“Come check out my sweet 1987 Ford Escort”…is what I should be saying as I describe my very modest pinball-centered renovation.

Escort (resized).png

I’ve read every post in the “Let’s see pics of game rooms!” thread and have loved following Chosen_S as he builds a frickin’ two-story outbuilding just for his machines, so I realize where I fall in the hierarchy around here.

Chosen_S has a cooler car than me (resized).png

Chosen_S is cooler than me

I’m attempting to repurpose >200 square feet of tandem garage space that was a collection spot for stuff that I was too lazy to do anything else with. Wait until you see the pictures! We’d have retroactively qualified to be on Hoarders…minus a Clowder* of cats that each of these episodes seems to feature.

Hoarders (resized).png

* Go ahead…Google it.

To be fair, at current market prices in my ‘hood, 200 square feet (if permitted and included on the property tax roll) is worth $140,000 - $160,000, so maybe my Ford Escort has suede seats and a Mustang engine. That reminds me, does anyone remember the SNL skit advertising the Chameleon XLE? A reddit post called it “the best car commercial ever made” and when has that site ever been wrong, amirite?

I’ll make it easy for everyone:

https://view.yahoo.com/show/saturday-night-live/clip/60594032/chameleon-xle

Hey, they used a pinball in the commercial! Synergy.

Unfortunately, my garage space does not qualify for inclusion as official square-footage, but it will be a small slice of paradise for me none-the-less.

Since posting this will be a bit of a therapy session for me, I should mention that I’m new to the hobby. In fact, I can’t actually recall ever playing a game of pinball on a traditional machine before my recent foray into this world. My favorite pinball game of all time (until recently) was 1988’s Alien Crush for the venerable TurboGrafx 16. Man that game was a blast!

Alien Crush 2 (resized).png
Alien Crush (resized).png

And now I’ve now lost half of the people who mistakenly clicked here…

THE PLAN:

This is a Field of Dreams situation. I’m going to build it so that “they” can come.

Field of Dreams (resized).png

As a noob, I have just one pin – 1965’s Sky·Line which was purchased about six months ago. It is a fantastic EM that looks great at the bottom of the stairs of our basement. As it turns out, Sky·Line was a gateway purchase: Inexpensive and innocuous enough looking that my wife was ok with it in our home. I convinced her that it was more of an art piece than anything.

Michael Cain played two balls on a Sky·Line in the 1966 movie "Alfie". It was nominated for a couple Oscars. 'Nuff said.

Sir Nigel Powers (resized).png

As all gateway drugs, it got me hooked and looking for my next fix (Sky-Line...not Alfie). Surprisingly, it also worked its charm on my wife in that she thought it was cool at first but she quickly bored of playing it and wondered why I’d bought such a frustrating, simple game. Her sentiments, not mine.

Right?

A car with some value to me wouldn't have been as funny, though...

The basement in our Southern California home is dedicated to child and family-centric activities and will be for at least the next decade, so I was faced with a dilemma – rotate one pin at a time in the house, get a divorce, or find alternative space somewhere else.

Hence, the garage plan.

Here she is:

Garage long (resized).png

At least property values continue to go up. Until there is a giant earthquake.

burning money (resized).png

See? Hoarders. We are bad people and should be ashamed.

Close-up of man cave area.

Junk cave (resized).png

Junk Cave 2 (resized).png

Existing workbench area:

Workbench (resized).png

Here’s what I’m thinking about:

1. Build a wall with pegboard to increase opportunity for ORGANIZED storage
2. Redistribute and remove items from the “clutter zone”
3. Include two 2’ swinging doors for ease of transporting machines in/out
4. Insulate the wall
5. Carpet the space
6. Add small electric garage heater
7. Add appropriate electrical capacity
8. Re-wire existing “work” lighting and add dimmable lights for man cave area
9. Paint where needed

Look at me - I'm an architect (resized).png

I can't believe people go to school for this stuff (resized).png

Life goals (resized).png

My electrician is actually a Pinsider here. He's going to hook me up!

I'm not good at math, but that doesn't sound right.

It rained yesterday for the first time in two months. We were officially on "Storm Watch" here. Because this part of the garage is built into the hillside and essentially underground, it stays very comfortable in the summer. These cold winter days are unbearable for us SoCal babies so a heater is the only temperature adjusting device that will be necessary!

Spoiler alert - I change this to a different term in a few posts!

For us, it is the 20 non-functional pillows on the master bed.

Because the space still has to serve as a functional storage space, I think I'll be able to fit four machines in comfortably. The cutout area where our bikes were stored is exactly 90"...so back box to back box that gets me three right there!

Totally. Pulled that out of the dining room when we bought the house - it is probably worth as much as a beat-up Taxi but uuuuuugggggglllllyyyyyy.

I usually don't like anyone.

I'll be here all week.

If I were to throw one out at a time over a few weeks, it would take until May before any pillows were missed.

I did my very professional mock-up of what the wall would look like using Microsoft Paint.

Did you know that Paint was first released in 1985? I did not.

Because this is a pinball site, here are a few pictures of popular games from 1985:

Eight Ball Champ:
Eight Ball Champ (resized).png

Comet:
Comet (resized).png

Sorcerer:
Sorcerer (resized).png

Neat-O.

STEP 1:

Move junk from future nirvana-zone (aka the man cave - @irobot)

Why? Dear God, why? (resized).png

First up, get the wall-mounted bikes out of here!

My initial plan was to ride the bikes to the beach in Santa Monica and just leave them there for someone who would really appreciate them. This suggestion did not go over well with others in my household.

Consequently, I decided to use a ceiling-mount pulley system. These bikes get used only slightly more often than Americans get to enjoy a “blood moon” eclipse (https://www.space.com/39557-next-blood-moon-eclipses-2018-2019.html) which means that I want them semi-accessible, but don’t mind a little effort on the rare occasions that I’m forced outside.

ET's ride (resized).png

Voila!

I think I’ll make use of my new pegboard to store the Worx wheelbarrow and cart attachment. I’ve designed the wall with studs that are 16” on center, so I’ll have a bit of additional space to mount brackets and sturdy hardware to hold stuff.

Speaking of my Worx Aerocart. I love this thing. If you follow the link and purchase one, I’ll get a huge commission:

https://www.worx.com/aerocart-wheelbarrow-yard-cart-wg050.html?gclid=Cj0KCQiAw9nUBRCTARIsAG11eiddpce0n7QdTsBs1DPlo7S1Rd-q51Y79b5dkh8CEpFx6Y8KMjk0hcgaAhwLEALw_wcB

By the way, did I mention that this thread is sponsored by Worx? Well, it is. “Worx Aerocart, it just works.” I just made up that slogan.

I Worx for my money (resized).png

STEP 2

Build a wall and get Mexico to pay for it.

No judgement. No politics. I just can't say "build a wall" without hearing this. I watch the news.

Building stuff (resized).png

There is some piping that will be slightly challenging to frame around, but I can already tell that the most tedious part of the project will be fitting and cutting pegboard around these oddly shaped/angled pipes. But, one step at a time.

I have a ladder. Two, in fact. (resized).png

Added to my Pinterest board!

Just kidding. I hate Pinterest.

I do like the fan option. Sort of a "steam-punk" vibe to it.

Robots will figure out a way to automate this in 20 years (resized).png

My son is already a dues-paying member of Local 409 – the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters. True story. He also has all the appropriate safety gear, because while I support maximizing the use of child labor, I’m not a complete monster.

If you are from LA or spent any time here, chances are you’ve driven past the Carpenters’ Union headquarters in DTLA right off the 110 Freeway. I’m pretty sure they throw up a flippin’ sweet lighted Christmas tree every year on their roof but Google isn’t my friend on this one.

Carpenters Building...made entirely of wood, I think (resized).png

Wait. Fixed it.

I can photoshop (resized).png

Caught a huge break. The wall is flush with the backside of the fireplace footing which is a great natural divide in the space. As it turns out, there is a floor joist directly on that line, so the upper framing of the wall is tied directly into these joists. Boom. Also, the side faming happened to hit studs.

One time, as a kid, I cracked an egg and two yolks came out. This feels like that.

The man cave Mark Cave ™ will not only support my burgeoning pinball collection, but it will also support the house. (See what I did there?)

My tribute to Pink Floyd (resized).png

I had a Chevy Blazer in college. The transmission died at 55,000 miles on a 50k warranty.

I hate Chevy more than I hate Pinterest.

#humblebrag

I save time by not measuring anything.

Foundation.

Interestingly, the house was built in the 1920's and the chimney tops out at eye-level no more than five feet from a sleeping porch off our master bedroom. If we wanted to run a wood-burning fire and nap at the same time, we could get a lung-full of smoke with the windows open.

Good times.

STEP 3

Insulation installation. Insulation installation. Insulation installation. (It's fun to say!)

Now that the wall has been framed, bolted to the ground and tied to joists + studs it is time to throw up some insulation to protect my new babies from the harsh climate here.

Get the (pinball) party started (resized).png

Cozy.

Seeing all of that pink insulation takes me back to my youth. I had no idea what insulation was, but totally remember the Pink Panther cartoon – which was in reruns during the afternoons. Odd marketing.

Kids and fiberglass, a match made in heaven (resized).png

Today, they'd probably get P!nk to do it.

STEP 4:

Pegboard (mostly) installed.

Did you know there is a Danish band called "Pegboard Nerds"? I wonder if they'd like to see pictures of my game room renovation?

Of course this is a real band name (resized).png

*Opens another Chrome tab*
*Tries to "friend" them on Facebook to share link to this thread; fails*
*Doesn't understand how Facebook works*

Sigh.

Potential cover for the next Pegboard Nerds album (resized).png

Liner notes or back cover suggestion (resized).png

That upper corner is going to be a bear to cut around for a clean look.

There had to be lawsuits with this, right?

I thought about that but it would have limited our ability to hang stuff on the pegboard...which was a selling point to my wife when I suggested doing this project - "more storage space!" So, I'm doing two 2' doors that swing in. This is a pretty high-traffic area since we go in/out of here multiple times a day, often carrying things and the two door option still gives us the ability to keep them open most of the time for ease of access.