Care to watch the progress of my custom bar???

zippymbr said:
If you can survive a remmodeling project and stay together you can survie marriage. It helps if you have the same taste in things, or atleast can come to a compromise. Good luck with your current project. I used to do this kind of thing for living, so I very much enjoy seeing other peoples projects. Keep up the good work and keep the pics coming.
Click to expand...





Thanks alot...means something to hear "good work" from a 'professional'.





I dug up a couple pictures of past projects to show how we've brought the rest of the house upto date from 3 decades ago haha





I seem to have lost my afters of the bathroom which was the first project. Suppose I could always just take more since its still the same :think2 Here's a picture of the bathtub to show you why Nicole said it had to be done immediately.



DSCF0014.jpg






Next big project was the kitchen...



DSCF0004.jpg


finished_kitchen_2.jpg






DSCF0002.jpg


finished_kitchen_1.jpg






We've also done quite a bit of work outside...fully landscaped all around, water garden out front, removed a few trees, transplanted another, new garage door, seamless gutters, and paint...all of which I've done myself except the gutters.





The day we moved in to present:



DSCF0039.jpg


DSCN1274.jpg
 
Wow! amazing what some paint and new countertops can do. Everything looks great, you have definately increased your resale value!
 
zippymbr said:
Wow! amazing what some paint and new countertops can do. Everything looks great, you have definately increased your resale value!
Click to expand...





Exactly...counting what I paid for it plus what I've got in it...if I sold it today I'd profit ~45K = 40% :woot: :woot:
 
theeloved1 said:
Exactly...counting what I paid for it plus what I've got in it...if I sold it today I'd profit ~45K = 40% :woot: :woot:
Click to expand...





That is a great return for your investment. I always tell people there is nothing like "sweat equity". I will be adding an addition to our house this summer. Because I cann't find a house large enough in our area that has a good size lot and a large garage. So I get to put some seat equity into our house.
 
theeloved1 said:
DSCF0002.jpg


finished_kitchen_1.jpg
Click to expand...



What is behind the thing hanging from the ceiling? Looks like there must have been cabinets there in the past that were taken down. Could you not tear it down?



You really do excellent work. I'm very impressed! :usa
 
KevinA said:
What is behind the thing hanging from the ceiling? Looks like there must have been cabinets there in the past that were taken down. Could you not tear it down?



You really do excellent work. I'm very impressed! :usa
Click to expand...



Are you talking about the deal that is framed out on the ceiling...over top the cabinets and the 'L' in the countertop? If thats what you mean, I honestly have no idea what's "behind" it. I would guess that its just there to lower the cabinets to reachable height and then over top the counter space to be a bit of seperation from the "dining area" that is right there.



You're the first person I've ever come across that has asked that question. Never even thought about taking it out myself. I'm looking at it from a different angle now that you said that.... :think:



BTW...we have a new kitchen table since that after picture was taken. Its a silver/gray bottom with a glass top and matching chairs. Looks much better now. :LOLOL
 
Setec Astronomy said:
It's possible there was a cooktop there at one time and that structure was for the exhaust fan/hood.
Click to expand...





Its possible, but I highly doubt it. Only because the lady I bought the house from had owned it from day one and there was nothing, and I mean nothing, done to the house since it was new. She was single, elderly lady, with no kids...She just didn't have the means to do it. Only reason there was carpet and the roof done is so she could sell the place.
 
I'd imagine that box-out on the ceiling had cabinets there at one time. I'm saying this because my girlfriend's mother ripped them out in that very same spot in their kitchen.



:nixweiss
 
I've seen kitchens with that same feature with stair ballisters coming from it down to the countertop. Talk about tacky.
 
If you notice in the before picture, there were those stupid vertical rails between the kitchen and the living area...ugly and stupid
 
KevinA said:
A friend of mine put bottle caps on the top of his bar and then poured something over it to seal it all in (drawing a blank on the name of the product - someone here will chime in).
Click to expand...



Resin! That's what I was trying to think of.
 
theeloved1 said:
Are you talking about the deal that is framed out on the ceiling...over top the cabinets and the 'L' in the countertop? If thats what you mean, I honestly have no idea what's "behind" it. I would guess that its just there to lower the cabinets to reachable height and then over top the counter space to be a bit of seperation from the "dining area" that is right there.



You're the first person I've ever come across that has asked that question. Never even thought about taking it out myself. I'm looking at it from a different angle now that you said that.... :think:



BTW...we have a new kitchen table since that after picture was taken. Its a silver/gray bottom with a glass top and matching chairs. Looks much better now. :LOLOL
Click to expand...



Yes, that's what I was talking about. If you decide to tear it out - and cause the mess all over the kitchen, I guess you can blame it on me, if it will help you out with your wife! Tell her I'll try to keep my big mouth shut from now on! :nomore:
 
I just wanted to chime in and say congraulations and excellent job! You have done great work in your house so far, it looks really good espeically for someone so young and with no prior experience! We did some remodeling on my wifes house before we got married so she could get more for it (new kitchen, flooring, paint, etc). Funny thing is that we get along better doing projects than just sitting around doing nothing, LOL. Keep the pics coming, looks great so far. Oh and can you tell us your plans for the fish tank?
 
KevinA: haha...no worries. I won't be ripping it out. Can't justify doing it...way too much work for not enough return if you ask me. So, you don't have to run from my wife :bolt





DetailKing Can't remember the exact color of the walls in the kitchen...its a Valspar color...medium to light shade of gray.





LightningSVT What do you want to know about the fish tank? Its going to be framed in above the small countertop section behind the bar. Will sit with the front glass flush to the existing sheetrock, centered top/bottom and left/right above that countertop. 4ft. long, 55g tank. That wall is along the steps and the laundry room is behind it. The back will be under the steps and fully accessible from the laundry room. That what you wanted to know? What are my stocking plans?...haven't gotten that far yet. I have a couple different things in mind. Species tank of Tropheus, all male display tank of different species of Peacocks from Lake Malawi, or some Jurupari are my 3 top choices right now.







Quick little update here. Haven't made a whole lot of visible progress the last few days. Spent the end of last week picking out what tile and how we want to finish the wood. I tried about 5 different stains (including black), a semi gloss black paint, and a high gloss black paint. We landed on the semi gloss black paint and the tile that you will see in the pics here. Saturday, I got the main countertop tiled before we went out of town for the night....all my productive work on Sunday and so far today has been dedicated to my other 5 fish tanks :shocked



I'm hoping to get the hole for the sink cut out of the counterspace, and get the drip tray and other countertop tiled still tonight...we'll see about that.





Here's the tile installed on the main bar...The extra adhesive and all that still hasn't been cleaned off so... As you can see, I decided not to go with the easy way of tiling it square to the world...Instead I turned the tiles 45* to make them "diamonds". That of course meant, A LOT of cutting had to be done. There's only 8 tiles on top that didn't have to be cut. :bawling: Looks better though.





DSCN1747.jpg




DSCN1748.jpg
 
JJ_ said:
Your work is excellent!!



Very good skills you got there subscribed!
Click to expand...





Thank you and welcome aboard...there's still a long way to go.





Well, stayed focused and accomplished my goal for the evening. Tile is done. I got to put in another 4 whole pieces without any cuts in them :grinno: Drip tray wasn't bad... just getting the one piece with the 2 45* angles on the inside of the bend took a little thinking. I started there and worked my way out in both directions to finish up the drip tray.



Then came the fun part...putting the square peg in the round hole...er...cutting the round corner with a square blade I mean. I actually got all four round corners cut out of the tile without breaking a one :cool: Sink drops right in and fits perfectly.



Now its time to go upstairs, grab a beer, eat some tacos and watch 'Las Vegas' on the big screen :drool:



Tonights progress:



First, the round corners to fit around the sink...



DSCN1749.jpg






Sink drops right in without any of my round corner cuts being visible from the outside...



DSCN1753.jpg






Drip tray also completed...bye bye to the tile portion of this project.



DSCN1752.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top