Hi Pinside,

I'm starting a basement remodel and thought I'd document it here. Currently, we have room for about 10 games and our goal is to finish an unfinished portion of our basement that will accommodate about 15 games. For those of you who have followed my threads in the past, you know you're in for a slow burn. So, buckle-up, buddies, and let's spin this yarn...

Prior to purchasing and moving into our current home, I mocked up a basement space that looked something like this:

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At this time, 2014, we had 4 pinball machines. This made me feel pretty good, because I knew we'd have room for a few more games. When we moved in, it looked like this:

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...which was a pretty amazing feeling to OWN our own house and have a few games to set up in a playable space.

But you guys all know how this story goes once you have one, so let's fast track this...

Circa late 2016:
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Mid 2017:
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The Claytorian Flood of Early 2018:
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...and eventual resurrection:
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Finally, this is how our space has settled down as of 2019:
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...but that doesn't mean there aren't a few more lurking in the wings :
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Because of that, I've had my eye on an unfinished portion of our basement that, until now, has been used largely for storage. I did some mock-ups of that space for our contractor:

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And started the daunting task of putting all our games on their butts for a couple (few? ) months and moving all of our accumulated sundry junk out of a particular space to be finished (the half-wall storage area):

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So, presently, this is what our glorious gameroom looked like during our Easter party:

Saturday, April 20, 2019:
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Sunday, April 21, 2019, my helpful topless son assisted me in disassembling our fleet:
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...and eventually it looked like this:
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...ready to receive an avalanche of outgrown baby stuffs and mystery boxes largely unopened since we moved into this house 5 years ago:
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So that was today's task (Tuesday, April 23, 2019), which essentially cleared out roughly half of that half-wall storage area, which had very little organization.

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Just a large open area that we hope to turn into a more usable and organized space with the addition of shelving and padded carpet (shown in the mock-ups above).

In an effort to compartmentalize this little venture and make it feel like perhaps some progress is being made, I tried to organize this undertaking into phases:

Phase 1: Clear-out half-wall storage
Phase 2: Remodel half-wall storage with wardrobe, shelving, and padded carpet
Phase 3: Move junk into remodeled half-wall storage and migrate junk from new game room onto new half-wall storage
Phase 4: Remodel new game room with drywall, electrical, and padded carpet
Phase 5: Paint walls
Phase 6: Move games into remodeled game room
Phase 7: Paint feature wall mural and incorporate neon sign
Phase 8: Regain sanity and enjoy new space

I'm trying to have that storage space cleared and ready by May 1st, which is around when our contractor will be ready to start. ...still gotta pick out some carpet before then.

Here we go!!! Thanks in advance for taggin' along on this exciting and daunting ride with us.

Sincerely,
Ryan Claytor

Us too! BTW, I think I've mentioned this before, Lint, but nice avatar.

Ha-ha! So true, Rody. I'm trying to brace myself for the inevitable mismanagement of time and budget.

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Don't tempt us, BingoPodcast! We've done it before!

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Thanks, RCA1! See you at PatZ this weekend?

Doin' our best, OldPinGuy! Keepin' eyeses on prizes over here!

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You know, they say the journey is the destination, but I kinda feel like in this case the destination is the destination. I mean, I sure hope this isn't the destination:

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Speaking of which, shrewd viewers may have noticed some additional garbage in that heap. It's because last night, the second half of that half-wall storage unit:

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...got cleared out:

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So that today a carpet guy could come do some measurements:

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He said this was the first time he'd seen this half-wall type of area.

Just a brief aside, we bought our place from the original owner/builder. We've since asked him, "Why the half-wall?" We assumed there was an obstruction of some sort. Maybe a sewer pipe or an immovable subterranean boulder or perhaps a pirate chest of doubloons that could help us with this remodel. But, no. It was strictly cost-cutting. I believe his response to us was something like, "You know, in retrospect, I could kick myself for not digging that out the rest of the way, as it would have only added another $200 - $300 to the cost of the build."

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Minor updates: On Friday, I received the final quotes on both areas of carpet (cheap stuff for the half-wall storage area and also luxurious carpet and padding for the new arcade area). I handed over 50% payment for both areas and scheduled the soonest available installation for the half-wall storage area, which was about two and a half weeks away (May 14th). That's a lot longer than I hoped to wait, as I previously told my contractor he could start building the shelving on top of the carpet around May 1st. However, I repeated the aforementioned basement building mantra:

So, I reluctantly accepted, but not before asking to be notified about any potential cancellations or openings in their schedule. They assured me I was on a list of one kind or another and, after hanging up, I left a voicemail with my contractor to let him know about the 2+ week delay.

Fast forward to today and I received a call from the carpet folks. Turns out they DID have an unexpected opening and now we'll be getting carpet installed on May 6th instead of the 14th.

Woo-hoo!

Once again, contractor was notified of this next change and, thankfully, he seems awfully calm, cool, and collected about the whole thing.

Until May 6th,
Ryan

P.S. Dance break:

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Man, that's a fun game. I'd pick that up off the curb in a heartbeat.

Thanks, Jim!

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Sooo...as you may have suspected, that's been back-burnered due to this basement remodel and other projects taking precedent, but it's still firmly in my mind (gnawing at the back of my brain).

THANK, JIM!!!

- --- ----- --- -

In other news, I received an order of pin-footies today:

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With this glorious gameroom carpet coming soon-ish, I wanted to be ready to plop some games on it without destroying it.

Shouts and thanks to Terry @pinballlife for distributing a great product finely crafted by @bryan_kelly !

May the sixth be with you. And you know what that means. Carpet day for the half-wall storage area!

So the carpet installers showed up this morning:

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After the tack strips went down, they got the padding installed in pretty short order:

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...and wrapped it up post-lunch. After which I ran our vacu-bot a couple of times:

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And, by golly, I think that's about the best this awkward little space is ever going to look:

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Now it's prepped and ready for the shelving:

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Unfortunately, the contractor (scheduled to install the shelving tomorrow) won't be able to make it here until next week.

Living my mantra over here:

Until next (week's) update, stay classy, Pinside.

Dance Break!

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I honestly have no idea. Just found it in my typical searches for animated gifs. Sorry. Pretty glorious, though, right!?

You're welcome.

Thanks, Pecos! Here's hoping!

Us, too!!!

Word-up. We've got those gutter covers installed all over the house, and outside of a check-valve failure, our basement has been quite dry for the 5 years we've lived here. *knocking on wooden crossed fingers holding horseshoes and rabbit feet*

Aw yeah.

Come to Michigan (I say as a former Californian). We're lousy with basements and reasonably priced real estate over here.

Since we're all just twiddling our thumbs until next week, I thought I'd mention another bit of excitement. About 5 days ago, my buddy, Nick bingopodcast Baldridge, and I were interviewed on NPR for the Michigan program called "Stateside" to talk about our new pinball-related project. Here's an excerpt from an email we just received:

- --- --- -
The conversation you recorded with Cynthia Canty about Coin-Op Carnival will air today on our show.

Stateside airs from 3-4 p.m. and again from 10-11 p.m. on Michigan Radio:
91.7 FM – Ann Arbor/Detroit
91.1 FM – Flint
104.1 FM – West Michigan
MichiganRadio.org – online streaming

You'll also be able to find the full audio of your segment around 5 p.m. today on the Stateside page of our website, MichiganRadio.org.
- --- --- -

Let's see how this turned out and if they honored my request NOT to play The Who's "Pinball Wizard."

Dance break (in the back right):

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PLEASE LET US KNOW WHAT YOU FIND!!!

My gawd...that's brilliant. Thank you for snapping me out of my task-oriented stupor. Sincerely. Fort-time needs to happen.

So, that aired, and now it's archived here:

https://www.michiganradio.org/post/stateside-state-senate-passes-auto-insurance-reform-pinball-history-comic-book-new-west-mi

^^^ ...just scroll about 1/2 - 2/3 down that page to find our isolated segment.

Enjoy,
Ryan

P.S. Dance break:

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Oh my gawd...I about died watching this. *LOL* Showed it to my wife who had the same reaction. Currently, my son is all about the Wild Kratts(two animal-excited bros educating kiddos about creatures and their "powers") so this hit us just right. Thank you, for this, Jim.

Sounds plausible! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

God bless the internet.

I need mah pinballz back on their feets!

That sounds nice.

My sincere hope is that before all of our junk goes back, we'll cut a bunch of it from our permanent storage line-up. Wish us well and send us your clutter-free thoughts, Mitch!

Thank you, c508, and you're a bunch of right...

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3. If it is a comic book.

You know you're welcome here anytime, Tommy. ...but I've gotta say, I'm not sure the place is trip-worthy, yet. Ha-ha!

Speaking of which...

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...here's the Tuesday update! The storage shelving is going in today as I type. This area should take another day or two to finish, then it's time to sift through all that miscellaneous debris I've been judged so harshly for and decide what stays and what will go.

Thanks for keepin' me company here in my up-turned basement, guys!

Dance Break:

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Thanks, Jeff! The feeling is mutual.

To not read Groo is to err like a mendicant.

Amen, brother! ...glad I'm not the only one.

- --- ----- --- -

Okay, today was a pretty exciting day! CHECK IT OUT!!!

The half-wall basement storage area is COMPLETE!!! WOOO!!!

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For those that aren't keen on video, here are some stills.

From ground level:

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Topside:

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...with a built-in wardrobe for my wife's clothes on the left (in Michigan we need a summer and winter wardrobe...and a place to store them in the off-season):

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Rounding that corner behind the wardrobe:

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This back portion has three sets of shelves that are sized to fit my

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Hard to photograph some of these spaces but here's an orange-peeled panorama:

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...and finally, leading back out:

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I told my wife tonight, if I'm this happy about the storage space getting finished, I don't know what I'm gonna do when the arcade is done.

Mighty-night, all!

...

...

...

...a weary, incoherent dance break:

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As of the last update, we've completed:

Phase 1: Clear-out half-wall storage
Phase 2: Remodel half-wall storage with wardrobe, shelving, and padded carpet

Now we're on to...

Phase 3: Move junk into remodeled half-wall storage and migrate junk from new game room onto new half-wall storage

...which is actually proving to be more gratifying than I suspected.

But not before finding a...

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Thanks, C508.

Anyhow, do you recall that little, nondescript, hobbit door under our stairway in the old arcade:

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(Insert Penny Pitch flex )

Well, through that door held roughly half of my comic boxes:

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...which were quasi inaccessible beneath that stairway:

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Consequently, I rarely accessed my comics and, as you can see, organization and, shamefully, filing kinda fell by the wayside (for YEARS) as it was such a pain in the buns to grab anything in there. So, new acquisitions often just got piled atop those poorly stored boxes.

Alright, now that the shelves are built, I started schlepping all the boxes from said closet, as well as the new storage room:

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...into the newly renovated half-wall storage area:

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And eventually got most of those boxes into their respective spots:

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Which felt pretty amazing. There's still a healthy amount of sorting to do...

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...but it's getting done. I'm also making lists for additional supplies (boxes, bags, boards, etc) that I need to finish this long-neglected task. Should be complete in the next day or two, but, man, this already feels like a bright light at the end of a tunnel.

Dance break:

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Yesterday I stopped at a local comic shop to pick up those...

...that I mentioned last time. So, I've been chipping away at the organization of my comic library space. Gratifying, but it doesn't look much different to anyone besides me, so I'll save you the image bandwidth...at least for that part.

My wife was really the champ today. She sorted through a TON of stuff and got it organized into piles to sell, piles to hand to Goodwill, and piles to throw away. The back of my car is filled with bags I'll be dropping off to Goodwill in the morning...

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...and shredding later in the day...

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While we've given away carloads of baby stuff, we still have mountains more we'll try to sell in the coming week. Evidently my wife looked into some store in the area. Again, she's the trophy winner today. She even went through a mountain of her old clothes and is selling or donating A BUNCH of it. So proud of her.

Anyhow, we're thinning the boxes from our old arcade/current storage area, as well as our current unfinished storage/soon-to-be-finished-arcade:

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It may not look like much, but that entire right side was cleared of junk:

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Now I've gotta step up and clear out that other portion of my debris:

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Basement Dance Break:

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It's true. My wife likes a pristine freezer top. She's a meticulous one.

Anyhow, we're still getting rid of more junk. Today we sold a healthy amount of baby stuff:

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...and took SEVERAL. MORE. TRIPS. ...to Goodwill. We're practically on a first name basis now...us and Ole' Good.

We're also getting rid of lots of boxes. Here's our recycle for proof:

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Typically our 2 weeks of recycling fits in that brown bin on the right. ...we still have a week to go before our next pick-up.

In addition to clearing out more detritus, one of the puzzle pieces that needs to fit together somewhere between framing our unfinished future arcade and running electrical, is the creation of a custom neon sign.

So, if you recall, this was our existing arcade space:

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Here you can see the floor plan in comparison to our proposed space:

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...and here's what it currently looks like from eye level:

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And this is a 3D rendering of that same space finished:

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That image above shows a feature wall at the end of the row. That's where I'd like to design the sign.

This is a mock-up I created of that far wall with the silhouettes of the couple games that will hug that wall:

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For the inquiring minds, it will be a Penny Pitch on the left:

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...and a puck bowler on the right:

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So I tried making some quick and dirty sketches of what the sign might look like, just so I had something to chat about with the neon guy:

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Late last night, I did a color rendition:

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And what it might look like animated:

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I'd love to have some sort of animation on my sign. I also tossed it into that proposed environment:

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...and did my best to figure out the ideal size I'd want it:

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...knowing full well that these could quite possibly be pie-in-the-sky dreams. I mean, that sign looks a little big...and potentially out of our budget.

I went to the neon guy today and it turns out that size doesn't matter. (I can feel the cursors highlighting that last sentence and quote option being pushed.) I asked if I were to shave off a foot on each dimension, would that bring the price down? He said no, but the cost increases significantly with EACH FRAME of animation. Evidently, every frame needs a separate transformer...on top of the 3-ish transformers that I'd need anyway. Just to put this into perspective, if we made that sign without any animation, the price would be around a grand. If we made it animated as you see there, it would be in the 3-4k range.

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Just a touch out of our budget.

There's hope, though! For not much additional money, I could create an ALTERNATING element (first 1, then 2, then back to one, repeat). I could also have a FLASHING element, for not much additional outlay (on, then off, back on, repeat). The final thing neon guy mentioned is that there's a special transformer that can do 4 frames of animation for one low price. Sounds great, but he went on to say that he's seen a lot of these types of transformers that kinda crap-out. When I asked for specifics he said that the ON/OFF of each frame isn't very good...like, previous "frames" will stay lit or look kinda be lit when they should be off, or not quite animate crisply. I don't think I want to deal with that, but we'll see how much I can pair back this animated business. He did say that he could check/test the transformer once it arrives. If it doesn't act appropriately, he could send it back and get another one. I asked him if he ever sees good, four-frame, transformers crap-out in short order. He said no, but didn't have a lot of experience with the signs after they're out of his shop so...

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Sooo...that's where we're at right now. Trying to get everything lined up. Builder should be back next week (really gotta keep moving on this clearing-out business), electrical guy should be here on June 5th, and before either of them do their thing, I needed some info from neon guy so that I can mount that sign in a clean way (I don't want any chords visible and I'd like the neon to be flush on the wall). I think I got all those questions answered today, though, so that's good.

Alright, more to do. Thanks for hangin' out here.

Oh, before I go, I'm up for suggestions on that neon sign business. Nothing is set in stone yet, so I'm all ears...for the time being.

So, if you recall, this space:

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...needed to get cleaned up. So the past week has yeilded this:

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...PREH-TEE much cleaned up.

I've had to get creative with storage:

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...and things are starting to invade odd places:

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...until this remodel is finished. Honestly, it's starting to feel a little claustrophobic.

In other news, I mentioned last week that the...

...which meant he was gonna start working on this space you see above (the new arcade) today or so.

However, when I contacted him last week, I received some really awful news...

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Needless to say, I sent him our condolences and left him alone since then. I'm impressed he even wrote back. Not sure I could have under the same circumstances. We'd chat about her condition when he was finishing the half-wall storage area, but didn't expect things to progress so rapidly. All this to say, this thread might be on hiatus for a bit.

I worked a bit on an alternate neon design today. Here's what I came up with:

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I'm not convinced this is "it" but I was trying for a couple of things:

1. to further personalize the sign (I'm a comics artist and the book in the top left is representative of a comic book, the font is art-deco-inspired rather than a simple single-line font, and those vegas-y stars just scream yesteryear cool)

~and~

2. to design within the more price-efficient animation parameters I learned about last week (flashing, alternating, or 4-frame transformers).

So, here's the first mock-up:

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...in which I tried using that 4-frame animation on the book in the top left.

Then, the flashing transformer for the star:

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Finally, I pulled those flippers away from the central design a bit, which allowed them to have an alternating animation:

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There are elements I like about this and others I do not.

I like the color choices (I tried A LOT of different combinations and I'm pretty happy with this scheme), I like the new font (I think the additional pieces of tubing look pretty great), and I like multiple types of animation without having to break the bank (it's pretty mesmerizing...I just kinda wanna sit here and stare at that last one, which is the effect I want it to have).

I'm not super keen on the outline shape around the letters. I think it kinda looks like a Chevrolet logo...

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...or a Southwestern motif:

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I'd rather it look like a 70's bowling alley than a dive-y motel in New Mexico.

So, we'll see. I've not run these designs past my neon guy (just finished this evening), but I'll try to get in touch with him soon to trouble-shoot any more ignorant design oversights I may have commited. Until then, I thought I'd share some progress to see if there might be any constructive criticism.

Some more updates:

Update #1: My builder texted me yesterday and said he's easing into a new routine and will likely be over on Monday. I told we'd be out of town the first couple days of the week...

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...but that we're available from Wednesday onward. So the build will likely pick-up again mid next week.

In the meantime...

Update #2: More messing about with neon.

So, I sent last night's new neon attempt (see

previous post) over to my neon guy, and it turns out I either have a lot more to learn about neon, or I have a lot more money I need to make. Ha-ha! Seems as though that last attempt with the flashing, alternating, and 4-frame animation would use about 13 transformers(!??!) boosting the estimate up to the $3k range. *WOOF!*

I called up neon guy to chat, in an attempt to further educate myself, and he told me that the animation alone in that previous attempt would require 7 transformers (1 for flashing, 2 for alternating, 4 for 4-frame animation). I was under the impression that each of these would only require 1 transformer. I was obviously mistaken. The take-away I misconstrued was that all of these cost less than doing a 4-frame mechanical/traditional neon animation. If my memory serves me correctly, here's the approximate transformer quantity and monetary breakdown for each of the aforementioned possibilities:

Flashing: 1 special transformer ~$90
Alternating: 2 transformers and the alternator/animator ~$225-250
4-frame animation: 4 transformers and the alternator/animator ~$450
4 frames of mechanical/traditional animation: 4 transformers and I don't know what but I'm not about to pay this much ~$950

Of course all of these prices are for the hardware only and do not include materials like the neon tubing or the labor. Anyhow...I'm learning! To neon-guy's credit, he told me I now know more about neon than about 95% of the population. *LOL* This new knowledge SHOULD help me design a sign better suited to our budget. Oh, and before I forget, neon guy also said all that neon looping back and forth on the letters would bump the price up, too. More tubing also means more transformers and more money.

Okay! Here comes another attempt. I whipped out my trusty paper and pen came up with this:

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The idea is based on a saying that my dad used to tell me as a kid...

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...one that I've named my self-publishing company after:

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So, here it is with the mock neon treatment:

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As you can likely see from the sketch I first showed, I have some ideas for animation. The first is kinda subtle, just the proverbial bite being taken:

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I also wondered what it might look like if the trunk raised and lowered:

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Or if the elephant had some more motion to it, like maybe walking:

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I tried a little different approach to the back legs in this one, but I don't think I like it as well:

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Then I saw that trunk and thought, maybe it could be picking up the coin that it's grasping:

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...and finally, I tried combining the walking and the coin motion into one:

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Each one of the iterations above only uses alternating animation, so I feel like I might be able to get by on the lower end of the neon animation budget. We'll see. As usual, you're seeing things before neon guy does. I'll see what he has to say about this, and I've got some more ideas I'd like to mock-up before committing to one.

Still open to feedback at this stage.

Talked to my neon guy. He said that elephant could be animated with one alternator and could likely come in a lot closer to my hopeful budget, which is around a grand.

- --- ----- --- -

Here's another.

Inks:

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...and then I tried a couple different animation schemes on them. This one would work with a flashing and an alternating:

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...while this one would work with two flashing (a little less expensive):

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Interested in more opinions. Thanks for the feedback thus far.

Got some feedback from my neon guy last evening after sending him the atomic/space-age design and thanking him for his time looking at these and answering a lot of questions from me...

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...so that felt pretty great. In addition to that, he gave me some really helpful suggestions about light-colored neon (whites and yellows) being too close to each other and bleeding into one another. My wife was also saying that the most recent design felt like it was all jammed together and kinda claustrophobic. So, I made a ton of micro-alterations in an effort to give that design a little more breathing room:

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I actually think this is a lot more legible.

Another critique from my wife is that she missed the "animated" (alternating) flippers from a previous design, so I pulled the flippers away from the design a bit to allow them room to flip:

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I also took away one of the flashing elements from the stars, to save some money, and the Mrs. said she liked it better anyway...that there was just too much going on before.

I've also been pondering the elephant sign. While not as flashy and retro-hip as that atomic design, it's definitely more personal. However, a lot of the animations of the elephant above focused on movement (walking, trunk, etc) rather than the actual personalized element (bite). The problem with the bite is that it's such a subtle animation and I'd like the sign to be a little more dynamic. So, after staring at and pondering the elephant sign I came up with what I think is a nice hybrid of personalization and motion:

ElephantBiteTrunkTail.gif

...by eliminating the walk cycle, but combining bite (the personalized part), trunk (the reference to this being an arcade sign), and adding a little tail movement.

Another suggestion by my brilliant wife was to move the title a bit. She felt it was too right-heavy with a bunch of dead space over on the left-hand side. So I moved "CLAYTOR" to the left just a bit and moved "THE" and "ARCADE" quite a bit. I think the text feels better balanced now.

Okay, so I tried a thing...

western (resized).png

...and I feel like it totally didn't work. Ha-ha!

Was trying for a western theme with attention to typography but it's just...ungh...too much everything. Too close together, too interlocked, too illegible, too detailed to make a neon sign (quite likely...I haven't checked, but I don't know if it's even worth checking in). I also think it suffers from the same lack of personalization I'm fretting about on the space age sign.

Bah.

FWIW, there it is.

Thanks for all the feedback, guys. Still trying to iterate a bit before making a decision, but I really appreciate the opinions.

In the meantime, here's another:

ClaytorEE.gif

First thoughts from my wife is that it didn't have enough arcade stuff in it. She loves the flipping flippers (I do too) and I tried adding a coin, too.

ClaytorEE02.gif

Playing with colors and making some minor revisions on this one:

ClaytorEE03.gif

That's actually a really great idea to save on a blinking transformer. Leaning away from that idea at the moment or I might mock that up. Also...in Vegas right now.

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Ha-ha! That's a great suggestion. Thanks, Jeff! My wife and I have actually been to The Neon Museumin Las Vegas a couple different times, and you'd better believe I was taking some inspiration from some of their signs. Ha-ha! Remember that mess of a design I made a few posts back:

western (resized).png

...well, I was making an abysmal attempt at a Sassy Sally inspired arcade sign:

JH-216-2 (resized).jpg

And this recurring theme of stars...

Animation4.gif

...is inspired by a ton of classic Vegas neon, like the Stardust, for example:

stardust.jpg

All that to say, I've been looking at a lot of signage, and trying to figure out how I might scale down certain elements, since my sign will be a lot smaller than most of them I look at. Again, mine will be occupying roughly a 3'x5' space, rather than the size of a roadside billboard.

Hi MarkInc. I really appreciate the suggestions. I hopped over to that DIY thread you posted, too, and I'll definitely keep that in mind for other potential projects in the future, however...

...for better or worse, I am hell-bent on using neon for this project. It's likely the one and only time in my life I'll be able to make a custom neon for our family, and I'd like to use traditional neon...not neon-esque.

Speaking of real neon and inspiration, when my wife and I flew back to Michigan yesterday, we spotted this sign in the airport:

IMG_20190604_045237305 (resized).jpg

...and we both liked the look of it, with the mix of fonts and its dynamic shape with the asymmetrical triangle. So, I decided to take another crack at our sign this morning:

TriangleFlat.gif

Starting with the design I posted before leaving to Vegas...

ClaytorEE03.gif

...I'm trying to use a greater variety of colors. I really like the full spectrum backglasses found in many flipperless and late 40's titles:

image-1.jpgimage-2.jpgimage-1 (1).jpg

Plus, the number of colors used does not increase the price of the sign.

So, I tried to made that happen here, too:

Triangle01Rainbow.gif

It felt like a bit of a mess on this design, so I tried pairing it back a bit:

Triangle02Primary.gif

I also spent some time fiddling with that previous design again. Something about the color spectrum moving in a traditional rainbow pattern (red at top, purple at bottom) bugged me a bit, so I reversed the colors:

ClaytorEE04.gif

...and that blue coin felt like it was out of place in the spectrum. So I changed it to white:

ClaytorEE05.gif

Still not sure if that white coin calls too much attention to itself.

I also felt like there wasn't enough contrast between the yellow decorative elements and the white text, so I allowed the central circle to act as the yellow element, changed the decorations to orange, and modified the colors beneath it:

ClaytorEE06.gif

In other news, my builder should be here either tomorrow or the following day to start building out our basement, so I'm trying to create as many designs as I can before I need to fill a big hole in a wall.

Tryin' s'more.

Inks:

LeftCircleInks.gif

Colors:

LeftCircle.gif

I'm leaning into the more personalized imagery of the elephant. Did a few minor revisions.

In this one...

LeftCircle2.gif

...I changed the colors of the minor decortative elements from orange to pink, purple, and blue in an effort to get some more color into this design and also tie in the ball and bonk element on the right. I think I like it better this way, but likely won't be the final product.

My wife suggested some possible alternate imagery related to my first game, Whirlwind , which will likely never leave our collection. So I tried a fan motif:

ClaytorEE07Fan.gif

Another suggestion my wife made was to make the letters red:

ClaytorEE09Can.gif

She likes the red letters, but I'd have to say this version is my favorite:

ClaytorEE10.gif

Yes, this. ^^^ ...and when chatting with my neon guy, he tells me number of colors really don't make a difference in terms of price. Woo!

I totally appreciate your (and others') opinion. Sincerely. As you mentioned, I'm leaning in a different direction, but I really do appreciate all the feedback, regardless of whether or not I've directly incorporated it in a visual revision. I've, at the very least, made mental mock-ups of each suggestion and tried to take stock in each. So, thank you, to everyone posting on this thread. It's made this process a lot of fun.

Speaking of this process, I see it as akin to a pinball game designer position in that I'm trying to make the best product I can for the desired audience (in this case, my family and me). I want to solicit thoughts and opinions of others, but ultimately, this is gonna come down to a personal decision, as I'm the one who will be staring at it more frequently than anyone. Ha-ha! But I truly appreciate everyone chiming in here, as you've allowed this to become a more collaborative and thought-provoking exercise.

I've been doing a TON of image searching, book combing, and additional attempts (that I just didn't think warranted the faux-neon treatment). Here are just a few I was poking around at last night:

Image-(17) (resized).png

These attempts are frequent, and not all of them get the neon mock-up treatment for one reason or another.

Anyhow, all this to say, I think I'm coming close to a point of making a decision, my builder should be showing up tomorrow to start framing things in, which means it's almost time to figure out a sign that's gonna make me and my family happy for many years to come. With that said, I thought I'd post the gallery of mock-ups just for fun. That way they can all be easily referenced in one place:

#1:
neonMock.gif

#2:
neonMockBookStar3.gif

#3:
ElephantBiteTrunkTail.gif

#4:
Animation4.gif

#5:
western.gif

#6:
ClaytorEE10.gif

#7:
Triangle02Primary.gif

#8:
LeftCircle2.gif

Thanks for the continued interest and feedback. I'm pretty sure I've made a decision on the neon. Sent a mock-up and high-res lineart into my neon guy for a final price quote, so we'll see where that comes back. Ha-ha! It's possible that could sway my decision, but not likely. *fingers crossed*

Anyhow, until I have some more word on that front, I have some news about the build-out. I finally cleaned-out all of the soon-to-be-arcade section:

IMG_20190609_200637429 (resized).jpg

...all except for those built-in storage shelves.

My builder made short work of those when he arrived today:

IMG_20190610_115044518 (resized).jpg

Then got to work framing:

IMG_20190610_131013332 (resized).jpg

By the end of today, here's what the studs for the new room looked like:

IMG_20190610_232144477 (resized).jpgIMG_20190610_232154597 (resized).jpgIMG_20190610_232219621 (resized).jpgIMG_20190610_232232637 (resized).jpg

He'll be back again tomorrow. See ya then.

Framing is complete.

IMG_20190611_151112815 (resized).jpg

This included framing around the duct:

IMG_20190611_151726215 (resized).jpg

...and the back wall:

IMG_20190611_151224512 (resized).jpg

For those interested in minutia, there was a point of discussion regarding this wall. If you look closely, you'll see a gas pipe:

IMG_20190611_151218440 (resized).jpg

...that extended away from the wall about 11":

IMG_20190611_151453380 (resized).jpg

We were hoping our builder could hack it back a bit so that we could gain a few more inches for our room. Unfortunately, he wasn't licensed to do work on gas lines, so it wouldn't have been permitted, and it would have cost another $500+ or so to have a certified person to come move it. Ultimately, we decided to give up the square footage and save the half-a-grand. In silver linings, a couple of things happened.

1. There was an angled portion of the original framing that hung below the basement ceiling studs and protruded from the wall about 5", which would have prevented us from making a flat wall that was framed much closer than that:

IMG_20190611_151539415 (resized).jpg

...so, really, we're only losing about 6" instead of 11".

2. Additionally, our builder was able to notch out the metal studs to save us a couple more inches:

IMG_20190611_151649624 (resized).jpg

...so, really, we're only losing about 4".

4" or $500+ for a permitted move of the gas line. I think we came out alright on this one.

And because the builder used metal studs he was able to frame pretty darn close to the overhead duct that runs overtop of one side of the room:

IMG_20190611_151853884 (resized).jpg

A clearance of 6'4" as you enter the room certainly isn't ideal, but unless you're Todd MacCullough or Jack Danger, you probably won't have to duck. Anyhow, I was afraid it was going to be a lot worse than that. Once drywall, carpet and padding is installed, it'll probably be a little worse than that, but hopefully not much.

Again, this is the section that mainly runs over top of the games...

BackWallMockBlank (resized).jpg

...so my naive hope is that it won't be too intrusive.

Anyhow, electrician appointment is on Monday!

Happy Monday!

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Outlets and potlights are going in as I type...

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The daddest of dance breaks for things coming together:

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The electrician pulled a late night (left at 9pm), but despite working his butt off, came back this morning to finish the job.

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These next few pictures have me pretty excited.

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I feel like with each incremental step (studs, outlets, LIGHT) I can envision it coming together a little better.

IMG_20190618_134721976 (resized).jpg

...and here's ^^^ the dirty little secret of where all the wood from the shelving went.

IMG_20190618_134747978 (resized).jpg

Electrical permit should be pulled this week and inspection should happen next week.

Skatin' along! Until then...

Dance break!

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I agree about the heat, but it's gonna be a seesaw battle between heat and dimmability. We tried both and the LED's do not dim very low. It's kinda like the lights are all still on, even at the lowest setting. Ha-ha! For now, they're incandescents. But, of course, and easy swap if needed.

https://www.amazon.com/Sunco-Lighting-Equivalent-Dimmable-Outdoor/dp/B01N4DNN8H/ref=sr_1_5

...there are other sources.

I was testing 2700K and I'm astonished at the COLOR of light they emit. Traditionally, my wife and I are both pretty anti-LED, not from a kill-the-world perspective, more of a snooty-artists-hate-the-awful-color perspective. But they REALLY matched well with the incandescents. Here's a picture of my kitchen. 3 of these are LED's, the rest are incandescent:

Looking South:

LookingSouth (resized).jpg

Looking North:

LookingNorth (resized).jpg

Can you tell which one's are LED's?

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Permit was pulled. Looks like electrical inspection will happen Thursday.

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Ooo! Just got a note from my builder that the BUILDING inspection will follow the ELECTRICAL inspection this week:

Untitled-1 (resized).jpg

It did, and the guy tagged my basement before he left:

IMG_20190627_205611848 (resized).jpg

...with a sticker that read something like this:

Untitled-1 (resized).jpg

Yus!!

...tomorrow.

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TODAY:

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Some finishing starts on Monday.

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Boy, did I ever want to take a panoramic shot with my fancy new phone, but geez, the panos on this new thing are awful. Yeesh. Anyhow, here's another look at THAT GLORIOUS INSULATION:

IMG_20190701_125317522 (resized).jpg

My naive hope is that this ceiling insulation will deaden the sound enough that I'll be able to play a game while my son slumbers a couple floors above. If that comes to fruition, I'll totally take a moment for a...

*DANCE BREAK!!!*

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I'm pretty sure the builder plans on doing this.

Hey all!

Welcome back. I know it's been a few weeks, but I've been out of state visiting family and exhibiting/presenting at Comic-Con International. With that blatant flex out of the way, let's talk basementy stuff.

So, I flew back to Michigan last night and had my builder all lined-up to continue work today. As he was getting started with the...

...for the ceiling drywall, I went around pulling the insullation down an inch or three...

IMG_20190723_094837289 (resized).jpg

...in order to...

...in an effort to...

Completist , thank you so much for the tip. This step wouldn't have happened without you. I can't believe the manufacturer of the product I'm using happened to also be a pinsider and watching this thread. You rock!

pintechev & robotron911 , you're both pretty dandy, too. Resilient channels happened to already be in the plans, but great suggestion nevertheless.

Anyhow, after I repositioned all the batting, I got out of my builder's way and let him work. He brought in a fancy lifting unit:

IMG_20190723_112601884 (resized).jpg

...kept it going...

IMG_20190723_120838900 (resized).jpg

...and before the end of the day...

IMG_20190723_171301703 (resized).jpg

...he had the ceiling complete. I'm pretty excited. It's starting to look real! Funny how each completed step is this minor high. I can't imagine the state I'll be in when this is finished. Camp-out parties in the basement are likely.

Builder's coming back tomorrow to drywall the walls, so you can expect some more whiteness in the photos tomorrow.

Until then...

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drywallDone.jpeg

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Thanks, all!

You didn't miss it, JayDee. I never revealed it. Thinking of waiting until it's built and installed to unveil. ...is that too mean?

SAME!!!

- --- ----- --- -

Okay, yesterday, the builder came by again for a short day. He put up some corner brackets (or whatever there called) and put up the first coat of mud on them:

IMG_20190725_162412278 (resized).jpgIMG_20190725_162430746 (resized).jpg

...a little drippy right now, but as I assured my wife, there are a few more coats to come. Speaking of which, builder just arrived for today's session, so perhaps some additional minor finishes to show today.

Slowly but surely, progress is happening...

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P.S.

Thank you, ReadyPO!

I'm glad it feels this way to someone.

Forgot to post a tantalizing shot of refined edges yesterday:

IMG_20190726_135732504 (resized).jpg

Doesn't look a whole lot different, but this was another few hours of our builder's time.

Builder put in a heck of a day today. Not only did he spend HOURS sanding and refining the joins, edges, and corners, but he also managed to prime all the walls:

IMG_20190729_214236164 (resized).jpg

IMG_20190729_214256596 (resized).jpg

This was all cause for another...

During the course of conversation with my builder, he asked if I'd purchased paint yet. I told him, "Not yet," and that I'd more or less picked the colors, but was still hemming and hawing and being a wishy-washy artist about the whole thing. He told me that he might be ready for paint today, which surprised me and wrenched me out of my indecisive state. In an effort to keep this project moving, I immediately drove to the paint store, debated the color qualities of a number of paint chips, and made a choice. Here's the carpet sample (OH it's such glorious carpet!!!) and the paint chips:

IMG_20190729_103216804 (resized).jpg

Depending upon the lighting, they kinda change color:

IMG_20190729_110700479 (resized).jpg

...which was part of the reason I had such a hard time picking paint colors. The ones I thought were "it" didn't work like I thought they would once they were in the light of the basement. Anyhow, I made some executive, on-the-fly decisions at Sherwin Williams today and I'm happy with the way they're working now. The light color will go on the walls and the darker color on the ceiling. I understand that will make the space feel a little more...oh, what's the realtor euphemism...COZY! But I wanted a darker color above all the glass (yet not black) to avoid reflections. I mocked it up quickly and I'm happy with the virtual version:

paintMock (resized).jpg

So there you have it, the buried lead of the neon design choice.

Result: the one that nobody voted for. *LOL*

I really love it, though. Big, colorful, animated and personal. ...and PRETTY much within budget. I can't wait to see it illuminating the space.

Still a healthy way to go before the basement is done, but I wanted to thank everyone here for following along and making this long process a fun one.

Until next update...

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Yeah. Here's the final version:

ClaytorEE11.gif

Ha-ha! Thanks, guys.

In an effort to help move this project along and save my builder some time, I offered to do some painting before he returns tomorrow. 4.5 hours later and a post-midnight completion time, the ceiling is painted.
IMG_20190731_002433035 (resized).jpgIMG_20190731_002539254 (resized).jpgIMG_20190731_002625467 (resized).jpgIMG_20190731_002711094 (resized).jpg

G'nite...

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This morning, my builder walked in and said, "So, late night, huh?"

I proceeded to tell him about my 4.5 hour, post-midnight, Sistine Chapel, ceiling painting marathon that took place mere hours ago. After spying his jolly mug, I asked how long he thought it would take him to do it. He said, "Probably an hour." After voicing my skepticism, he told me, "Well, it needs another coat, so when you bring me back another gallon, I'll do it and time myself."

Fast forward to the end of the day and I come down to survey his progress, and he greets me with, "43 minutes." *LOL* ...even more important, it looks great.

So, anyway, PAINT!

IMG_20190731_105106693 (resized).jpg

Also...

IMG_20190731_105046783 (resized).jpg

The ceiling is supposed to be darker than the walls, but when you see the whole thing at once (above) the difference is pretty negligible. I guess when you see it at certain angles...

IMG_20190731_130721574 (resized).jpg

...it's more apparent.

*shrugs*

When I take in the entire room and imagine most of it covered with pinball machines and neon, I can't imagine anyone besides me and you, dear reader, will ever take notice. ...at least, that's what I'm trying to tell myself.

Anyhow, here's how things sit right now:

IMG_20190731_170830976 (resized).jpg

Trim is painted and ready to go and crown molding waits in the wings. Tomorrow, all that should go up, and if we're lucky, maybe even a couple of doors.

See ya then.

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And then there were doors...

IMG_20190801_214739793 (resized).jpg

...and trim and crown molding!!!

IMG_20190801_214825017 (resized).jpg

It's all looking pretty great! It's like, a mature, big-boy, room! Which is kinda the vibe I'm hoping for! Only...with...a mountain of pinball and arcade games in it.

So, it's certainly not done yet. There's still a lot of finishing elements to polish off...

IMG_20190801_214931426 (resized).jpg

But my builder is just as anal-retentive and meticulous as I am, so I'm not worried, and you shouldn't be either.

By the way, in case anyone's wondering about the trifecta of doors, that left one...

left.jpg

...is simply the entrance to the space.

The middle door...

middle.jpg

...allows access to the heater:

IMG_20190801_215004236 (resized).jpg

...and the door on the right...

right.jpg

...leads to the storage space...

IMG_20190801_215045612 (resized).jpg

...which will need A LOT OF ATTENTION once this job is done.

But in the meantime, just look at how the builder finished this window like a boss:

window (resized).jpg

As my wife put it, "It's almost like a feature of the room it's done so nicely." I mean, it pretty much looked like garbage yesterday. Just a raw, unfinished, cinder block concrete and metal stud surround:

garbageWindow.jpg

I could not wrap my head around how that window was gonna look "done"...and also function. I'd kinda resigned myself to just having a really nice room with a garbage window and thought, "Welp, I guess 99% awesome is still pretty good." But miraculously that window is now both done and functional. ...or, it will be after some paint. Nevertheless...more excitement!

I also played more General Contractor and managed some boring stuff today. Carpet guys are scheduled for an install on Aug 16th. Electrical inspection is scheduled for Aug 5th (Monday!?). So, you know...things are happening.

Alright, I'm off to Houston, TX for the weekend. See ya there? If not, see ya back here next week!

disco.gif

Thanks a bunch, guys. I'm starting to feel like there's a light at the end of this tunnel.

Yesterday, a few things happened. First, the electrical guy came over to polish off some final trim stuff, like installing the pot light surrounds, lowering them a bit after the drywall was installed, putting covers on all the switches and outlets and also putting some washers behind them to bring 'em to an appropriate depth. So, outlets are finished:

IMG_20190806_204555462 (resized).jpg

...as are the light switches (and MOAR OUTLETS):

IMG_20190806_204617868 (resized).jpg

The other thing that happened yesterday was the electrical inspector came for his final once over. He mentioned three minor things last time, which were all taken care of, so we expected a quick inspection and approval. However, before he would give final approval the inspector said, "Woopsies, I forgot to mention that you need a light in the furnace area."

Thankfully, my electrician made short work of installing a bare bulb in that section with a pull-chord:

IMG_20190806_223348426 (resized).jpg

...unlocking the final electrical approval achievement:

approved.jpg

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The last thing that happened yesterday was a guy from the carpet store came to get final measurements for the room. The room is kind of a big rectangle, so he was in and out toot suite.

Au revoir...

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Today was another massive workday for my builder. He pretty much finished everything. I mean, the doors were all painted so they match the trim and each other...

IMG_20190806_204527621 (resized).jpg

...the duct vents were installed...

IMG_20190806_204408315 (resized).jpg

...that trim around the...

...was painted out...

IMG_20190806_204503717 (resized).jpg

...and do you remember the bits of trim and polish on the crown molding that needed finished:

IMG_20190801_214931426 (resized).jpg

Well, that's done, too:

IMG_20190806_204344876 (resized).jpg

...as is all the final paint:

IMG_20190806_204701688 (resized).jpg

This place is really shaping up.

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Almost forgot to mention another thing that happened today; I spent most of it making final measurements and refinements to my custom neon design in an effort to send a comprehensive email to my neon guy. The email went something like this:

- --- ------ --- -

I've attached a PDF file of the final, full-sized, black and white version of my neon sign. (I saved a TIF file, too, but it was almost 100megs, so it wouldn't attach. If you need that or some other format, just let me know.) The attached file is 8'x4', which corresponds to the backer board and exact position of the neon on that board.

I'll try to outline the specifications here.

First, you might see some faint vertical lines. Those are simply demarcating a measurement every foot. Also, when you open the file, you'll see a dark rectangle in the upper-right corner:

blackAndWhite (resized).jpg

That is where the backer board should be notched/cut out in order to fit around the duct work. Here is an image of the wall to give you a better understanding of the space:

Wall (resized).jpg

...and where the sign with backer will be placed on that back wall:

Wall2 (resized).jpg

...those other dark silhouettes are outlines of a couple of games that will be sitting in front of the wall. Kinda like this:

roomMockUp (resized).jpg

I also wanted to show you the placement of the studs behind the drywall:

Wall3 (resized).jpg

...so that you can place the transformers accordingly. (If you need more precise measurements for the placement of these existing metal studs, just let me know.) Please also note that there is a gas line in the upper right portion immediately behind the studs:

Wall5 (resized).jpg

...which will prevent the placement of transformers or nailing in that area.

In the meantime, here's a composite mock-up of where the neon sign with backer will sit in relationship to the existing metal studs:

Wall4 (resized).jpg

That brings us to the color of the neon, which should correspond to this image:

ClaytorEE11.gif

I would like the red to be the ruby red coated tubes and the yellow to be the better yellow that will not show light through in the tight bends. I know we had some discussion about the color of the elephant toes. I saw a sign with sort of an off-white/beige color neon that I'm hoping you can replicate:

toes (resized).jpg

The animated elements are the flippers and the bite out of the elephant foot. These are all linked on an alternating transformer. I would like those elements to alternate every 2 seconds, as shown above.

The backer board should be painted the same color as the wall of my basement. I can bring the paint to your shop and even paint the backer for you whenever you're ready.

I think that's it. If you have any other questions, I'm happy to chat. I guess my only questions are; what's the final estimate for this and when can it be ready to install?

- --- ------ --- -

So that ball is also rolling. We'll see what he has to say!

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Ha-ha! Nice to meet another Type-A, control freak, perfectionist, Yancy.

Not when there's that...maNY...MMOOOAARRR!!!

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Maybe a little of that, too.

...but not in the case oF MOOOOOAAAAARRR!!!

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Remember that...

...that I sent my neon guy yesterday? Well, evidently plotters don't like PDF's because he was having a heck of time outputting it. I asked him what file format he would prefer. He asked if I have a vector file. I told him I didn't, but that I could make one. So that's what I did today. I started by placing my existing rasterized file in Adobe Illustrator:

vector (resized).jpg

Then began the mild tedium of manually vector tracing all lines:

vector2 (resized).jpg

It looks like this as I toggle that tracing layer on and off to see how things are going:

vector3 (resized).jpg

Ultimately it ended up looking like this:

ClaytorArcadeVector (resized).jpg

For those interested in the difference between the couple of files, here's the rasterized version (the first file, the one I sent him yesterday):

vector4.jpg

...and here's the vector version that I retraced today (the second file, which took me about 90 minutes to manually retrace):

vector5.jpg

Essentially the first one is made of a limited number of pixels and the second one is made up of anchor points and mathematical equations to create those lines between the points (making them infinitely scale-able).

Anyhow, a while back when I visited the neon shop, I saw my neon guy working on a giant piece of paper with what looked like outlines of all those lines/tubing, so I gave him a version like this, too:

ClaytorArcadeVectorOutlines (resized).jpg

...because I am a...

...so there you go.

Neon guy doesn't have interwebs in his office (only at home) so I'll likely receive feedback tomorrow.

Until then...

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At first I was like, "NOOOO, it couldn't possibly!" ...but now I'm wondering, "...wait...would it?"

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I dunno, man. I think it kinda loses something without the glow.

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...thoughts?

A few things happened yesterday.

First...

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...FINAL INSPECTION!!! YUSSSSS!!!

Then, we paid our builder in full for a heck of a job...

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Finally, I got some good news from my neon guy about that new file I sent him:

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I visited the neon guy today at his new location. He was renting some space before but recently purchased his own place.

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Pretty cool to see his new digs with a lot more space than he had before. Anyhow, I brought him a can of my basement wall paint so that the backer would look the same as the wall itself. When I walked in, I saw the full sized print-out of my sign laying on a work bench:

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Pretty impressive to see it that large. We also got to chat about a bunch of minutiae and logistics.

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A couple additional pieces of info he needed were the size of the notch cut out of the top right (how did I forget that in my...

...write-up!??!) and the location of the studs behind the drywall. So I emailed him some info and a diagram when I got home:

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Sounds like we'll likely be installing in a couple weeks or so. Still can't believe this is actually happening. Makes me want a...

...dance break:

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See you in another few hours with a nice plush floor.

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In carpet news...

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...man, this is glorious. Here's our basement security camera footage of me once the carpet guys left:

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Speaking of the carpet guys, turns out one of them used to work with the neon guy I'm working with. He swore up and down about what a phenomonal artist and person he was, which made me feel pretty great as that was the sense I got from him. Glad to know I wasn't off base. I texted the neon fellow while carpet installer was still here and to make a long story short, I think I reunited two long lost buds. Both had great things to say about one another and through a series of texts was able to get both of them one another's info. Pretty rad.

Alright, after some doorknobs there's one last thing to do before games get moved in!!!

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Probably a week or two until that's ready to install. Until then, enjoy your dance breaks.

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After looking around a couple local big box stores for doorknobs that match the existing hardware in our house and coming up empty-handed, we found some online and placed an order.

Welp, these arrived a few days ago:

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So I spent some time tonight turning this...

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...into this:

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(Sing this next part to your own personal rhythmless tune) : EH-VRY ONE'S EXCITED ABOUT KNOBBIES FOR THE DOORS...IF EVERYONE IS MEEEEE! JUST BIDING TIME UNTIL MY NEON IS...FIIIINIIIISHED! TRYIN' REAL HARD NOT TO BE THE MERVYN'S GAL...SITTIN' OUT-SIDE THE NEON SHOP EACH MORNIN'!

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Until the next update, door dances, y'all...

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My desperation vibes must have been palpable when I posted last night because I received an exciting series of images today...

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