Welcome to the June addition of Home Builds, this month we are back in Illinois visiting my good friend Scott Cook. Scott is one of the original members of the NGCS Facebook group. He regularly posts pictures enjoying cigars and beers from his Home Build, Scori’s. We invite you to check out Scori’s with Scott, enjoy!
Scori’s
Bar & Grill
by Scott A Cook
from Normal, Illinois.
Let’s begin with the name Scori’s is a combination of my name and my wife’s name, Scott and Lori. The grilling area is known as Scooters. When I’m smoking a cigar it’s known as the Cigar Stache. the entire backyard deck area is actually Scori’s, the lower deck is my bar.
There is an upper deck that is 16 ft by 16 ft and a lower deck that is 16 ft by 18 ft. The upper area is meant to be the wife’s retreat and the lower is for me. There was an 8 ft by 8 ft hot tub that due to age (both mine and it) are becoming more maintenance and work than fun. I needed a better grilling area and of course a bar. Once the hot tub was removed it was decided to only use one third of the lower deck for my creation. Who am I kidding, my wife decided to rein me in a bit. The main structure was started around 2014 and was sort of finished around 2017. Note: it was during the build that I picked up cigar-smoking. This is a never-ending and constantly evolving atmosphere.
I started the bar by building an arbor with a steel roof. Next forming a wall from four old doors I had purchased at a garage sale. Two of the doors had glass so I painted them with my logo to look like an old business or restaurant. Next I used barn wood like siding for the end wall.
Like so many others here on the page I’m a bit of a collector of things. The bar became a display of my collections and pieces of me. I decided to epoxy over the top of the bar filled with beer caps, cigar bands, pinup calendars, my photos, Air Force trinkets, zipper pulls from luggage (that’s another story) and other things I enjoy. A second tall bar table was built with tile and beer caps under the epoxy top. The main structure of the bar area was complete however I needed to extend the end for a grilling kitchen.
All that was left was to start decorating the walls. I started the decorating with metal signs of topics that I considered vintage or classic. As you get older the terms vintage and classic are preferred over antique. I continue adding paintings I’ve done myself, even painting on an old boat paddle. Hanging old license plates and things I had laying around with no other use. Making steampunk lights getting antique bar lights all helped contribute to the eclectic look. Sometimes I feel like I’m an archaeologist come home from an exciting trip. I’ll drop my souvenirs down in the right place so that I can pick them up and share the adventure with a friend while we enjoy a cigar and drink.
I do live in Illinois so the winters are cold even fall and spring. I tarp the one side that is open and put two propane heaters. At 60 to 70 degrees, it is truly a year-round retreat.
