Sometimes you just need a place to call your own, where you can chill, or you can have the guys over and there’s no worry about annoying your partner, waking the kids, etc… just a place where a man can drink his craft beer and watch the game. That was the feeling that an anonymous Imgur had, and he decided he wanted to make his own.
When he bought his property, he noticed that the previous owner had set up a 19.5 x 11.5 foot pre-fab shed overtop where an aboveground pool used to be, that had no power and no finishing touches. At the onset, the current owner just set up some LED rope lights over his bbq and ran the power from his house. It worked alright for some time, but he wanted more.
He wanted to build his very own Tavern.
The first step was to use some 3D modelling software to lay out what he wanted his tavern to look like.
He also laid out the plan for the backside of the bar, because he wanted to ensure he had room for his kegerator and other stuff back there.
Step one was power. He repurposed a breaker in the house for the pool’s pump and rerouted the wires so they came into the shed. He then relied on the help of /r/DIY to figure out how to wire the existing conduit into outlets for his bar gear and for the lights outside.
After all the wiring was done, he began to drywall the interior.
He rented a drywall lift that helped him do the ceiling. This is what the interior of the barn/Tavern looked like before he started the project. Just bare MDF.
Before completing the ceiling, however, he installed an attic access, so he could store things up there.
He also cut out some windows on the side of the barn that didn’t have any, so he could have better crossflow of air.
Finally the drywall was up and secured.
Then the taping and mudding. This is the wall where the bar will be.
And this is the view from where the bar will be.
Everything got a nice coat of green paint, with a sprayer to expedite the process.
In the meantime, he’s still using his barn as a garage to keep his yard tools.
As for the floors, he opted to use a 20′ x 12′ sheet of vinyl flooring, with a light plank pattern.
From this picture, I can’t even tell it’s not real wood, and it’s going to be pretty durable for all those spilled drinks and dropped saucy wings.
Next, he laid out the bones of the bar.
Here, you can see that it’s pretty well reinforced for some under counter space.
Then he finished it off with some wood paneling.
And behind the bar, there’s a lower area to store drinks.
He opted for a dark wood look, so he gave it a dark stain and added his polyurethane to protect it.
The bar was still unfastened to the wall, so he was able to move the bar around to get all the nooks and crevices done. He held off on putting his his shelving from the diagram, until he knew how big his kegerator was going to be.
Next, was the piece de resistance…his bar top. He wanted to use copper pennies to cover it. This is $30 worth of pennies from the bank.
Turns out, that wasn’t enough, so he needed $25 more.
He also had a great idea for a cool effect that he could do with the pennies. Apparently, pennies from prior to 1982 were 90+% copper, but after that, they were mostly zinc with a copper jacket. This meant that the older pennies could be oxidized a lot easier. He sorted them into two categories.
Here you’ve got the newer, shinier pennies on the bottom and the older ones on top.
He took the newer pennies and put them in a white vinegar and salt solution, which ate away at all the gunk and made them very shiny. He gave them a quick rinse and a polish with some baking soda and they were ready.
If you don’t rinse them, however, and just let them dry, they begin to oxidize and turn green.
This was the pattern he decided on. It’s pretty ingenious the way that the used the different shades of penny to make a pattern.
He invited some friends over and with a 6 pack of beer (only one?), they were able to knock out the bar top, making sure that every penny was face up.
A pretty cool design.
Here’s a closeup of the bar top. The OP admits that most DIY sites suggest painting the bar top black before putting down the pennies, but he decided that it looked best with the stain, so that looking down, you can see the beautiful wood grain, but when you look at it from an angle, you see a patterned copper bar top.
This is after the first quart of resin. That’s really looking good.
Quarts three and four, but it still looks a little lumpy.
After the final quart, it looked like glass.
When the kegerator arrived, he fit it under the bar, and planned to build a collar around it to over the inevitable wood chips you get from cutting panelling.
Finally, my favourite part: picking out the beer and screwing the handles on. He picked some local beers for the tap and made some matching trim for his windows behind the bar.
He also installed some pot lights overtop the bar, by way of the attic access.
Here’s a zoomed out look, with the barstools he was planning to match with the bar. Looks like he’s still using it to store his yard gear, but that’s ok. It makes it more authentic as a man cave.
And here’s the finished project.
That is an impressive bar, and an even more impressive Tavern.
Time for a drink.
Via Imgur
