My new Barcade - "Amazing Games and Bar", opening Memorial Day Weekend 2012

MadocOwain

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My new Barcade - "Amazing Games and Bar", opening Memorial Day Weekend 2012

I'm currently engaged in gutting part of my walk-out basement to put in a Barcade. My old house's Barcade was cool but I didn't have a lot to work with. The new one starts out about the same square footage as the old one, but I decided that wasn't going to be enough. I got the wife to sign off on annexing about 70 more square feet in front of the stairway, so I can have a nice entry-way.

So far, we've got the old drywall down (graffiti'd to hell by the previous owners) and additional wall studs around the remainder of the unfinished section. We moved the doorway back a few feet to accommodate the entrance to the utilities room and a storage room - these will be work and storage areas. We knocked out the original wall for the unfinished room and backed it up as seen in the first photo. This will be the back wall of the bar.

Photo 2 is of the storage area, Photo 3 is of the utilities room. Lots of "wasted" space in there, due to the furnaces being situated in the center of the room.

Photo 4 is from the back of the bar wall looking out into the Barcade room. Photo 5 is facing back towards the bar. There was a half-bath under the stairs on the left - we removed it and tore out the walls to make a walkway. The front of the bar will be about where the compressor is, so you'd walk around a wall to get to the back of the bar. Front bar is 10', back bar about 13'. The door for the bathroom remains, so there's two entrances to the Barcade.
 

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Photo 6 is of the barcade looking out into the entrance. Photo 7 is from the stairs looking into the entrance.

The last photo is of the "Amazing" neon sign I picked up from the Jillian's auction a few months back. They broke the neon so I had to have it re-made, including new plexi and backlighting. It will be at the back wall of the Barcade, so when you walk into the entrance, that'll be the first thing your eyes will catch.
 

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Updated with more pictures

The past couple of weeks, we've made considerable progress in the Barcade. Plumbing has been added for the sink/faucet for the wet bar, and the faux-brick wallboard has gone up around the room. The first photo attached shows the view from behind the bar out to the rest of the Barcade. Total sq. ft. is 595 including the 9'x7' section I 'stole' from the family room.

The second photo is facing the bar area. The entrance to the Barcade is through the door on the left. The pole marks the back of the front bar, so you'd walk around the pole essentially to get behind the bar, and the other side to get to the Barcade.

Third photo: The wallboard is really cool but getting two 8' pieces to a 45-degree angle and fit seamlessly is about impossible. We're putting wide wood trim on most of the corners that stick out, to resemble posts/pillars. The corners that are also the corners of the room may get left alone or will get a thin strip of wood trim.

Fourth photo: standing in the "alcove", facing the only window and the spot reserved for the "Amazing Games and Bar" signage. We're holding off placing the sign until after the drop ceiling is put in, due to breakage concerns.

Final photo: What's a Barcade without a bar? We've ordered some nice mahogany cabinets and will be building the bar around those. Going with the black granite for the bartops. With the dark flooring, brick walls and white drop-ceiling, it should really come together well.
 

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Some more pics

The first pic here is of several different flooring options. We're currently exploring epoxy with paint or dye mixed in. The first contractor we spoke to indicated that since our concrete floor was already sealed, they couldn't guarantee that their effort to rough it up would open the pores enough to take the acid etching and dye, and tried to upsell us to an epoxy/paint solution for 5x more per sq.ft. than what we were expecting. Since they clearly didn't want the job, we've got a second guy giving us an estimate. Should THAT fall through, we're going with a nice dark laminate instead.

Next up is a shot of the "stolen" sq. footage from the family room.. wall now extends out in front of the stairway 7' then you'd turn left to get at the few games that may spill out of the actual Barcade.

Last photo here is another shot of the "stolen" area. Nice, wide opening, that's currently closed off (no photo).
 

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I love those brick panels! Do you mind if I ask where you found them and about how much the cost? Also, how are you attaching them? I'd love to do something like that in my basement!
 
That looks amazing so far. I've always wanted to do the brick paneling thing. Looks so cool! Going to do any chalk graffiti on the brick like in Conseco Fieldhouse? I went there years ago and thought the effect was cool with some of their advertising. Not sure if they still have it. Trying to find pics online I found this from a model railroad forum:
035.JPG


It might be a cool look if you did some arcade or bar art with that style of painting.
 
Did you put up the vapor barrier and tape it. Some recommend it goes behind the insulation against the concrete wall.
 
Vapor barrier? Not needed, this place is BONE DRY, looks like it's never seen any water.

I would at least put it over the insulation under the drywall. There will always be some humidity from the walls in a basement in your area. Doesn't cost much to do.

Looks great so far!
 
The flooring is in..

We found a crew with a better bid, but it was still way more than the $1 per square foot I had thought it would be. The guy who I talked to that got it for $1/sq.ft. had a freshly-poured concrete floor, so the acid etching method would not have required any costly prep work to be applied to it. In my case, there's no way to get around the grinding, sealant and other work required to get it ready.

Laminate would have been the next path to take, as I really did not want to deal with the expense of wear and cleaning (mostly cleaning) having carpet in the Barcade would entail. However, by the time I factored in the labor costs of putting in laminate, I figured this was going to be my best flooring option. So, reflector system it is.

They used a diamond grinder to tear through the sealant on the floor and rough up the surface. After cleaning the floor, they then put down a prime coat of black epoxy (photo #1). The next day, they put down the second layer, a dye mixed with more epoxy (photo #2). Photo #3 is the next day, the dye w/epoxy has had a chance to set in and spread a bit.

The final layer of high-wear urethane (not pictured) has a quarter-load of aluminum oxide in it. It'll take down the shine somewhat, but will keep the floor from turning into a slip-and-slide when people spill their drinks. I should have final photos of that Tuesday, as we're keeping the room sealed for 72 hours while it finishes drying.

Gotta tell you, I'm going to be a little bit sad when I put the games in the room, it's a beautiful floor so far and it's a shame to have to cover it up, even if it's with arcade games!
 

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Your space looks amazing. The floor is awesome looking - I've never seen anything like this before. I'll be watching this thread with great anticipation!
 
I would like to know where you found that faux brick wallboard also and how much a sq ft is was if you don't mind me asking? Been debating between that or galvanized corrugated roof panels instead but can't find those faux brick boards....

Thanks!
 
Flooring.. finished!

Dried and waiting for additional work to begin.. so what do you think?
 

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I would like to know where you found that faux brick wallboard also and how much a sq ft is was if you don't mind me asking? Been debating between that or galvanized corrugated roof panels instead but can't find those faux brick boards....

Thanks!

Menard's has them on their website. There's a few varieties out there - white/tan brick, red brick, RED brick with black "grout". I went for the more traditional red because it's almost an exact match to what is on our house.
 
Bar top and signage is in..

I think the re-built "Amazing" sign turned out pretty well.. it's the first thing you'll see when you enter the Barcade. The granite bartops were installed today, going to be getting the rest of the bar woodwork and the back bar done in the next couple of weeks. Still on target for the May 31st opening!

With luck, I will be able to get some games in by the end of this month!
 

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