Upcycling is quite the rage.
I recently created a basement bar using reclaimed bowling lanes and
pallets. The results are amazing! This board shares my photo log of the bar
construction, along with some cool shelves and accessories I created to go along
with the bar.
The Approach
For most of my adult life I dreamed of having that place. You know, the one where all your friends want to hang out on the weekends. The place where you host parties and people cancel other plans to come. So when my wife and I recently purchased our home, finding a home with that perfect entertainment space was important to me. We purchased a beautiful home, a turn-key kind of place, except for the “semi-finished basement.” Our basement space is a wide open room. It has nice carpet, the interior walls are sheet rocked, exterior walls are concrete basement foundation and the celling is open to the floor joists above. Everything is painted to the standard issue “Suburb Beige.” It was the perfect blank canvas for my project with a somewhat limited budget. Keep in mind, we are middle class people, who live in the middle of the Midwest. Hiring a contractor to come in and build us the perfect space is not an option, plus I am handy and I love a project. So the idea, how can we make this blank space our perfect entertainment area on a limited budget?
My ideas had been swirling for months. The plan was to build a back bar attached to the wall and a two tiered free standing bar that could be in the center of the room. A big part of the space had to center around Karaoke. I am part time KJ and my wife and I both love to sing, so building a system into the space was a must. I wanted to incorporate pallet wood for both the rustic look and the cost savings aspect on the project. And it all needed to be easily removed and replaced should we decide to further finish the space down the road.
A Happy Accident
Finding the bowling lanes that are the cool focal point of this project was truly a happy accident. I had initially planned on making the bar tops out of inexpensive table tops from IKEA. Because everything is modular at IKEA, you can just purchase the tops (without legs) for 30-60 bucks depending on size. My plan was to cut the table tops to bar size and use them until we could replace them with granite or something similar down the road. As it goes, my wife was not impressed with the table top idea and having none of it. That same night I was on Craigslist looking for something unrelated and found the guy selling chunks of bowling lanes. The idea of using the lanes as bar tops got an enthusiastic stamp of approval from my wife. Turns out the guy who had these lanes, purchases them for use in hotels as pub tables. He had several sections extra without plans so he was trying to sell them. In this case they were a $150-$200 per section. I asked a friend to come join me in picking them up (poor guy had no idea how heavy they were). I chose one section of lane (the one with arrows) that was approximately 7 ft long and the other section of approach (the area where you stand when you throw the ball with dots) was about 6ft long. It was all that 3 of us could do to load the sections, each weighed close to 300lbs.
The next day I hit up a honey hole I found for free pallets. Sometime before, I found that a wholesale roofing company had advertised on Criagslist that they were giving away pallets. It was just a matter of popping into the office and asking. They said take as many as you want. I was able to dig though the pile and hand pick the ones that had the look and quality I wanted for my project. I stated with 6 or 7 and ended up making trips for a few more. In total, I probably used 12 or so with waste and broken boards.
Construction
I should start by talking about my skill level. I am probably a little more skilled than the average Joe but by no stretch a professional or an HGTV quality carpenter. I am a do-it-yourself kind of guy who knows my way around a power tool with a fairly well equipped garage. Later in this blog I will include a list of power tools you might want if you try to tackle such a project.
Cutting Lanes
I used a piece of straight 2x3 clamped to the lane as my guide and made the cuts with the circular saw. I supported each side with saw horses while I cut. A few tips: 1.Wear eye protection! You will have a fireworks show every time you hit a nail or screw. 2. Keep extra blades handy. I was able to make only one long cut before the blade was dull and had to be replaced. You may need a reciprocating saw to finish the job. In my case, even at max depth, I was not able to get all the way through the lane. So I finished the cut by running the reciprocating saw down the cut I made with the circular saw. One final tip- I found that I had to provide support side to side to keep the lane stable. Lanes are basically built with tongue and groove 1x’s, if they are not supported horizontally they do not have stability. Simply measure across and cut a 1x3 or 1x4 to width and screw it to the underside. I used the placement of these to secure the location of the tops to the base as you will see in later pictures.
The final product of the top cuts were 4 pieces of lane that became the upper bar top, lower bar top, back bar and a pub height table for behind the sofa.
Framing
Because access is tight into our basement and these lanes are so heavy, the design of my bar had to be modular. I had to build something that could be easily disassembled after construction in the garage and moved through the house to the basement. So the main bar is 4 pieces: 2 tops and 2 bases that are connected by lag bolts. The back bar is two pieces: top and base. The pub table has a top and galvanized pipe legs.
I did not have a design on paper but had a good idea of exactly what I wanted in my head when I started construction. A lot of the measurements are specific to my project but I worked off of standard 36-inch counter height for the back bar, lower main bar and pub table. The upper section of the main bar is of 42-inches floor to top.
Starting with the main bar, I framed a basic support structure with new 2x3 studs. I chose this for a couple of reasons. First, the studs are cheap, about $1.50 each at my Home Depot and second, I needed lumber that would allow me to build a square and level frame. This was extra important since I did not build the project in its final resting location. I encourage you to take extra time to seek out straight lumber. I find about half of it is always warped. Good lumber will save you a lot of headaches! I used wood screws to secure the frame together and took the extra time to check to make sure that all of my joints were square. I also pre-drilled all of my holes. This is something I don’t do often, but it worked well on this project. Upon building the frame, I bolted the top to the base using 4 lag bolts. The process was repeated for the upper bar. The frame was then constructed and the was bolted down with lag bolts.
Once both frames were completed with tops secured, the upper and lower bars were attached with two more lag bolts. This created the framework for the main free standing bar.
The back bar followed the exact same process, the only difference was adding a space for a small refrigerator into the design. This element resulted in a two piece design of the base.
One other little trick: I added a series of screw type levelers to the bottom of the base frames. My bar was built on a garage floor with a slight slope. I was concerned that I would get it to the basement and it would be off level. Fortunately that was not the case. I was careful to make sure that everything was square during the build and it all came together without a hitch. Though the levelers didn’t come into play for me, they are a cheap insurance measure and make the bar a little easier to slide should you need to move it.
Pallet Work
I love that pallets are free and can create an awesome rustic look. They saved me a ton of money but pallets can also be a little tricky. I recently helped a good friend with some pallet projects for his wedding. We struggled trying to disassemble them. We were using a hammer and crow bar and probably broke as many slats as we were able to use. Eventually we cut down the stringers with a circular saw. Unfortunately that made for small pieces. After some research I found the trick of running a reciprocating saw blade behind the slats and simply cutting the nails. Awesome trick. You get the entire board off without breaking it. It is fairly fast, the nail heads stay in place and add to the cool look of the lumber. Use a long demo blade for a project of this size. You will need a few. I highly recommend this trick for any pallet project!
So once the slats were off the stringers, it was a matter of wrapping the frames in pallet wood. I started on one side and worked my way around. It was very helpful to have a power miter saw for this. As you can see, some of the slats run vertically, some horizontally. A little trick: I worked to always leave the natural edge exposed. When you cut the weathered wood, the cut edge looks new. I personally think it takes away from the look. In a few spots I used the table saw to rip down slats edges to 1” trim. I used this trim in a few places to hide seams as I worked my way around. I used an air nail gun to secure the pallet wood to the frame and a jig saw for some of the more advanced cuts. As you’re putting the pallet wood on, don’t forget that you have to eventually take the whole structure apart. Although I messed this up a few times, it was easily fixed. Leave access to unbolt the tops and make sure that the two base sections remain independent of one another.
One other element I built into my design was a 1” galvanized pipe foot rest. This took place as I was skinning the bar. I added two additional studs into the frame (one on each side) that have holes large enough to accommodate the pipe and secured them to the frame. I used spacers below these studs knowing it would always have downward pressure once in place when in use. I had the galvanized pipe custom cut to length and threaded at Home Depot (they do this for free). I then threaded the sections into the “T” that was attached to a nipple and floor flange. It was all screwed to the structural supports of the bar. As you can see in the picture, I planned ahead and had my pallet wood on the pipe prior to securing for a more finished look.
Alley Trim and Finish
The lanes were rough sanded when I got them but most definitely had some scratches and holes. I used a simple wood filler for anything too deep to sand out. All the lanes were progressively sanded with 80 (belt sander), 120 (orbital sander) and 340 (hand) grit paper. Even after all this sanding, it is definitely well used wood, I like to call the finish “perfectly imperfect.”
In order to create a more finished look, I purchased some window molding to wrap the edges of the lanes. I looked at several options and ultimately chose this because it was wide enough to cover not only the thickness of the lane, but also the 1x3’s I used for horizontal stability. I also liked that I could buy it by the foot at Home Depot in their trim section. I cut each piece to fit and used the miter saw for nice clean 45 degree corners. Each piece was secured with glue and finish nails. I chose to predrill and nail them as compared to using an air nailer. I had concern that the nailer would struggle with the hard wood of the lanes. Then the nail holes were filled and the entire top finish was sanded.
From this point I disassembled everything and took it to the basement for finish. Another shout out to a friend for helping. Tip: You will need lots of friends to help you move bowling lanes around! Once in the basement I tackled the project of finishing the tops of the lanes. I chose a water based semi-gloss polyurethane. I picked this because it is winter in Kansas. Finding the warm days I needed to finish the tops outside would be difficult and I did not want to finish in the garage due to dust concerns. Had the weather been a little nicer, I think I would have used an oil based product. Between each of the 3 coats, I hand sanded the tops with 400 grit paper to eliminate brush marks. Final Assembly
Everything was moved into its final home and reassembled. Once the tops were secured, all of the access panels I had left were closed up and some final trim pieces of pallet wood were added. The back bar was secured to the wall using two lag bolts into the wall studs.
Floating Shelves and Back Splash
Above the bar I created some floating shelves to hold bottles and such. The shelves are basically pallet wood boxes with black thin plywood tops that slide over an E (long shelf) or C (short shelf) shaped frame that is attached to the wall. Because the wall backs up to the stairwell, I have access behind the wall. I took advantage of this space to run electrical wire to some LED lights mounted on the top and bottom of the long shelf. The round lights were about $30 at IKEA and offer light to the back bar area. The upper lights are strips which also cost about $30 and illuminate the bottles. 
For the back splash, we selected a 12x12 glass and stainless steel mosaic tile. I placed a 1/8” piece of plywood on the wall and anchored it with screws around the edge, then tiled inside this line. Pallet wood trim around the edges, cover the screws and make it removable should I need to take it down in the future. I used SimpleMat to attach the tiles. Wow! If you have not checked out this product, DO. It made my small tile project super simple and worked even better in the spill rail on the pub table below.
Pub Table
This idea came about when we realized we would need more than one section of lane for the bar tops. Rather than letting the remaining piece of lane go to waste, I decided to build a counter height table for behind our sofa in the basement. It was assembled and trimmed just as I did on the other bar tops but I selected galvanized pipe to be the table legs. Don’t fool yourself, this is not an inexpensive way to build table legs. It required 8 floor flanges. These alone are about 10 bucks each. Regardless, it gives the table a very cool look. Eventually I added a small “spill rail” to the back. It is a 1x8 wrapped in pallet wood with a tile inlay to match the back splash of the main bar.
Pallet Dart Board Backer
With some of the leftover pallet pieces, I created this dart board holder. Maybe the best part is the box at the bottom designed to hold all of our darts and tips.
Pallet and Bowling Alley Shelf
This is another project inspired by the leftovers. This was framed with one 2x3 stud cut down to size that was then wrapped in all pallet wood. The shelves are some small scraps that I had remaining from cutting the bowling lane bar tops.
Karaoke & Game Shelf
As I mentioned before, this space had to have karaoke! I built this little shelf for the laptop and sound board with storage below for our board games and such. Each shelf is secured to the wall in the back and attached to ½’ galvanized pipe legs in the front. All wires run into a storage area behind the wall where they can be easily hidden from view. The wires are attached to speakers and the wall mounted TV. 
In total, this project took about 3 weeks of my spare time. The investment of time and money was well worth it. Our basement is a very cool space that we will enjoy for many years to come. Hopefully I have sparked a few ideas for your home, and helped those of you with a spare bowling lane lying around with no clue where to start. Thanks for reading!
Tyler
Advanced Tools List
Circular Saw
Table Saw
Reciprocating Saw
Jig Saw
Compound Electric Miter Saw
Air Compressor, Nail Gun and Finish Nailer
Belt and Orbital Sander
