Home The Lava Lounge

[Kahikina]

After seeing some awesome builds, I decided to document my journey.

I decided from the beginning that I wanted the look of an unassuming garden shed to fit into my backyard theming. I had quite a bit of space to work with. The city I live in allows up to a 200 square foot structure without needing a permit. I really was trying to avoid any permitting as it would add costs and delays to the project.

Here is the space I started with, landscape rock moved so I could gauge the footprint I was after. From left to right, 2 orange trees, lemon tree, fig tree. (one orange tree has since been replaced with a lime tree)



Next up I started looking at pre-built sheds. I found a reasonable one, 12x16. (no permit required) This company allows you to virtually create your shed with door placement, window placement etc.



I made sure I was good with the footprint, so I marked out the dimensions on the ground.



Stay tuned, next post I'll show you what I envisioned for the floor plan, and what interior items I started purchasing.

Mahalo for reading!

 

[TikiFlamingo]

This is gonna be good!

 

[kanaloa]

I am so in! I explored the shed idea, but due to zoning laws where I live, unless I wanted to deal with the county for 6-12 months to get a permit, I was limited to 96 sq ft which wouldn't have given me enough space to wall off a section for, well, regular shed stuff and a separate section to convert into a bar.

I am looking forward to watching this unfold!

 

[Kahikina]

Aloha,

Welcome back. The next step was construction. I did consider building the shed myself, and although I consider myself a halfway decent carpenter, I decided to have the shed company build it. This was mainly based on time. If I built it (even with friends helping) I figured it would take me weeks if not a month to put it together. This 12x16 unit has 2x4 construction and cost right around $5k. I know, a big chunk of change, did I mention I have an awesome wife?

I did save money where I could, you may notice the install was not painted, just primed. I was able to save $400 by painting the unit myself. I can use that money on rum and mixers!

After deciding on the size, I threw some measurements into autocad and started playing around with furniture and the scale of what I had to work with. Here is what I came up with. I decided the double doors needed to be in the middle of the unit for aesthetics. The curved bar had been purchased at this point, and I had no intent on opening the second double door, so I was ok with kind of blocking it.



Here is the bar that I purchased pretty early in the project.



Now the actual construction...





Walls were preassembled at the factory. It took 2 men about 4 or 5 hours to complete this build. The only issue they ran into was that someone made one door upside down. The exterior "x" was in the wrong spot. Gah! Just cosmetic, and was corrected by another crew a day or so later. This was the completed shell of the Lava Lounge.



Next up I'll talk about paint, running electric, and purchasing more furniture and props.

Thanks for following along!

Mahalo for reading!

 

[TikiFlamingo]

coming along nicely !

 

[Ukulele Jim]

Nice job! It's looking good! So there's no cement pad under this?

 

[Dr. Johnny Fever]

following!

 

[Kahikina]

Welcome back...

I lucked out on my electrical. I had run a 220 line out to the end of the house previously for a hot tub that has since been removed. I was smart in the fact that I just turned off that breaker and left the wiring where it was. It was fairly simple to extend that out to the Lounge for the lighting and A/C. The Lounge has it's own breaker panel, with breakers setup for the different areas. The bar area has it's own breaker for the fridge, the attic lighting is on it's own breaker, and the receptacles are on their own breaker. Oh yeah, of course the a/c is on a dedicated breaker as well. (220)

I then spent some time running the romex wiring where I needed.



The electric line run...



I hired an a/c installer to put my split unit in. I wanted to make sure it was done correctly.








Next up some accessories for the Lounge and then the interior starts!

Mahalo for following along!

 

[Kahikina]

I forgot to mention... I had been painting in between all of these other mini projects going on.



See you next time!

Mahalo!

 

[kanaloa]

Awesome. Thanks for documenting this!

And a backyard shed bar, with AC? I'd be tempted to throw a sleeper sofa in there and put it on airbnb part-time as a Shed-n-Breakfast.

 

[Kahikina]

Great idea!

 

[Kahikina]

Nice job! It's looking good! So there's no cement pad under this?

correct, this company used a metal beam system to raise the unit off the ground about 6 inches. I was pleased as not to worry about bugs, rotting wood, or water flooding.

 

[Kahikina]

The next installment in the Lava Lounge build.

This is the completed paint scheme. Looks like a normal garden shed from the outside, what will be inside is the difference!



I had purchased a hanging light that I liked from Amazon, I had to assemble all of the chains and wiring, but it turned out well.



Also purchased some accessories...





Next up is drywall and wall coverings!

Mahalo for following along!

 

[kanaloa]

Awesome. Like some of the classics- an unassuming outside hiding what's beyond the doors.

 

[Kahikina]

This post is about the lauhala matting and painting.

I ordered about 5 rolls of the matting for use on the upper portion of the wall. (above the chair rail wood) I laid it out on a small table right outside the Lava Lounge so the distance I had to carry it was minimal. I then used some tin snips to cut/remove areas for the a/c unit etc. I used duct tape on the backside edges to keep them from unraveling or falling apart. Then I used a staple gun to go directly into the drywall. I tried to keep it as square as possible, but the material is handwoven and not always squared up as you would like.



This is around my fake "window"... (tv that loops island scenes)




This was the mug shelf area I completed without taking very many pictures. Sorry about that. I just glued and screwed some pine and stained it. You can see my Home Depot fridge in there as well.



I made sure to paint the lower section a color that would match the bamboo reeds that get attached there. Sometimes you can see right through it to the wall behind. I did not want to see ugly unpainted drywall.



I painted the ceiling flat black after covering it in 2 inch foam. You can buy it in 4x8 sheets. I just ran it through my table saw to get some clean cuts. This helps insulate the lounge in our nasty summer months. I have some plastic vines that will help hide the 2x4s up top.



Below is the porthole fish tank. I had an old monitor laying around so I bought an mp3 player and set it in between the wall studs. I covered it up with the same fencepost planking as behind the bar, and viola! Instant fish!




Next post will be about the base molding and chair rail wood.

Mahalo for staying with me this long!

 

[TikiFlamingo]

It's really taking shape! Can't wait to see the next episode.

 

[kanaloa]

That's looking great so far. And that hanging light fixture is looking sweet.

 

[Kahikina]

Here's the next installment..... this first pic shows the placement of the tv, and then the fake window frame wrap.



I also had put up the thatched roof over the tv area.



Some of the support beam detail. Rope from Home Depot wrapped around the wood.



Next is the wood trim. I tried my hand at using the router free hand. Then a little wood burning with a torch.











Next time, a few finishing shots and a video tour. Stay tuned!

Mahalo!

 

[Artsea]

This looks amazing! You have such a nice yard to work with. I'm so envious of all you people who live in warm and sunny climates. I live in the frigid north (Canada) Everything gets ruined by the cold.

 

[Kahikina]

This looks amazing! You have such a nice yard to work with. I'm so envious of all you people who live in warm and sunny climates. I live in the frigid north (Canada) Everything gets ruined by the cold.

Do you have a basement? (hint hint)

Tiki On!