After a bar has been open long enough, many nights of spilled drinks can take their toll.

“It’s starting to stink in here,” said Baker Martin, co-owner of Sideways, which closed for most of January to refinish the wood floors. “It’s been five years, so it was time.”

Michael Conrad, co-owner of The Loft, which closed in December 2011 and will reopen later this month under the new name Cloud, also said renovating was a way to combat unpleasant smells.

“We really wanted to invest in the bar, because it’s a really nice location,” Conrad said. “Instead of smelling bad and being dirty, we want a higher-class bar.”

Sideways, a bar in Downtown Athens, is undergoing renovations to keep the building up to date. ROBYN JOHNSON/Staff

Conrad and his business partner, co-owner Ricky Jordan, bought The Loft in October 2011. The new bar, Cloud, will have a new high-quality sound system, a professional light show, a longer bar and additional bartenders, draught beer and a bubble wall behind the bar, Conrad said.

The renovation and new name are a way to make the bar similar to other bars they aspire to imitate, like Magnolia’s and Allgood, he said.

“We’re going for more of a lounge feeling in early parts of the night, and then after midnight more of a dance club,” Conrad said.

Sideways, which closed for almost a month to renovate their floors and clean the whole bar thoroughly, reopened on Jan. 26, Martin said. Closing for renovations can affect business when regular customers find other places to go, he said.

“I think a lot of people at first didn’t know we were open,” Martin said. “I think a lot of people found other places to go, which we knew would happen.”

Hank Cheatham, former owner of Sideways, said the bar had to apply for a new liquor license when Martin took over as primary owner and they did not close because they lost a license.

To avoid losing customers in times of renovations, David Ippisch, owner of the Bad Manor, found a different work schedule to renovate.

“We’ve actually been slowly been working on it since we opened,” he said. “We just didn’t want to shut down completely for two months or something.”

Over eight months, The Bad Manor has stayed open on Friday and Saturday nights. During the week, construction crews have lengthened the bar to 80 feet and done major structural changes so the upstairs balcony can be used.

“Our business grew to the point that people were having to wait too long for drinks,” Ippisch said.

Now, the Bad Manor has “one of the biggest bars, hopefully, in Athens,” he said.“The balcony upstairs is amazing to watch a show from.”