Arcade room flooring

jay

Permanently Banned
Joined
Dec 20, 2006
Messages
2,377
Reaction score
308
Location
Alabama
So....I have been given the "ok" by the wife to turn a room we don't use into the arcade room. It's an almost perfect fit due to it's one of those supposedly "office" rooms with swing open double doors (perfect for large cabs). Personally it's just too damn big to be an office at 275sqft and we've been in this house for 5 months and still haven't done anything with it. The only problem is it is on the 2nd floor. Carrying those heavy bitches (cabs) will be a chore, but it's the only option I have besides the 3 car garage (not giving up my other man cave for games, unless I'm working on them/painting them)

Basically I want to rip out the carpet and put in some cheap vinyl flooring so it's easier to move things around.

I was thinking the classic black and white checkerboard? Anyone have a better idea on color.

Also, what color to paint the walls? Can't really think of a color to match.

I hope you guys have some pics or videos that will inspire me.

Thanks
 
I just finished our basement and used Pergo flooring. Its tough and easy to move games across and you can find it pretty cheap when Lowes or Home Depot is closing out a color. Have fun with it
 
personally, I think the checkerboard look belongs in auto museums and 1950's style soda bars. Laminate flooring is cool and cheap as mentioned above. I have seen wood laminate which looks fine. Wood be easy to do any colors with wood.
 
Do something more original, checkerboard has been done OVER and OVER again... Check out online places that do laminate flooring for garages, there are some good designs there.
 
laminate sucks, i installed it for years and it doesnt wear well in heavy traffic areas and it prone to water damage. mold and mildew builds up unseen underneath often. its made of high density fiberboard with a thin wear layer applied (laminated) to the top. if it gets wet, it swells and falls apart. considering you need to leave space all the way around for expansion, its easy for moisture to creep inside. it can also seep in between the cracks where the boards connect. the corners also chip easily. cant tell you how many times we ripped the shit out, sometimes not long after installing it in the first place.

some people like it, but after years of working with it, i know i would never put it in my own house. its basically particle board. dont get it wet. it buckles, swells, and crumbles. pretty much always damaged in front of kitchen sinks or dishwashers. most damage, mold and mildew arent noticeable until you start to rip the shit out. however, i have seen entire floors ruined by a simple water leak from a wash machine.

basically, you can flood a carpet, leave it to dry for a couple days, and restretch and its usually good as gold. vinyl holds up really well and is my personal choice. the glue thats used on it really, really holds. laminate floats and is extremely susceptible to damage from moisture. thats what my years of experience installing and removing floors has taught me.
 
laminate sucks, i installed it for years and it doesnt wear well in heavy traffic areas and it prone to water damage.

I agree with you there, but I think the OP would be fine to install it on his 2nd floor. It would also hold up well to moving machines around, as the top coating on the laminate doesn't scratch easily. Some of the cheap stuff looks terrible, but if you spend a little more on the thicker and higher quality laminate, it can look quite good.

If you want a real 80's feel, go with wall-to-wall carpet and dark brown wood paneling on the walls. :)
 
275 square feet on the second floor? Sounds like what builders usually call a "bonus room". You could fit 40 games in there...but the weight would be ~4-5 tons? I wonder how much weight per square foot you can have in a traditionally built home?
 
275 square feet on the second floor? Sounds like what builders usually call a "bonus room". You could fit 40 games in there...but the weight would be ~4-5 tons? I wonder how much weight per square foot you can have in a traditionally built home?

40 Games? What math are you using? :confused:
 
40 Games? What math are you using? :confused:

Fuzzy math...just put in all cabaret or stack them on top of each other? My son's only in first grade and so far I've only relearned basic addition and subtraction. ;)
 
Do something more original, checkerboard has been done OVER and OVER again... Check out online places that do laminate flooring for garages, there are some good designs there.

I agree... I did checkerboard about 10 years ago and it got old after a while. I would still use the same type flooring, just in a solid color or pattern other than checkerboard... The flooring I used was Armstrong composite vinyl 12" tiles. It's very durable, cleans easily and moving machines around is pretty easy. I actually put little squares of scrap carpet (carpet side down) under the leg levelers of the games and they slide easily on the flooring. On the downside, my gameroom is on second floor of my house, the plywood flooring got rained on a couple of times when the house was being built and wasn't very level. I had to put down new sub flooring to have a smooth level finish to lay the the tile.
 

Attachments

  • DSCN4451.jpg
    DSCN4451.jpg
    96.5 KB · Views: 59
Fuzzy math...just put in all cabaret or stack them on top of each other? My son's only in first grade and so far I've only relearned basic addition and subtraction. ;)

Guess you need some room to move around eh? It would depend on the room dimensions but in a 16x16 room you could stuff up to 26 classics in there. With a building code standard of 40lbs per square foot it should be ok even with people in there playing I think...but math isn't my strong point today?

Oh yeah...what about black light carpet?...seems to be a popular choice and with teflon leg levelers its not so bad to move the games.
 
Go with carpet and get some of those furniture mover pads. Big Lots has them for $3 a set of 4. I didn't think they would work all that well, but somebody brought some to the Houston arcade show and man, what a difference. Especially moving the Battlezone. That bitch normally just sinks into carpet like it has spikes, but pop 4 of those pads under it and it slid like it was on wheels. Once in place, just a couple of seconds to pull the pads out and it is locked down until next time. You don't even need to leave them in, just get a couple of set for moving several games around.

I put wood laminate down in my last house and it works great for kids and pets, but I wouldn't put the concentrated weight of a video game on those 4 small leg levelers on it. I would be worried about it cracking.

One more thought, resale value. People prefer carpet to any kind of laminate or tile 100 to 1. I don't know why, but when we tried to sell the last house, that was the first thing they bitched about was the lack of carpet on the first floor. We had tile though the dining room, laundry room and kitchen all the way to the to the living room and a high quality wood laminate in the living room. The only thing carpeted was the master bedroom and that's only because we ran out of money. Especially if the rest of the upstairs is carpeted, stay with carpeting.

ken
 
Laminate and even hardwood flooring is tough on the feet after awhile. Get wear-ever type carpet, even black light stuff. Your feet will thank you and gliders (not levelers) make game movement a breeze. I guess if you plan to have everyone wear shoes on the second floor, you could go with a hard surface, but that's always fun during parties in winter time :)
 
Go with carpet and get some of those furniture mover pads.

If you go with carpet, I'd suggest the following:
1) don't put down a carpet pad layer...the games will sink down into the pad, stretching the carpet, and are very difficult to get rid of those sinkhole (after moving games out, you'll have these sinkholes all over the place)
2) go with a low berber carpet (maybe even carpet tiles like you see in businesses)
3) get static free carpet
4) invest in the carpet movers that have adheasives that stick to the leg levelers, so whether you slide the game or move it around with a dolly, the carpet movers won't need repositioned.
 
If you go with carpet, I'd suggest the following:
1) don't put down a carpet pad layer...the games will sink down into the pad, stretching the carpet, and are very difficult to get rid of those sinkhole (after moving games out, you'll have these sinkholes all over the place)
QUOTE]

I've been wondering about this for awhile now since I'll be getting carpet in a few weeks. What you're saying makes sense but what if you use really thin padding? My concern is am I going to tear the carpet when moving machines around if I don't have any padding? If I'm moving machines, wouldn't the carpet wear out alot sooner without padding?
 
My gameroom is at 200 sqft and I can only fit about a dozen games in there... 40 ain't gunna happen.
 
And similarly, you'd want to strike a balance between comfort and being able to move games easily + not stretch the carpet. If you could do a thin pad without having said side effects, the feet would be happier. :)
 
Back
Top Bottom