Garagcade - Need help on design etc

jim109

New member
Joined
Jun 27, 2009
Messages
78
Reaction score
0
Location
California
Hi all,

Well after unsuccessfully finding a house with a large enough game room in texas ( no basements and gamerooms only upstairs) I am thinking I'll go ahead a do an arcade in the 2 car garage of the new house and need some help/ideas from people that have done this. Here is my questions:

1. Heating/Cooling: What have people done for heating and cooling? I'll need a fair bit of cooling capacity with it being in Texas but will also need some heating for a few weeks in the winter. I'd like it usable anytime of the year so this is fairly important. Has anyone added additional insulation on the exterior walls or roof of the garages or is this over kill?

2. Flooring: I'm thinking of just getting just old carpet ( or new carpet if I can't find old stuff) and put it in there. Would you need to put in the tack strips and have it "installed" you think or would the weight of the games keep it pretty solid? Would I need foam underlay underneath? Anyone done this? Also I've seen some of you have the black light carpet stuff.. where does everyone get that? That might be interesting.

3. Layout: How do people usually do the layout in a garagcade? Would it be games lined up all against the walls and maybe a row in the middle? Trying to figure out how many I can fit in there and the best layout.

4. Hot Water Heater: So I might be going crazy but having the hot water heater filled with water in a little closet in the garage is giving me the chills when thinking about this in case it busts or leaks. I'm thinking of maybe swaping it out for a tankless but wanted to check if anyone had accounted for this in some way.. like maybe putting the games up on something to ensure they would not be damaged by water. This might be excessive but I would go crazy if all my games got ruined ;)

5. Walls/Ceilings: Any suggestions for the walls/ceilings to give it more of a game room feel? I'm thinking maybe just some dark paint but I'm not real creative.

It's alot of questions I know. If you have any experience and comments on any or all it is much appreciated. Any pictures of your own layout or designs would be a huge help also!

Thanks!!

Jim
 
Hi all,

Well after unsuccessfully finding a house with a large enough game room in texas ( no basements and gamerooms only upstairs) I am thinking I'll go ahead a do an arcade in the 2 car garage of the new house and need some help/ideas from people that have done this. Here is my questions:

1. Heating/Cooling: What have people done for heating and cooling? I'll need a fair bit of cooling capacity with it being in Texas but will also need some heating for a few weeks in the winter. I'd like it usable anytime of the year so this is fairly important. Has anyone added additional insulation on the exterior walls or roof of the garages or is this over kill?

2. Flooring: I'm thinking of just getting just old carpet ( or new carpet if I can't find old stuff) and put it in there. Would you need to put in the tack strips and have it "installed" you think or would the weight of the games keep it pretty solid? Would I need foam underlay underneath? Anyone done this? Also I've seen some of you have the black light carpet stuff.. where does everyone get that? That might be interesting.

3. Layout: How do people usually do the layout in a garagcade? Would it be games lined up all against the walls and maybe a row in the middle? Trying to figure out how many I can fit in there and the best layout.

4. Hot Water Heater: So I might be going crazy but having the hot water heater filled with water in a little closet in the garage is giving me the chills when thinking about this in case it busts or leaks. I'm thinking of maybe swaping it out for a tankless but wanted to check if anyone had accounted for this in some way.. like maybe putting the games up on something to ensure they would not be damaged by water. This might be excessive but I would go crazy if all my games got ruined ;)

5. Walls/Ceilings: Any suggestions for the walls/ceilings to give it more of a game room feel? I'm thinking maybe just some dark paint but I'm not real creative.

It's alot of questions I know. If you have any experience and comments on any or all it is much appreciated. Any pictures of your own layout or designs would be a huge help also!

Thanks!!

Jim

You will need an additional system to properly heat and cool your garage. A mini-split would be the most cost effective solution in the long run (if the garage doesn't have an existing system already). You'll need a local HVAC contractor. Hope this helps.
Greg
 
As far as the water heater, you could get a deep water heater pan to put under it. Make sure the vent PVC empties our into the pan.

Most pans have a port where you can connect a drainage pipe. You can run it outside, or in a drain if you have one nearby.

That should take care of leaks or even the pressure valve tripping. An explody water heater... well... I have no suggestions for you there.
 
You will need an additional system to properly heat and cool your garage. A mini-split would be the most cost effective solution in the long run (if the garage doesn't have an existing system already). You'll need a local HVAC contractor. Hope this helps.
Greg

Has anyone used a heat pump or heat exchange or whatever they call it where it heats and cools? I'm wondering if I could get one of those and mount it on the external wall and if that would be good enough. I'm hoping I don't need a whole new central heat/air system as that would cut into the arcade budget pretty badly ;)

Thanks!

Jim
 
I had some links for styrofoam panels you can get from Lowes, but they're dead now. I think it cost like $64 bucks to get enough panels to cover the entire garage door (2-car). I bought some foam glue and a hot wire foam cutter from the hobby store, measured twice and cut once, and I was done. Seems to work pretty good, too. My door acted like a superconductor for temperature, passing in the heat and cold like it wasn't even there. Keeps it much nicer in there. Don't recall a day this past summer when I couldn't work in there.

My garage is about 20x19, and I settled on putting games on walls, with some games in the middle. It's nice to be able to walk around and not have any dead ends.

attachment.php
 
Has anyone used a heat pump or heat exchange or whatever they call it where it heats and cools? I'm wondering if I could get one of those and mount it on the external wall and if that would be good enough. I'm hoping I don't need a whole new central heat/air system as that would cut into the arcade budget pretty badly ;)

Thanks!

Jim

Jim,
I recommend a ductless mini-split heat pump. I use and work on them, so I know from experience that they will work for your application. As previously mention, you will need a HVAC contractor to properly size they unit for the space.
Greg

PS: I am a HVAC technician.
 
Back
Top Bottom