Buying a Custom Home Bar Top? Ways to Get it Perfect.

Last updated on July 26th, 2024 at 04:58 pm

• The Issue

• Examples of Failed Home Bar Tops

• A Good Sherpa Story

• The Solution

 

The Issue

Glass bar tops and countertops are extremely beautiful, yet expensive design elements that can make a spectacular design statement and focal point. Modern glass bar tops are not to be installed using the same techniques and thought processes as granite or quartz. Since glass is see-through we must make all efforts to maximize the clarity when that is desired and to minimize the see-through when it is not desired. But how to know which is best? 

Whether you are an Architect, a DIY Home Owner, Restaurant owner the simplest answer is to talk to an expert to create and install your home glass bar design.  One who professionally and regularly performs fabrication, design and installation. Most glass bar top companies offer simply the product crated and shipped.  The homeowner is then left to arrange for a professional to install this expensive glass bar top, LEDs, back paint….or..execute such things yourself.  Good Luck!!! 

Additional items such as LED light strips to illuminate the glass bar top will require thoughtful placement and design consideration…especially on large glass bar tops. How do I hide the wire? What does the LED strip look like? How do I replace it if it breaks? What paint to use for glass?

Creating and installing a glass bar design for your home or restaurant is definitely not a DIY endeavour.

 

Failed glass home bar top examples

Mishandling of these things will lead to an expensive mistake leaving the buyer with an expensive home bar top that does not meet their vision or needs. We recently spoke to a client that is replacing their brand new glass countertop because it is the wrong color. We have expounded on the difference in glass types before : (“Clear” or Green glass vs “Ultra-Clear” Low-Iron glass). It also came with no LEDs, is the wrong thickness, the wrong width, and is NOT back painted so you can see right through into the drawers!  Per the customer that called us to get it right “This is a disaster…an expensive disaster.” Unfortunately, they got what their “Designer” ordered, but had zero guidance from a thoughtful expert who cares more about getting it right vs taking an order.  

 

Another disastrous fail using expensive green glass below with no back paint, LEDs…just bad!

(Edmund Hillary would not have lived to become “Sir” Edmund Hillary if he had Sherpas like these “Designers” 🙂

 

Below is sunlit picture of our glass bar top…pure, no LEDs, and non-photoshopped. Great color for a home bar top where the ambient light is abundant.

We start by always listening to the customer and have them share pictures of their vision. 

We need Sketches, cabinet drawings, pictures of their kitchen or bar design in order to begin the discussion of  the various options we can employ to achieve their design goals. Lets see your bar design vision. We build upon that. Often times we find that many firms are not acting in the best interest of the homeowner when they ship slabs out that have no back paint or LED strips and are the wrong color of glass. Homeowners are rarely able to execute those on their own. This is not professional Behavior. Because they wanted to make their offer less expensive, they neglected to inform them of critical elements needed to fulfill the their home bar ideas.

 

A Good Sherpa Story

What is required is very simply someone ( a “Sherpa”) who has installed many many glass counters and bars who can help you navigate the pros and cons of various options. 

For Example, Sir Edmund Hillary used Sherpas to climb Mount Everest.  By the spring of 1953, the ascent of the world ‘s highest mountain was beginning to seem inevitable. First attempted in 1921 by the British, Everest had repulsed at least ten major expeditions and two lunatic solo attempts. The British were determined to bring every possible advantage to their spring 1953 offensive—including hiring Tenzing Norgay, 38, as their lead Sherpa. Even though Edmund Hillary was at the peak of fitness “A sleeves-rolled-up, get-things-done man”, he still needed Tenzing Norgay. Tenzing had already proved he had summit potential by his performance the previous year as he had scaled mountains at least 4,000 feet higher than any of us!”

Indeed, Tenzing was the most experienced Everest veteran alive, having participated in six previous attempts on the mountain dating all the way back to 1935. (To those who criticize the practice of leading paying clients on Everest, Himalayan Experience founder and longtime Everest guide Russell Brice has a barbed, half-joking response: “You know who the first guided client on Everest was? Ed Hillary.”)  Citation

 

The Solution

Nobody wants to make an expensive mistake…but as I have shown in the past there are some really bad examples of what NOT to do.  Click here for bad Glass Installation pictures

You can certainly buy it cheaper. At the end of the day, you seek a solution that solves YOUR needs, and will ultimately need to rely on a Sherpa to get it done professionally. 

The only reason to write these blogs is to inform YOU and position ourselves as a trusted Sherpa for your home bar design. My competitors do NOT do this. They want to manufacture and sell as many glass tops as possible.  These glass bars are simply too expensive to risk with sales people who will not be attending the installation. 

I want to offer transcendent visions and solutions for your home bar top. Thoughtful and caring to the most infinitely small detail. In our contract is the final set of drawings. Detailed so that electricians, GCs, Plumbers, can look at these and comprehend the needs to set the stage for a successful bar top installation.

Our confidence in our approach grows when we see many half-hearted attempts that show a true lack of experience…or worse…trying to push a product that takes clients money and does not serve the need. Outdoor home bar designs have their own design requirements to withstand high winds, rain, direct sunlight, and controllable LED illumination.

There are only a select few glass countertop and bar top manufacturers. But…we are the ONLY home bar top supplier where the person you speak with is:

The Fabricator

The Designer

The Templater

The Installer

The post-sale support person.

You can always find cheap glass products. At the end of the day, you seek a solution that solves YOUR current and future needs, and will ultimately need to rely on a company to get them there.  I am that guy.

In fact, the only reason I write these blogs is to inform YOU and position ourselves as a most trusted guide. My competitors do NOT do this. They want to manufacture and sell as many glass tops as possible.  I offer the experienced vision of someone who has fabricated and installed Millions of dollars of Glass Countertops and Bar Tops. We know about 1000 wrong ways to do things and about 2 or 3 right ways…thoughtfully designed and installed to the most infinitely small detail. 

Our confidence only grows when we see many half-hearted attempts by others that show a true lack of experience…or worse…trying to push a product that only solves part of the problem. 

While it is a lot to handle for a small business, we believe that only through this end-to-end approach can our clients truly feel confident when investing in expensive glass countertops and home bar tops.

You have my cell phone. I answer 7 days.

If you want to be the best, you have to earn it, every single phone call by putting in the effort and  listening to your needs and designing creative solutions for your modern home bar.

 

Author:  Jeff Downing

[email protected]

(813) 784 5211