Digging an Underground Speakeasy in Sandstone Bedrock

Introducing the "Sand Bar!" This is one of my bigger projects at the moment, a fully underground speakeasy-type establishment dug out of sandstone bedrock!

It's not a for-profit or open-to-the-public bar, more of a replacement for the home basement bar that I don't have space for at home! Once we can have some social gatherings at Sandland again, this will be a fun spot to hang out!

It's taken about 7 months and 250+ hours of labor to excavate the passage and room seen in this video (not including the existing Sandland tunnels). I filmed over 6hrs of raw footage during this project! I thought about breaking it up into installments, but I think it makes more sense as a stand-alone piece. I'll probably have more updates and follow-up videos as we make this bigger and cooler!

As I note in the video, this is dug out of Jordan Sandstone, a midwestern bedrock layer that's soft enough to dig with simple tools, but strong enough to stay safe and stable for centuries. There are many local sandstone mines, brewery caves, and other tunnels that use this and similar rock formations. They don't generally need any roof support or extra shoring as long as the ceiling is arched. We would never do this in loose sand, and you shouldn't either!