My new arcade room project

[smalltownguy2]

Weekend update.

This room originally had two 20 amp circuits serving it, all going down one line of EMT conduit on one side of the room. Obviously I'm going to want to plug games into both sides of the room, so I needed to bring power to the other side of the room. The plan is to have one circuit serve one side, and the other serve the other side.

The floor has also cured fully now too, which means I can move games back in after my electrical is all done. That's a good thing because the basement living room is a bit 'cramped' with most of my games residing in there

Pics. Oh yeah, and you get a glimpse of my new epoxy floor too.

 

[Phetishboy]

Nice work so far Brad. I like the height of the outlets. The conduit gives the room an industrial feel.

 

[smalltownguy2]

Thanks, Shawn, that's high praise from you, for sure.

There's some aspects of this room I'm unsure how to handle, so I'm struggling with that a bit. There's about a 3" space between the duct work and the edge of the ceiling that there's NO way I'll be able to get any ceiling tile in there. It was hidden before by the wall-mounted cabinets. Removing them exposed it. Probably something that 90% of people will never notice, but I know it's there. I just don't know what to do with it.

Speaking of the ceiling, I'm batting around the idea of painting the whole thing black. Any one have any idea of the best way to spray ceiling track and tiles? I was thinking of pulling tiles and spraying them with an HVLP sprayer. The ceiling tracks I can roll with a small roller.

 

[tomtime]

Love the conduits!

I'm trying to convince my wife to let me paint the gameroom ceiling black with an outer space theme.

 

[smalltownguy2]

Love the conduits!

I'm trying to convince my wife to let me paint the gameroom ceiling black with an outer space theme.

My wife is actually the one who suggested I paint the ceiling black. Having looked at tons of pictures of game/entertainment rooms, I knew that black ceilings were common, but she's never seen one or looked at any pics. She just drew her suggestion from memory.

"If you're going to use black lights, you want the ceiling to not distract people from the main event in the room - the games" she says. Makes sense to me too.

Jon St Clair (the founder of the BYOAC forums) has a black ceiling in his room.

 

[gorfchampion]

Lookin' good Brad. Nice work

 

[Pinball Wizard]

you can paint roller ceiling tiles. It will take a coat or 2 extra, but you can paint em'. The track is best done with a small roller or paint brush.

 

[cadillacman]

id also highly reccomend some drylock or simular thick water sealer for those stained cinder blocks.. just sayin.. where my games are in my basement even though i had no water issues, i still drylocked them before painting. just a little insuance...

 

[Tighe]

Looks really great! I love that floor!

 

[OHEMIO]

Floor is P.H.A.T. The black ceiling tile is also a nice touch...

Agree with a few others on the water issue...check those down spouts and the grading around your house. In addition to that I ended up having to put in a french drain in front of my house. Only took about 5-6 hours.

Best part no more damp basement...was able to pressure wash the walls, drylock, and epoxy the floor. At that point I was no longer worried about my games being infested by black mold...

 

[cadillacman]

I hope you dont take offense but i really want to rip off your floor idea. How does it look under blacklight? where did you find the materials to do it?

Looking frickin awesome man.

 

[smalltownguy2]

No offense taken! I'll put together a materials list when I'm done so you can DIY.

I just picked up a 4 bulb T12 2x4 ceiling fixture this week, and my black light bulbs are awaiting my pickup. When I get the fixture installed I'll let you know how it looks.

 

[cadillacman]

hehe thats what i run.. i have three of those.. but i have them setup half regular and half blacklight..(theres a ballast per 2 lamps)

that way when i want to have fun, flip the blacklight switches and tada..

but when i want to fix something and need regular light, its just a matter of flupping two other switches

 

[smalltownguy2]

Crap. I brought my 2x4 fixture into my room today to see how it would fit.

It won't

My suspended ceiling leaves 4 inches of clearance beneath the joists, and my light fixture requires 4.5 inches. Crap!

Oh well, I guess I'll have to use surface mounted fixtures. Since I already have a few in place, I'll likely leave them where they are for now until I finally figure out the final lighting solution for this room.

Anyone know where I can get a decent price on 4 foot T8 BLB bulbs? I'm guessing Home Cheapo is my only option.

 

[smalltownguy2]

Sorry for the lack of updates on this for the past few weeks. It's been a busy month or so with fall yard clean up. I've also been working hard on repairing a few games, as well as purchasing a few more.

I have chosen to wait on painting the walls of my arcade until the dead of winter, when I'll have more time to do it. Having the games in the room won't be much of a bother - I'll just slide them all to the center of the room and paint around them. So for now, I have chosen to load the room and start getting all the details worked out on all my games. Coin lights, marquees, etc. I'm also changing out all of the leg levelers on my games to nylon ones - they wont scratch my floor, yet they still grab well enough to provide good stability. Big thanks to Avidgeek for hooking me up with a great deal on a whole bag of levelers.

Two weeks ago, I was lucky enough to grab my last grail game - Karate Champ Player Vs Player. I also managed to grab a nice Rowe change machine.

Last weekend, I spent most of Friday night rebuilding the 6100 in my Star Wars upright, and I'm happy to report that I now have a fully functional Star Wars!

Saturday I replaced the line cord on my Rowe changer, and she works beautifully. I'll be re-wiring it to dispense coins when you push the coin reject button.

Yesterday I took an empty Nintendo cab I had and built up a Donkey Kong out of a bunch of spare parts I have. I DO have another Nintendo cab that will be restored this winter with a kit I bought from Phetishboy, but I figured since I had enough parts to get one cobbled together, I'd drop a DK in my arcade. I mean really, what's in in-home arcade without Donkey Kong, right?

My wife happened to walk in last night as I was just doing some rearranging and snapped a few pics with her mobile phone. Sorry for the dark photos.

Left to right in this view: Pinbot, Firepower, Donkey Kong (with Vs art), Asteroids Deluxe, Arkanoid II, Marvel Super Heroes, Marvel Vs Street Fighter, Metal Slug, Rowe BC-25.

Left to right in this view: Firepower, (empty space), Donkey Kong, Karate Champ, Double Dragon, Rolling Thunder (MAME).

Still 2 empty spaces left - Star Wars will go next to DK, and my cousin's KISS pin will be parked to the left of the Pinbot, right by the door.

 

[gorfchampion]

Lookin good Brad, congrats

 

[Phetishboy]

Great deal on that change machine. Your arcade is starting to come together. Can't wait to see it all painted and decorated up.

 

[gsealock]

looking good man, hopefully it will give me the inspiration I need

 

[GaryMcT]

LOVE the flooring idea!!

 

[smalltownguy2]