Woodworking Tips from Pop…

Space:
How much is available (including the ceiling ht)? This will determine your design. Fortunately, space can be modified to fit your needs most of the time.
If your design requires a lot of tearing out and reframing, you might want to consider finding a qualified contractor or at least someone with framing experience to help you locate those pesky load bearing walls. You don’t want the house collapsing on your new bar.

Design:
There are basically two kinds of bars to design.
Free standing or built in.
We’ll cover free standing first since it’s the more simple of the two, no plumbing, no electrical, just a piece of furniture you can take from one home to another. Now there are some points of interest you might want to consider. How long do you want this bar to last? Solid wood and hand crafted will usually last for generations, while constructing the bar out of MDF (crap board) or other wood substrates will last just a couple of years if that. This will play a major role in how much you pay for this bar, and you’ve heard that old saying (you get what you pay for).
If you’re looking for something that’s going to last, just make sure it’s built out of solid wood. This is especially important for free standing pieces because they will moved around for years. Now remember that plywood is considered solid wood, and there is nothing wrong with building with plywood just as long as you know that the finished product can never be sanded down or easily repaired if it is damaged.  Plywood should be left for the boxes.

Now, built-in bars are another story.
You need to think about a lot of things!

Price: (This is an investment in your home)
Depending on the size and difficulty of the bar, they can range from $10,000 to $50,000. This is just for the bar itself. Arches, columns, carvings, and building the bar around corners, these are the items that will jack up the price. Now you can always shave off 10% to 20% by using plywood tops and other finished components in its construction, which isn’t really a bad thing. (Just remember what pop said above about plywood). The one below with a front bar, back bar, and solid hardwood tops costs approximately $25,000 finished & installed. (much less than a car and no depreciation value)

Wine Racking and Stemware holders: (functional & beautiful) This was a closet behind the bar before we converted it. This was pop’s idea! Notice the two types of wine storage. More to follow on wine storage and cellars.

Flooring:(wood, tile, carpet) Flooring should also be installed before the bar. Some bars have a lot of details along the front, so lets just say it’s safer to set the new bar on a finished floor than to try having those floor guys work around your new bar. (They will  be happier too.)

Type of wood and finish: (What’s your budget) Hardwood is graded on the clarity of the lumber. It starts with the best being FAS (first & seconds) to 1 common, 2 common and 3 common being the most split & knotty. All local lumber companies use this grading system. So when you’re looking to buy and you don’t mind a few knots ask for a low common wood and you can save some BIG $. Cherry always seems to be in abundance and looks great.