Here's my practically finished Bar

Finished Home Theater Pic

Here's my ultra high tech $36 equipment rack!



$99 value city "home theater" swivel chairs!

120" Screen painted with Flat Behr Ulra Pure White

Epson Home Cinema 1080p Mounted in a box in the tray Ceiling.

Almost there!

The bar is looking really good. There are of course imperfections (I like to call them character) that I'd rather do without but I have to remind myself that this is a hand built bar! Most of this 'character' is in the epoxy resin top coat of the upper and lower bar. Dipples where the resin didn't level out or waves on the edges. If you have experience in this sort of thing drop me a line! I imagine these can be corrected by something other than a complete recoat of the bar top

And More Pics

New Pictures!

Here are some updated Photos!

Genius....

This guy is a genius. Not because he has a catchy slogan, " Because Kids Make Crappy Forts ". It's not that he had the same idea at the same time(having registered his domain on May 19th... damnit!). No sir. None of the above elevates his stature as a man of genius. Genius reminiscent of Louie Pastor, Rene Descartes or dare I say.... Bob & Doug McKenzie... No, friends. This man is a genius because he quoted me.

Hard work and Self Reliance vs Entitlement

Since I don't have much progress to report (or more importantly pictures of progress) let me take a minute to rant. Last night I was putting the kids to bed when the doorbell rings. Standing on my porch is a guy that begins to give me this spiel about working to become a mentor and being all about the positive, working hard to stay out of trouble, blah, blah, blah. At first I didn't know what the hell he was talking about about so I figured it was one of those jobs for student things. I tell him I didn't need any work done around the house. Well apparently I insulted him. He wasn't there looking for a job. He's selling magazines. OK, so I don't want any magazines. "Listen Mr. Rob you need magazines like I need a tan" he says. OK, so you're not here for a job and you really don't want to sell me a magazine, you just want my money... Gotcha. I politely tell him I'm not interested and he gets down right belligerent. "Can I ask why don't you want to help me?", "thanks for being no help at all, etc, etc". Oh yeah, he's all about the positive. Dude, get the hell off my porch already. He got pissed off because he feels entitled. Entitled to a piece of my pie apparently. Listen, I wasn't brought up deprived. My parents did an excellent job raising us and preparing us for adulthood. But I wasn't given anything either. I had to work my way through night school starting out in a mail room. Didn't graduate until I hit 30. So yeah I have a sense of entitlement too. I'm entitled to that which I have earned. Aside from that I can't stand solicitors. It's an invasion of privacy. If Jesus himself rang my doorbell and offered me salvation I'd turn him down.

On the other side of the coin you have this guy. Felipe Pina wins 68 million bucks and what does he plan on doing? Finishing the repair jobs he has left in his shop. I tip my hat to this guy. He comes from a time where hard work and your word means something. This is exactly the type of man I hired to build my bar. Lyle Delfosse of Delfosse Woodcraft. His says each piece he makes has his name on it. And his name means a great deal to him. He builds them like they were his own. There have been times when he's changed the scope of the project and it's cost me a bit more money but he makes desicions because to him they are the right thing to do not because they increase his bottom line. Several times he's came to me and added something before I had even asked about it. A drawer here, a lazy susan there. And other things that I didn't even know I wanted. Upper cabinet space, swing doors into the bar, etc. I just cannot say enough good things about my interations with Lyle. His an old world craftsman. There. I knew I'd get back on topic eventually....

Drywall is up!

The drywall is in so it's starting to look like something other than a basement! Here's a picture showing my Goldendoodle peeking down the stairs. Her name's Mollie and she seems to be afriad of the basement. No doubt because of all the strange and loud noises that've been coming from down there the past several weeks. So what's a Goldendoodle you might be asking? It's a mutt. They call them a hybrid but all that really means is an expensive mutt. She's half Golden Retriever and half Standard Poodle. Now poodles seem to be excellent dogs. They are the smartest breed, they don't shed, and they are great with children. The only problem with poodles is, THEY'RE A FREAKIN POODLE! I mean who the hell wants a poodle? I can't say the word without images of pomp pomps and pink bows popping into my head. So since no one seems to want poodles they bred them with other dogs and get a dog like Mollie. Basically she looks like a shaggy Golden. She's smart, protective, great with all my kids and best of all, she doesn't shed. Anyway less talk about designer dogs and more talk about the Man Fort. The next pics show the theater room. Here's the entrance with the box cut out for the projector in the tray ceiling. To the left and right are the false columns. The door way will be 2, 2.5' converging pocket doors. When we're watching a movie we can close them and get that dedicated theater feeling but when it's time to entertain they can be opened up to make it part of the bar area for watching the big game. The doors are big enough so that the entire 106" screen is viewable from the bar when they're opened.
The round gang boxes are for sconces and the other holes are for the in-wall speakers. All the lighting it the theater is on dimmers which is a problem since I just noticed the sconces I bought are compact florecents. Which apparently you cannot dim. So back to the Home Depot to get replacements. The entire basement was drywalled in one day. Two guys worked their asses off from 9am to 11pm hanging 120 12' sheets of drywall. I don't know if you've try to DIY but it's hard work. These guys really busted their asses to get it done. I didn't even mind the Mariachi blasting for the 15 hours they were there. The mud however takes quite a bit longer. Today they are on day 5 of finishing/sanding. so I figure I should be able to start painting this weekend. Once the first coat of paint is on next comes the tile around the bar. The bar itself is looking like a July/August delivery.

Framing

While framing is something that just about anyone can do, I'm lazy. And despite the fact that I own a Paslode framing nailer (good price on ebay, I couldn't pass it up! Besides, what's more manly then a nail gun that uses exploding freakin gas to fire a nail) I hired my friends Lee and Jeff to frame it out for me. It's a big basement and the crew of 3 guys took a couple of days to frame it out. So I figure it would have taken me a little longer than an average ice age. Money well spent I think. To the left is the Theater room. Not shown here is the tray ceiling. The plumbing on the right hand side had to be boxed out so I figure we box the entire circumference and call it a tray ceiling. This also allows me to build a box in the tray ceiling to house the projector without worrying about expensive mounts. I also added false columns on each side to give it that theater look. The next picture is the bathroom. Not much you can say about a bathroom although there will of course be a TV in there. My best friend has a pretty incredible basement but one thing I find annoying is when you have to go to the bathroom and miss that big third down play. Now he's got his wired for sound but that's just not the same thing and seeing the play unfold! So there was much thought put into the placement of the TV to give a proper viewing angle whether you're standing or sitting. This is the type of thought that I've but into my Man Fort. This next shot is the bar/pub area. The bar will be a island type of bar with seating all around. Column and support beam with be the barback with a canopy between the two columns. The columns themselves will be wrapped in cherry. The plumbing you're looking at is for the sink, the ice maker, and dishwasher. The Pub area will have it's own TV and tables and chairs for about 8 people. I think I should be able to fit 14 or 16 people around the bar itself. The final picture shows the layouts of the base cabinets for the bar. This makes it approximately 12'x10' with the bar top coming out another 7" to 8" from there. The boxes on the floor there are recessed lighting cans. At Lowes they had $6 cans and $16 cans both from the same manufacturer. I put them side by side and I'll be damned if I could find a difference between the two. If any of your electricians out there know what the hell you get for $10 please let me know. I bought the $6 ones. Oh, and one last thing. Does anyone want to buy a Paslode framing nailer?

First step in creating your Man Fort

Research, research and more research. How many TVs? How large? 65" plasma not good enough for you? Then go for a projector and a 100" screen. Hell go for both. This is your Man Fort. You don't want to have to be bother with turning your head to see that 3rd down play. And Beer. Where to keep the beer. A small refrigerator would do, or you could do something like the picture posted above. Why spend time in someone else's bar when you can have one in your Man Fort. Once you've decided what you want, start looking for contractors. Now I know, we are men, we can build stuff. However there are some things it just pays to have someone else do. For me the first step to my Man Fort was adding a walk out 6' french doors to my basement. This had to be done before just about anything else. The basement stairs were just too narrow to get any thing of any size downstairs. 12' sheets of drywall were definately not happening. So, I hook up with a contractor who I will not name because he absolutely sucks. Took 3 months to dig a hole, pour some concrete and cut a hole in my wall. To the left is how it stood for about 2 months. Repeated calls to said contractor largely went unreturned. It wasn't until I was ready to get someone else to finish the job that they showed up and poured the steps and got the door in. There's still plenty of finishing work to be done. I'll post some picture of that later. However on the door is there and I can move on with the project.

The Man Fort

This blog is dedicated to the Man Fort. What's a Man Fort you say? Remember when you were a child out playing with your friends? That out cropping of rocks, or those pieces of 2x4 and plywood nailed to and around trees. Or that hole you dug and covered with wood. These were the forebears, the training grounds if you will, for your future. The Man Fort. A place where a man can go and be... well... a man. They say a man's home is his castle. I submit that man isn't (happily) married with children! The rest of us need our own place to unwind. To watch football and stupid B rated movies. To take time out from laundry, diaphers and snotty noses (um.. you guys have to fold laundry too right?). So take over that unused room, that basement, or that out building sitting on your property. Say NO or flowered drapes and curtains. Say NO children's toys lying about. This gentlemen. Is your time. This is your place. This is... your Man Fort..

Ok, so that turned out to be more dramatic than intended.