How To Build A Bar Step Three

Skinning The Bar

       Skinning your home bar is just adding a skin to the frame.  You can use anything from wood, vinyl, drywall, or even sheet metal.  This is dependant on what you want your bar to look like and dependant on what the area that the bar is going to be located will look like.  For this demonstration we are using 1/2" oak plywood.

       To skin the outside of the bar you will need two sheets of 1/2" ply with dimensions of 109" x 42" and two pieces with dimensions of 24" by 42".  The front and sides are very easy, but the back of the bar will require an additional cut.  You'll need to cut a 100" by 18" rectangle out of one side of the plywood.  Be carefull to not damage the piece that you cut out as that will later be used as the backsplash for the inside of the bar.

       The front and back plywood will overlap the sides to make a perfect box.

       The next piece that you need is the bottom counter top.  You need to start with a sheet of wood that is 108" x 20.5".  You then need to take a 1.5" by 3.5" rectangle out of each corner.  These cutouts will allow the wood to fit inside the frame and rest on the boards on all sides.  You can the screw the counter top down on all sides.

       Now you can add the inside of both sides and the backsplash.  The sides will take 2 sheets of 20.5" by 17.5" plywood.  For the backsplash of the bar we will use the rectangle that we cut out of the back bar skin earlier.  Once you have all this done, I recommend that you use some type of sealer at all of the joints.  You will have spills and water on this surface and you don't want any of it leaking down under and inside of your bar. 

Move on to Step Four- Building The Bar Top