How to Build a Tiki Bar

Nothing epitomizes the island vacation feeling like a Tiki Bar in your own backyard, or anywhere you feel like adding some island magic. Building you own Tiki Bar gives you the ultimate freedom to design is exactly the way you want it. You can alter the size and shape allowing your Tiki Bar to fit in the area you have allocated Tiki Bar will not last longer than one weekend.

Plan
You first need to plan your Tiki Bar. Draw your Tiki Bar on a sheet of paper and make notes of how high, wide, long and deep you want it to be. This drawing does not need to be a work of art; it is only a guideline for you to work form.

The average measurement for a bar is: height - 42 inches (excluding roof), depth - 26 inches, and width is 6 feet.

Supplies and materials
Make sure you have all the material you need before you start building your Tiki bar. Here are some of the basics that you will need: Nails or screws, 2x4's for the frame, sheet of wood for the bar top, and thatching for the roof.

The frame
Build the frame of your Tiki bar from the 2x4's. Two to four of the 2x4's can be cut to match the full length of the Tiki bar and an additional two needs to be cut to match the height of the bar top.

Continue by making a frame that matches the front measurements of your Tiki bar, and the sides.

When you have finished with all the smaller frames you can start to fix them to the main frame. Start by attaching the small frames to the main frame as close to the ground as possible.

You can make your Tiki bar sturdier by inserting L-brackets to all the inside corners.

The roof
You will need two posts to support the roof. The posts need to be placed on the sides of your Tiki bar in the middle. Once you are sure they are level, you can fix them to the main frame of your Tiki bar.

Next, you need to place a beam on top of your two posts and attach it there. To complete the A-frame of your Tiki bar roof you need to attach two pieces of 2x4's to either side of the beam at both ends (you should have two A-lines on both sides now). Finally, you need to attach another piece of 2x4's to the bottom of you "A", leaving you with two triangles on both sides.

Finish off your roof by placing the thatch or palm leaves over the roof frame.

Bar top
Cut the sheet of wood to fit the area designated for the bar counter. Once it is cut to precision, you can attach it to the Tiki bar.

To finish off you Tiki bar you can cover the outside with bamboo sticks woven together with twine.

Now all you need it to stock your Tiki bar and you are all set to enjoy your own backyard island dream.