What's the best footrest for a commercial bar? In this video I'm going
to show you why the black pipe foot rail is the best value for do-it-yourself
commercial bar design. Coming up!
Hey, Rick Uzubell again from Cabaret Design Group, where I share my personal
ideas and tips on bar design, draught beer system design and product reviews.
Later in this video I'll give you 'Today's Takeaway.'
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Many are familiar with the
brass footrest typified by ornamental rail brackets, elbows and end caps, as shown
here. With the rise in do-it-yourself bar construction projects, many websites
such as 'Keg Works' and 'ESP Metal Products' have expanded offerings which include
many architectural finishes. This type of foot rail is normally offered in one-and-a-half inch
and two-inch outside diameter tubing and often sold as kits.
This category of tubing is what's referred to as 'lightweight' or 'thin-wall' tubing.
This is why it can also be formed or rolled in circular shapes. While these
products are attractive, they have a major flaw -- they aren't built to last.
Even worse, they're expensive and they'll never look this good the day
after their first use. They don't take the daily abuse of the general public.
While installing a foot rail from thin wall tubing, the first thing the
Installer will notice is the flimsy nature of the product and the weakness
of the connections, as they're merely pinned together with tiny set screws.
The wall thickness of this tubing is less than 1/16 of an inch -- not nearly enough
to have mechanical threads.
For commercial bars, the best foot rail is
the type fabricated from schedule 40 commercial pipe. One approach is to use
inch-and-a-half galvanized pipe, as shown in this photo.
My personal favorite is fabricated from two-inch
black pipe, as shown in this photo. The black pipe
carries an oil-rubbed appearance and will hold up to daily use with very
little visible wear. The reason why pipe makes for such a superior foot rail is
because it's nearly five times stronger than the lightweight tubing mentioned earlier.
Supports are normally installed every 48 inches,
but I tend to put them wherever it makes it look most-customized.
The components for a typical installation can be purchased at the 'Keg Works', as shown here,
or at any plumbing supply house, including the threaded pipe and all
connecting hardware. The system can be floor-supported, as shown earlier, or off
the face of the bar, as shown here.
From a cost perspective, a footrest fabricated
from two-inch schedule 40 black pipe well average about $25 per linear foot,
while that of the thin-wall tubing will cost upwards of $40 per lineal foot.
If you attempt to use a decorative metal footrest for a commercial bar, it won't
take long for you to realize you just wasted all your money. Use the commercial black
pipe and fittings I described above and your investment will be protected for a
long time. See you next time!
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