Little things that can help when creating a game room *construction thread*

StreetzKing

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Little things that can help when creating a game room *construction thread*

Hey guys, I think this would be a helpful thread if everyone had some money saving ideas when it came to building a game room. Forgive me if this has been done as I didnt know what to search. So ill start off with a insanely small tip and you guys can add.

Got wallpaper? all you need is Downy. Today I demolished a whole room filled with wallpaper that was put up like 50 years ago in 2 hours. With Downy the laundry stuff. Fill a spray bottle with a mixture of half Downy, and Half Warm Water. There are a couple ways to do this, if the paper is old and you can peel off the top layer but not the old backing then spray all over the backing so that every inch is soaked. Let it sit for 5 minutes and it will peel off easier than anything. Also a plastic scraper helps. If the paper is new it could just be a matter of hitting the seams and peeling/scraping from there. This works better than steaming the paper off and a lot better than the Zep crap they sell at home depot.
 
I'm definitely interested in this thread. I'm hoping to pour the foundation for my gameroom in the next couple of weeks.
 
outlets in the floor for cocktail games if your pouring the foundation.
Lots of receptacles in the walls, switched if you prefer, and plenty of circuits.
Lighting in the ceiling - if i were building a dedicated game room, i'd put enough outlets in the ceiling so that i could put up blacklights, or whatever, as well as my normal lighting.
Entry - If your planning on putting big games in, you need some kind of way to get em in and out. A standard 2-8 door will work for most 19 and 25 inch upright cabs, but if you want a monster racing game, be prepared to add a 6'0 double operable french door to get em in and out. Did i mention lots and lots of electrical power?
Also, a restroom's a really nice feature - if your gonna build it from scratch, you could very easily do a smaller version of a commercial style restroom, just like a real arcade had back in the day.
Sound - i'd at the very least run wiring for speakers either in the walls or ceilings so you can pump tunes in when you want.

Oh, and on the ceiling - don't get it blown/popcorned - have it painted. You can do so much more with a nice slick surface to start with.

And a bar? Yeah, i'd want one of some sort, even if it were disguised as a concession stand, complete with running water, ice maker and small fridge.


OOPS, ok so i misread - sorry those aren't really money saving ideas - but, its much cheaper to do the above on the front end, than to try and add it all in later, so i guess they kinda are money saving ideas.
 

Nah thats cool, I was looking for stuff like that to!

Never thought about outlets on the floor for cocktails which is smart, and I dont know much about jukebox's but do they have speakers in them or is it all out source sound? meaning you add the speakers?
 
Thanks for starting this thread. I'm always interested in this kind of info. When we get our house sold, we'll be buying a house with a basement, a shop, or worst case enough land to build a shop/game room.
 
Only thing to add to cd's post, ventilation. Ceiling fan at the least, several AC ducts would be better & a return near the ceiling & the floor to suck the hot air out in the summer and the cold air out in the winter.

ken

Oh, and some game babes! (I know that is definitely not a cost saving measure :D)
 
If you have a cement floor, go with basement or garage grade epoxy; don't put down sticky-tile like I originally did. Cost $1 a tile on sale(over $700) and it ain't waterproof. Ended up ripping it all apart in the end. To cover the same surface with 2 part epoxy cost $185 and its 100 times tougher, looks better and its waterproof.
 
Here is how I converted my garage into a game room

http://www.gandalf.net/mancave/web/

there is a slight slant due to the drive way, but you can adjust it out with the leg levelers

Go with industrial carpet, epox makes the room sound wierd, if it gets messed up you can just cut out and reglue it down

My 2.5 ton Fredrich AC/Heat unit works Awesome, there is also weather striping you can use for the main door.

I also purchased Hurricane braces (I am in Houston,tx) save my collection during IKE

Keith

2009 arcade expo!
www.arcadecenter.com
 
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outlets in the floor for cocktail games if your pouring the foundation.
Lots of receptacles in the walls, switched if you prefer, and plenty of circuits.
Lighting in the ceiling - if i were building a dedicated game room, i'd put enough outlets in the ceiling so that i could put up blacklights, or whatever, as well as my normal lighting.
Entry - If your planning on putting big games in, you need some kind of way to get em in and out. A standard 2-8 door will work for most 19 and 25 inch upright cabs, but if you want a monster racing game, be prepared to add a 6'0 double operable french door to get em in and out. Did i mention lots and lots of electrical power?
Also, a restroom's a really nice feature - if your gonna build it from scratch, you could very easily do a smaller version of a commercial style restroom, just like a real arcade had back in the day.
Sound - i'd at the very least run wiring for speakers either in the walls or ceilings so you can pump tunes in when you want.

Oh, and on the ceiling - don't get it blown/popcorned - have it painted. You can do so much more with a nice slick surface to start with.

And a bar? Yeah, i'd want one of some sort, even if it were disguised as a concession stand, complete with running water, ice maker and small fridge.


OOPS, ok so i misread - sorry those aren't really money saving ideas - but, its much cheaper to do the above on the front end, than to try and add it all in later, so i guess they kinda are money saving ideas.

A lot of that stuff is IMPORTANT to get right up front - especially things like doors and plumbing. Trying to add that sort of thing on later ranges from expensive to impossible.
 
Hearing about the carpet and epoxy flooring, I kinda think the way I would want to go is an epoxy outline around the room where I would like to fill it with games and then blacklight carpet everywhere else, like the middle of the room and entranceway because I would love to be able to be in there with or without shoes on, the only negative I see is spilling drinks.
 
I didnt have the option of carpet, put down a heavy grade of epoxy. Living in Florida comes with some drawbacks, and one of the biggest is the sand. Had a party with about 20 people last weekend and the next day swept up about 2 gallons of sand/dirt off the floor where it was tracked in. No way I could use carpet.

one thing I did when I built my room, I put in a 9x7 insulated garage door. Having access for large games is not a problem.

for cooling, figure out what it will take to keep the area cool, then go one step bigger. for some reason, when all the games are on and everyones inside, it warms up pretty quickly:p
 
outlets in the floor for cocktail games if your pouring the foundation.

This is good advice. Thanks!

Outlets in the floor are a feature really important to me since I've got too many to not put a row or two in the middle of the floor.

I haven't thought much about this from a foundation standpoint. Do you have to do anything special when pouring the foundation, if you want outlets?
 
If you have a cement floor, go with basement or garage grade epoxy; don't put down sticky-tile like I originally did. Cost $1 a tile on sale(over $700) and it ain't waterproof. Ended up ripping it all apart in the end. To cover the same surface with 2 part epoxy cost $185 and its 100 times tougher, looks better and its waterproof.

Okay I'm a little confused by this. I plan to install gameroom carpet with padding underneath through most of the room. I'll also probably have tile at the entrance and in the sitting area. What exactly are we talking about when referring to epoxy on a cement floor?
 
In the basement

For God sakes, pour a continuous walkway from the front of your house around to the back door (which should be french doors). My father in law had a stroke a few years back and my wife had a walkway poured from the driveway, around the house, to the back doors so he could walk or use his wheelchair and not have to go up and down stairs (they lived downstairs at the time). I can't tell you how many times I have used it to move games. They come right out of the truck, onto a dolly, and wheel right into the basement - no problem, no stairs.

Also, we took a 1x12 and shaved one of the long ends down to make a little ramp to get over the door jam. Works great. Throw it down when moving games in and out and we go right over it.

If you are installing lighting - go to Ikea. I got some great fixtures there for about $10. They fit right in and were wicked easy to install.
 
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don't do padding, get commercial glue down carpet

the padding will break down with all the weight, and if it gets wet the padding will get messed up.

http://www.competitivecommercialcarpet.com/office_carpets/carpet_no_pattern/

I got my whole garage done (30 x 25) for $700

if it gets damaged it is easier to fix (just cut out the damaged part and gluse down a new patch.

Water is not a big issue, you can just shop vac it up

it is made for high traffic and long life

Epoxy is too "live" and it will make the room sound crazy loud, plus it can chip off
 
Okay I'm a little confused by this. I plan to install gameroom carpet with padding underneath through most of the room. I'll also probably have tile at the entrance and in the sitting area. What exactly are we talking about when referring to epoxy on a cement floor?

You don't want padding under the gameroom carpet (IMHO). It is just going to make it harder to move games. Dollys with heavy loads don't like padded carpet, and games on casters will move poorly as well.

Epoxy/paint for concrete. Comes in a bunch of colors and you paint it directly on the concrete floor. Some are single application, some heavy duty ones come in two parts. I used some on my garage floor - did about 4 coats and it looks great. Inexpensive, looks good, and it is easy to touch up/repair.
 
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