Patio and Outdoor Kitchen build

Nice work - whatcha thinking of for the smoker?  Combo smoker pizza oven?

Thanks!  I'm not sure yet. As much as I'd love a smoker big enough that it needs a hitch and taillights, it's just wasteful when it's just the two of us and some friends. Well, eventually anyway  

I like the look of the vertical style with an offset fire box but I haven't seen anything commercially available I was real impressed with. Probably try to find something used when the time comes. 
 

I didn't know combo pizza ovens and smokers were a thing. Got links to anything?

in other news, I finished all the blocking. I've now done everything I can until they get it roofed. 

I'm Im a little concerned about the amount of movement I can generate shoving on the side of the tall post. I'm thinking I may need to add a cross beam between the tall posts at the same level as the side beams and bring knee braces down to limit post flex on those long verticals. We'll see. 

Random, the staggered blocking makes a cool pattern on the wall of the house in the sunset. 

This is looking great. You're giving me some naughty ideas I think my wife will acutally approve of.

If you decide to go down the "wood fired pizza oven" rabbit hole, here is the place that you will be spending A LOT of time! You can either thank me later or bomb my house! Mine was a fun build, but nowhere near as involved as some of these guys get. Unfortunately ours is under 18" of snow and I won't get to fire it up and use it until spring, but I plan to use it quite a bit for different types of cooking.

Not much happening on the roof yet, although the actual installers can by yesterday and we ironed out details on overhangs and such. 
 

But remember how I said I didn't even own a smoke? Well I do now!

I found a barely-used Oklahoma Joe Bandera on FB marketplace for a little over $200. I like the layout on these but wasn't willing to pay almost $400 for a new one. If you could find one. 
It probably needs some gasket upgrades and a good cleaning, but well worth the price. 

First smoke in the Shack! Mostly just test firing the smoker but I couldn't resist cooking something. The chicken wings turned out great, the boneless pork "country style ribs" are still on. The smoker definitely needs some gaskets, and the nuts securing the handles all loosen up quickly. Need some stop nuts. But it's done pretty well holding temp on a mix of charcoal and oak sticks with a temp in the 50s and windy. 

Another weekend, more smoke. K-Roger had baby back ribs on sale, so that's what I smoked. The oak firewood I bought sucks so I fought with wood, charcoal, and anything else I could find to burn all day. But the ribs turned out good...

In actual construction news, I'm supposed to be on the schedule for roofing later this week!  YAYYY! I can't wait to actually see the tin up, it's been a long time coming.

the tin roof did indeed go on yesterday. Took the guys about 2 hours verses lord knows how long if I'd tried to do it. They were also able to use 16'4" long panels so the vertical runs are one panel. I never would have managed that. 

the final inspection is scheduled for today, then I can start building all the fun stuff that I don't want to explain to the inspector. Like the bar, the kitchen work surfaces, the mobile walls, the lighting...

Final inspection passed, so now the fun begins!
 

I cut all the boards for the bar and the corner counter that will hold the grill. 

roughed in the bar. Still need to add the counter height rear shelf tomorrow night. 

christened it with a small batch bourbon

I added a barn style hanging light over the bar. I have another one to go over the grill but didn't feel like dragging out the ladder tonight. 

Fired a giant chunk of sirloin and a spare goose to celebrate. 
 

I'll try to finish out the bar rough in tomorrow night and maybe build the grill counter walls. 

Let's see...where did I leave this...OK, bar framed but that's it. Well, work has been steady when it hasn't been raining, so hold on for a photo dump...

So next I framed the grill counter...

And mounted the grill

hung some lights so I could see to cook at night... (the old wood pulley was in the shed here when we moved in)

Bought some bar chairs and wrapped the counters in tin...

Hung a canvas drop cloth as a temporary wind break since it's winter, and smoked some meat...

About this time I realized I'd made a mistake choosing standard cabinet plywood for my counter tops. See, my original plan was to glue oak strips around the edges and then Spar Varnish all of it. I figured it would be covered and only get wet occasionally, so it should be fine. 

But... I've realized the roof line is really high, so it's been getting wet frequently because we've had a E36 M3 ton of rain. Plus it's been too cold to use wood glue or the varnish, so the plywood has gotten soaked while still unprotected. Poor planning on my part I guess...

My original build plan did include sow mobile walls so that I could have protection from all but the worst weather but still open it up for the breeze in the summer. Those plans got moved forward, partially to shield the countertops, but also because I want to be able to grill in the rain. 

First step was a swing-out awning on the house side using polycarb roofing so you don't completely block the view from the end bedroom.

The prop rod and the angle brace was temporary, swapped for dock rope, a pulley, and a jam cleat.

Gratuitous foggy morning photo..

Mmmm....Steak ....

The few days it wasn't raining were pretty, but cold for Georgia. I mean, not compared tot he rest of the country, but hey, it was below freezing...

More steaks...

Which brings us up to this weekend's projects. First, I sourced some 100+ year old wood shutters to use as a weather break at the end of the bar. The idea is that when it's nice you can open the slats and fold the end one back to get the breeze. I actually bought 6 shutters and I'm going to try and use the other ones to make cabinet doors for the grill counter.

And then the big project - a 6'x9' barn door to close off half the back wall. Start with a barn door hardware kit from Amazon (for interior, but what they heck)

That even includes 12' of rails...

Then add some reclaimed windows haphazardly screwed into a treated wood frame..

 (bottom will have tin soon enough, BTW)

And then fill in the gaps with old license plates, some of which came from my last GRM NYG box...

It's coming together. Still a lot to do. I've got some ideas for the countertops but I haven't decide which way I'm going yet. And I still have a plan for an opening wall of windows in place of the drop cloth too.

Oh, the place finally got a name as well. It's The Lost Moon Bar & Grill. Follow the fun @lostmoonbar on IG.

Hey, major progress! You've obviously been rolling this one around in your head and I like where it's going.

Your patio has an instagram account 

Keith Tanner said:

Your patio has an instagram account 

LOL, yeah, the dog is jealous!

A few minor updates from last weekend:

Got the tin on the bottom of the barn door. Just need a retainer at the bottom now to keep the wind from blowing it around:

Got the vent (box) fan wired to my pull chain switch and installed. FOr those playing along with the wiring saga, it turns out the OE switch is numbered in reverse (switch position 3{hi} powers wire 1, med-2, low-3) and only supplies voltage to one winding at a time. Since my pull chain (ceiling fan) switch powers 1, then 2 AND 3, then 3, I settled for a two speed fan wired off the 1 and 3,  so it runs med and high. Which is fine.

Never forget snack breaks. Very important:

And then I hung up some new shade sails for the open patio. They still need some adjustment, but man do they make the place feel cool when you're sitting at the bar:

And then I grilled some chicken and we had dinner at the bar:

That really looks awesome! Is the fan pulling the smoke like you hoped?

I think it will. The chicken and grilled pineapple didn't really smoke much and it was windy anyway, but it seemed to be having some effect. Planning on some ribeyes Friday, that usually gets smoky. My weekend schedules are kind of iffy right now, I don't know when I'll get to fire up the smoker again but that will be the real test.

This really came together. 

Thanks guys. I'm not done yet either. I've still got countertops to deal with, possibly cabinet doors made from old shingles, and most importantly - a horizontal bi-fold wall made mostly of more reclaimed windows to replace the canvas. Plus the fun part, decorating it all. Not to mention getting some plants together once Easter is safely past. 

It will be a GRM port-of-call for anyone running 75 through Macon. Bring a sticker for the bar.

If you make one side of that new wall white, you can project movies/races/whatever on it :)

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Hmm. Now my wheels are turning...

Great idea.  Consider screen paint?  8 x 5 screen ~ $80.

I really want to keep the wall see-through (windows) to make the area feel very open and maintain what little view we have. But, I like the idea of showing movies.  I'm thinking something like this:

I can figure out where to mount it - on the house, on a wall, in the yard - to give us the best viewing to comfortable seating ratio.

Can you install a motorized screen so you can retract it when not in use?

Maybe, but it's all pretty open to the weather. I don't think it would survive long term.