I was just following NJgecko's basement gameroom conversion and realized that I completely neglected to post anything about my own recent gameroom creation. I guess all of the major renos I've been undertaking in our new house has left me a bit preoccupied.

Anyway, I'll try and space these posts out a bit.
We decided to move earlier this year. I've never had a proper place to hold most of my collection, so this was a high priority... along with an attached double garage that I could convert into a workshop for my restoration work.

We found a great side-split that would fit most of our needs... including a dedicated room, roughly 400 sq.ft., for me

After a lot of deliberation, I settled on a layout something like this.
I figured that I could get in maybe 7 DMDs on one side, 6 ss and alphanumeric games on the opposite side, and 3 to 4 wedgheads in the middle. The other key feature I wanted was a small bar complete with built-in MAME controls feeding into a wall-mounted TV.

The wedgeheads are perfect for the far wall because of a lower bulkhead. 4 is comfortable with a couple of people in the room, but for parties I would have to fold one up to make more room in the corners.

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I also did a preliminary layout of the garage/workshop. The location is ideal because the door to the inside leads directly down 5 steps and into the gameroom.

The plan is to keep 1-2 rough games in here that I'll be restoring, or a place to do playfield swaps and cabinet cleanups outside of my main gameroom. In warmer months, crack the door open and use it as an overflow gameroom, comeplete with full sized fridge, a DK cab and my tools. It means having to clear a lot more snow off my car in Winter, but I can live with that... I think

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The next step was demolition. The space had been divided into two room. The left was a somewaht finished room that, at some point, must have housed a pool table. The right half of the room was unfinished and had a laundry.

The plan was to relocate the laundry closer to the furnace room and carve out as square of a space as I could.
So we started knocking down walls.

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Well, my collection is a bit inflated at the moment. The plan is to widdle down to no more than 20 games. I also keep 2-3 pins in my studio at work.. so I have a little extra overflow.

If absolutely necessary, I could cut back to 3 games in the garage and still get a car in. But once I make it all nice, the last thing I'm going to want is snow and salt being dragged in. This year will be the test I suppose.

Once the main demo was done, a cold-air return diverted and most of the mess cleaned up, I could really start to see the space. Sadly, I had a metal post that could not be relocated, so that will have to be incorporated into the bar. Also, measuring the ceiling beams and HVAC told me that I would have very little leeway for games like TAF, WH2O and FT... so I had to be careful with my sub-florr options.

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I'll leak a little more tomorrow.
Back to work

Yeah, the bulkhead for the ducts is tight. Luckily I'm only 5'-10", and my wedgeheads are low... but I've had a few tall people over and it's snug. It only really affects the two EMs on the right. The rest of the room has 7'

Oh just wait... all will be revealed. I think you'll agree the Sanctum is fitting once you see the final.
I was gonna dub it Drano's Black Hole... but the wife wasn't very impressed

BTW, my shadow is in the shop at work. It's getting re-done. I just got a bunch of plating back from Mike Chestnut at Expo... and eagerly awaiting your new translight!

Okay, it's a slow afternoon in the studio... so just a few more pics.

The next step was figuring out what sort of service I needed in the room and laying out some lighting. I had a big issue in my last place with glare from pot lights or playfields that just didnt get enough light.
I found the best position for lighting was directly above and slightly behind the player's head. I did this layout for my electrician. Each circle is an LED pot light about 5.5' away from the wall. I had to work within the constraints of the beams and ductwork, but I managed to get a decent layout that works.

I also located 5 4-way outlets around the room. We upgraded the main panel to 200amp and each of these outlets is on its own dedicated circuit... 20amps each.

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You can see the pot lights already installed in this pic... and framing begins!

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Once the studs and wiring were done, I decided to use spray insulation to seal it all up.
It's a shame I don't own a CV. It would have felt right at home

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Well, the room is actually done (mostly), I'm just posting here and there to catch up.

I used DriCore in my last place. Great stuff... but believe me when I say that I was scrounging for headroom here. Dricore subtracts almost an inch and I have a few games with toppers that may not have made it; so I needed to find something thinner that would still allow moisture to pass and create a thermal break from the concrete.

No need for a sump in this house. We knew the previous owners and this house has been solid for decades. Also, the grading and slope of our lot is perfect. We had massive rains and flooding in Toronto this last summer and we were dry. I did install backflow preventers on the drains though.

The product I settled on was a 1/2" plastic tile that is used as a garage flooring (I actually bought extra and am doing the garage floor too). In the main gameroom, it will simply be a sub for something more finished. Here are some installation pics. I even carried it right into the laundry room.

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Yeah, I got Mike to do the ramps, diverters and wireforms. The exterior trim will remain stock.
Got the shooter re-chromed too.

Okay... so the next step. What to do with the walls?
Drywall for the ceiling. Don't want to do a drop ceiling and lose any more height. I opted for 5/8" drywall though to help with the sound upstairs. I also installed tons of Roxul Safe'n'Sound insulation to further help with noise.

I was debating on an old-school look for this room. Maybe some 70's style wood panelling... which also happens to be pretty inexpensive. In the end, I opted for this instead.

How ya like me now Aurich?

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And.... onto some flooring.
So, a fake brick wall deserved a fake wood floor. Also helps with my ever-decreasing ceiling height.

This vinyl roll stock floor was just the ticket. Thin but cushioned and it has a lot of texture so it at least "feels" sorat nice. It's also a great hard-wearing surface for moving around games and easy to clean. So on it went in two big sheets.

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And lastly some trim... to hide my horrible job of trimming the brick panels. Even made a nice alcove for my bar fridge... which will live behind the bar/MAME eventually.

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So... finally came the time to test the first game.
Golden Arrow was recently acquired and was perfect for trying under the bulkhead. Actually, this was prior to the trim.

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And then a few others came to join.

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I found these on eBay. I figured they'd look pretty cool on the brick.

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And... wait for it.... voila! My first corner was set up.
There is surprisingly plenty of room to play, but probably not a great idea to have all 4 wedges set up for parties.

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A few DMDs in the other corner

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And I can't resist a panoramic

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There were not a lot of options around here to be honest. I went with the "carriage house" panels from HD. they looked sporadic enough to not look overly fake. I figured, 80% of the walls will never be visible... better not spend too much.

Definitely!
My electrician did not have any on hand last time he was here, but I have him coming abck next week to do the garage/workshop and this is on my list.

A lot of these games were routed examples or container pins. I've just restored them in many cases. I don't own a $18K MM... mercifully

Anyway, the room is about as far as I can take it right now. What you don't see in the photos is about 100 more sq.ft. of space behind me that is piled high with moving boxes and two couches. Once the family room and downstairs bathroom get done this fall/winter, I'll have 3 more slots next to HS and I can start working on my bar/MAME.

Thanks everyone!
I have some cool ideas for the bar as well. It should be a Spring/Summer project for next year. Can't wait!

Right now I'm just getting the garage sorted out. I hope to have power and insulation in there soon. Winter is coming.

It was a good buy. The game not only looks great, but it is very challenging to light the special... and even more challenging to collect one since the arrow insert moves around the playfield. No drop targets, but it has spinners and that cool gong when you hit the 10,000pt shot.

There is some serious skill and strategy involved in using the spinners to get the lit arrow to move to an easy shot and then keeping it there so you can rack up free games.

I think it's the best standup target wedge I've played and I like the layout. Sure shot is a good one too.