up, rebuild the other patio cover.

Awesome work, Muskrat...you are indeed skilled.

Although I'm new here, a tiki bar is the next item on my Honey-Do home renovation list (after my wife's kitchen remodel, lol)...you have given me tons of inspiration.

Thanks for sharing!

Rob

Looks awesome- just got caught up on the thread. Love the router work and especially the darker/ Witcoesque treatment.

Though not traditional, we play bocce on the beach here in San Diego, and I've seen friends build similar set-ups at home. Sand is cheaper than other fills (I think). Years ago we would back and forth along the beach, throwing ahead of us. A bit non-traditional, but was always a fun time.

Look forward to seeing more!

Muskrat,
You are amazingly talented and I'm adding myself to the list of folks siphoning off your creativity! I'm up here in Washington and have been battling how to do a decent gutter system for a long time. Your set up is GREAT. You have also inspired me to try some routing and wood burning of my own. I love the witco style you ended up with. My main question is how did you go from burned to beautiful like that? My immediate thought was a wire brush but I figured I'd ask!

Jack

[ Edited by: Keaka-tiki 2014-07-17 18:42 ]

Wow you are so good at this. Love all the designs. Wendy

Pretty damn cool.

i must say, i'm happy to be inspiring others and humbled by the praise.

@keaka-tiki...i tried a wire brush but didn't care for the results. next i tried a small stiff bristled whisk broom, which worked great but was very labor intensive.
i finally ended up with a handled stiff bristled cleaning brush which worked great and got the job done about 5 times quicker, not to mention it was much easier on my wrist.
i got this one at home depot but i imagine you can get them anywhere.

please be sure to wear safety glasses and a mask when brushing the burnt wood. it's nasty stuff.

next up, tearing down the original patio cover to start anew.

next up was dismantling the original patio cover.

once that was done the first order of business was to scrape the old peeling paint and repaint in the new color.
once that was done i installed the new stringer to the wall.
we went from 2x4 to 2x6 for a sturdier cover. we also raised it 4 inches in the back to match the roof line of the other cover (though at a different height) and for a little more headroom.

after that the poles and beam went up followed by the joists.
this went quick and no one was around to photograph it so you'll just hafta imagine what it looked like.
next up was another peice of faux bamboo gutter and corrugated tin roofing.
we decided not to route any of the wood on this side but give it a deeper burn. also no reed roofing, just painted brown.

next up was building 2 walls to enclose the end of the patio.

"How to" pictures are great, carry on..........

I'm wondering on your bamboo eves trough, does that empty into a "bamboo" downspout?

Ceiling looks fantastic. Did you paint the topside of your tin roof?

On 2014-07-20 06:26, jimsflies wrote:
I'm wondering on your bamboo eves trough, does that empty into a "bamboo" downspout?

Ceiling looks fantastic. Did you paint the topside of your tin roof?

the gutter on the taller cover empties into the gutter on the lower cover.
the lower gutter empties via a rain chain. (pix to come)

i sealed all the seams and screws on the topside of the roof but haven't got it painted yet.
i'll be painting it with Kool Seal heat reflective paint in the hopes of dropping the temp under the cover by a few degrees.
we haven't had to much problem with heat because we don't spend much time at the bar during the heat of the day, usually wait til the sun's on it's way down.

with the 2nd patio structure done i realized that the lower height posed an issue with the tail design i had on the joists.
they we're too low and too pointy.
i made a few marks with chalk and came up with a quick fix and ended up trimming the bottom off of the tails leaving an upward point.
this gave about 3 inches of head room and eliminated a dangerous situation.
i snapped this last night as the sun was going down (no filter, just a beautiful sunset)

with that issue taken care of i began to frame out the walls.
again i was busy building and didn't get many photos.
i framed out the walls then put up siding.

there are 3 wall sections, the main wall with 2 windows, a small kick-out on the outside and a 3 foot section extending from the house out to the corner.

with the walls framed and the siding in place i started on the opening which has large slat plantation shutters.

once they we're test fitted i disassembled them then back to burning, scrapping and sealing.

these are fully functioning shutters which can let the breeze through, let light in or keep the glare out as well as keeping the elements at bay.
here's a link to the company that makes the hardware.

http://www.flexfence.com/theHardware/index.shtml

you use standard 1x6 fence boards (or whatever wood you choose in those dimensions) fairly straight forward install.

next up finishing off the interior walls.

Muskrat,

Wow, those slat plantation shutters are bad ass.

I'm going to use those in my build.

Thanks for sharing!

-Longboard

glad ya like them.

with the boards all burned and sealed it was time to reassemble the shutters. with that done we began to finish the inside walls with cedar siding, bamboo and dark baka mat.

we had changed our minds completely about how the layout was goin to go and decided to keep the lounge on the other side and put the bar under the 2nd, lower cover as it would feel more intimate.

this necessitated a redesign of the bar so i got to work drawing up new plans.
in the meantime i got the electricity wired for where the bar would now reside.

i had been on the lookout for bar stools and came across a great deal. a local restaurant was remodeling and i got 5 bar stools for $25...SCORE!!!

these stools are Red the dog approved.

they have just the right lived in feel that will work with the look i'm going for at the bar.

next up, starting the bar build (it's about time...)

that is some series burning work, first time Ive seen the huge BBQ size gas tank!! Im sure your neighbors think they live next door to a forest fire!!! great work, always love your update photos!!!
paul

On 2014-07-25 12:43, Pele Paul wrote:
that is some series burning work, first time Ive seen the huge BBQ size gas tank!! Im sure your neighbors think they live next door to a forest fire!!! great work, always love your update photos!!!
paul

thanks pele paul.
the neighbors we're curious at first as that thing is very loud. sounds like i'm launching a hot air balloon.

alrighty then...time to start on the bar.

the plan all along was to have a more cobbled together feel to the bar so i picked up a few wine barrels to use as the ends of the bar.

the rest of it would be built around those. we were originally looking to build a bar that sat 5 but relocating it changed the design and we decided to basically fill the whole area under the new cover with the bar. the redesign now saw the bar size increasing to seat 8 with room behind the bar for a stool as well. there would also be room for walk up traffic or more stools could be pulled up to seat 9-10.
the biggest challenge with the move to the other side was the pitch of the slab. the new concrete slab was relatively level while the pavers on the other side had a bit of a slope. the barrels we're also too short to be bar height so i knew i would hafta make a platform for the bar to sit on.
after a great deal of measuring and calculations i had a plan.
the platform is 3/4 inch ply with bracing underneath. it's angled front to back an inch and a quarter and raises the barrels three inches in the fron to bring the height to forty inches without the bartop. if i had it to do again i would've run wiring through the platform that i could stub up where needed (hindsight being what it is).

the color looks off here but it's textured with a dark green glaze and is close to the color of the house without being an exact match due to the faux finish.

now with the platform finished it was time to fit it in place. i had test fit it to make sure it fit and was level before i painted it. now it was time to mount the barrels.

next up, preparing the barrels.

Muskrat,

Bocce, I did decomposed granite and at some point add the layer of oyster flower

The italians play on any flat surface in the old country.

Where is your place?

-Longboard

On 2014-07-28 08:05, Longboard wrote:
Muskrat,

Bocce, I did decomposed granite and at some point add the layer of oyster flower

The italians play on any flat surface in the old country.

Where is your place?

-Longboard

i'm in sacramento.

i'm thinking the DG with a light dusting of oyster flour is the way to go. i can't get the shell to compact enough to keep the court in playable shape without a ton of water.

by the ways, i just put together that you own fu-bar. that's one of my favorites. so much texture, it's beautiful.
hopefully someday i'll get that rich patina that all your treasures give that space.