When we bought the ranch, we bought it knowing that we would build a new home on the property. A little over a year later we started the process by hiring a custom builder – Weaver Homes. They offer a custom design for a fixed fee that is then applied to your home build should you choose him to actually construct the house
My plan all along was to design the gameroom exactly the way I wanted it, then “build a house around it”. That plan is basically how it went save for a few twists and turns in the road. The first issue was the price (Isn’t it always?) I had designed the gameroom into the basement of a walkout style home. In my mind, It was crystal clear what it would look like. At the base of the stairs you could go through an arched entry with memorabilia lining each side as you entered a Pinball gameroom that held around 40 games. If you went in the opposite direction from the gameroom, you would find yourself in the unfinished area where I could work on and refurbish games. I had also drawn in an elevator shaft should I want to add that at a later date.
Then our builder put the price tag to my “dream house” – bummer, it was $150K too high. So we started to think of creative ways to have our cake and eat it too. Basements are super efficient use of the walls and roof structure. Add a little more blocking to your foundation and the basement space is magically created using the “already existing” roof structure. So we were going to have to get super creative to cut the price without a basement.
One way would be to eliminate the extra block needed for that much deeper foundation that a basement creates. We had planned on 9′ ceilings down there and that adds to the block/foundation costs. We also knew that we were going to have a minimum 5 stall garage. 2 cars for each of us and one stall out the back for the “mail wagon” – this is the 4WD UTV that we use to run around the 44 acre property and to go down (1/4 mile) to get the mail.
Given that we needed a large garage, we began to think about maybe making the garage section bigger than 5 stalls AND then using the space above that entire area for the gameroom. The idea for the Pinball Loft was born. In the end we opted for a poured slab concrete garage segment that was essentially 8 total stalls – 4 facing the front of the property and 4 facing the back. We then had our builder draw out 2 complete rooms ON TOP of the 8 stall pad and connected to the main living area. This gave us the best of all worlds. The car parking area of the garage would end up holding 5 total and we would essentially be using the garage roof structure to add a Home Theater and a dedicated Massage/Sauna room. Even though the space in the garage at gound level was split between rooms and car parking, the space above it was not – it was a gloriously large 50 feet wide by 40 feet deep. Of the total 2,000 sq/ft available up there, around 1,400 would be dedicated to the games and the remaining would be used for storage.
With space allowed for windows and working area between each machine, I could comfortably fit 40 machines at any time. Good thing too because by the time we finished the house my collection had grown to be even more than that. After spending almost 2 years in a temporary house that was already sitting on our ranch property, we were finally on our way to building the new house.
The general layout of the gameoom “Loft” space:
– 48 feet wide by about 31 feet deep
– 40 games – spaced about 6″ to 8″ apart – could probably squeeze as many as 45 games in there in a pinch
– I would build a small workshop/parts closet in the corner
– No restroom (downstairs right at bottom of stairs if needed)
– Dormer would be 48″ wide and will go out to the back of the house onto a shallow deck
– One thought was to use one corner of that deck with a DIY lift (winch/unistrut/platform)
– Another thought was to use a version of JoeGrenuk and his “pinball escalator” (tow it up the stairs!)
My electrical plans for the Loft were:
– Ambient, color changing lighting that will be indirect (I have a complete HUE set) in nature – dedicated switch
– Bright work lighting that will be very direct (to work on games)- dedicated switch
– 9 dedicated 20 amp runs so I can run 5 games per circuit
– Individual “Etekcity” type electrical remotes so each game can be remotely and independently controlled
– Physical disconnect box so I can pull that lever and completely decouple the games from the electrical grid in the home (lighting)
To make certain “the floor will hold the weight” my builder hired a structural engineer and used this math:
– 45 pinballs and 20 people above garage
– 45 x 250lbs each = 11,250lbs
– 20 people x 175 lbs = 3,500lbs
– Pinballs will be distributed (see image) about 1/3, 1/3, 1/3rd in the room with 2/3rds of them along supporting exterior walls
When I was getting ready for the build I posted a bunch of questions on Pinside:
1. How do you get games up there? Alone?
2. Any conveniences that are a “must have” in a gameroom?
3. Fooring when the room is “upstairs”? Does it matter?
4. Lighting? Placement, type, etc.
5. How to you deal with the windows with games in front of them? Blackout? Leave as is?
6. Paint color schemes (oh boy … can of worms here!) Light (why?) Dark (why?) Other …
7. Electric remote controls (Etekcity seemed to work well but was wondering if others are better)
8. How about a physical electrical disconnect? (needs to disconnect and create a minimum 2″ gap between contacts)
We started by cutting the hilltop on our 40+ acre ranch to pour footers on our new home
I got inspiration from many folks on Pinside and from rotordave who was kind enough to offer advice and blueprints of his designs. I reviewed and saved some of the inspirational images from “Show us your gameroom” thread.
Let’s fast forward to the juicy stuff … the Pinball Loft Gameroom! By January the house was well underway and the Loft was beginning to take shape. A crane was required to lift the (over 40 feet long) trusses that are engineered to hold the weight of 50 pinball machines +25 people. The laminated beams they rest on are enormous and had to be lifted by crane also
Here’s a Youtube video of one of the trusses being set. The engineering to put that many games on a second story over a 5 bay garage required MANY more of them than normal and spacing closer as well
Now fast forward a bit to framing is completed, roof deck is on, roofing is done and it’s my turn to step in. I did all of the wiring in the room except for setting the panel. I wrote the electrical diagram on a 3×5 card, then created a more accurate one in Excel
When you run LEDs almost 200 feet, everything changes … I have ordered test parts and amplifiers to get ready to the final install
I’ll report back on this later – I added 6 dedicated outlets at ceiling height to accomodate this
Finally! A picture of the room. It’s at night because that’s the time I was mostly over there after work laying in over 1,000 feet of 12/2, 14/2 and 14/3 wiring. Some of these images show outlet placement and dressing. Note the dedicated dual 4 gang switch boxes (all the yellow wires!). These switches run to 8 total dedicated 20 amp circuits with each handling around 6 or 7 machines in total. I can turn the “room on” in banks of 6/7 machines at a time or flip all 8 switches at once to light the whole room up. Running dedicated circuits adds tons of time and much more wire of course because EACH circuit is a “home run” back to the panel and each circuit “only” handles about 3 outlets.
Room is prepped to receive sheetrock. Floor covered in tar paper and all insulation is in. They insulated the entire house in ONE day!
Sheetrock arrived last week and in a day and a half (max) the entire 1,900+ sq/ft was done!
The area above the garage is about 48 x 40 deep or so, this includes two small storage areas at the back at about 6′ wide by 20′ long
So … the Pinball portion is about 45 x 34 or around 1,500 sq/ft
Short video of them stuffing the sheetrock into the house!
Sheetrock is all up and waiting to be finished. In the meantime, here are some more design details:
I’ve had to start planning my title layouts – widebody vs standard and head heights, etc.
Plus … decide what games should be “featured” as you enter the room
So … about a month ago, I was searching for “life size action figures” and stumbled on Spidey here
He is just shy of 8 feet tall and will be one of the first things you see when you enter the room – right next to the SMVE!
Also found a nice condition Rock-ola 488 and filled it with hits from 70s and 80s – that goes in the corner
So how on earth did the gameroom get the name “The Pinball Loft”? Read on and you’ll be surprised to learn it was not what you think.
Let’s start with the fact that is DOES have a sleeping loft built in! How did that happen?
Well, first you need to understand a little about the scale and dimensions of the garage and the room itself. The height of the lower part of the garage is 9′ + so … that and the fact that the Pinball room is also 9′ high. Combine the two and add 36″ deep trusses and this drove the overall stairwell ceiling deck height waaaay up there. It was so high up we wondered how we would change light bulbs.
Then it dawned on us. Why not cut that ceiling height down, add a sleeping loft – like built in bunk beds? Folks can climb up there and sip a glass of wine and chat while others play Pinball or we can use it as a spare bunk when the house is full!
So that’s what we did – it’s interesting that I named the Pinball room the “Loft” before the idea was even hatched – like months before that. Funny how things work out
I took inspiration from Pinterest after searching hundreds of bunk beds and loft bed images.
- I built in switches in the upper to shut off lights once you’re up there
- I added outlets to charge your phone/tablets
- I added 3 total mini can lights and ran remote controlled RGB bulbs
At this point in the process, we had it all framed out and sheetrocked in. If you bunk in there, you’ll find just enough room to sleep toe to toe (it’s 11+ feet long) as long as you’re not super tall. The bunk area is about 45″ deep so you “could sleep” side by side but will need to know each other really well
Electrical details:
First we have the switch boxes for the 8 dedicated 20 amp circuits that will power the machines. The main supply panel … 200 amps to run all the machines, lighting, fans, a fridge and the dedicated/zoned HVAC system to keep everyone cool. Main “light switch” box as you enter – gives control to everything at entry
Pics of completed sheetrock install. Still needs more mud and finishing work but all the sheets are up!
In addition to mudding the Loft, the sheetrock guys also did the following and in only 6 hours AND with just 3 guys:
– They hung the entire ceiling and most of the walls of the 1,900 sq/ft garage below the Pinball loft
– They hung the ceilings of most of the main house (3,500 sq/ft)
Holy moly that’s a lot of work and a lot of sheetrock!
Second coat of mud is on and all the sheetrock in the house is hung as well.
Chris asked me to take a picture of the storage area behind the pinball room. I saw him peaking in there and lingering for a second.
When I took a look, I knew immediately why … the HVAC unit looks like Iron Man hanging out in there
I had been searching for the perfect barnboards to install on the face of the sleeping loft in the Pinball room.
The Home Depot “barnboards in a box” was nice but felt like it might look like a million other homes when done. I really needed 1/2″ stock as well because that it how I set the relief on my electrical boxes when I installed them. Then it hit me that cedar fence pickets were 1/2″ and cheap and pretty good looking too. So I checked to see if Home Depot had any that were not pressure treated – boom – they did! For about $1 per square foot they have #1 grade Incense Cedar fence pickets. They are 6 feet long and to use them for wall decor, you just need to trim the dog ears off to make the ends square.
Testing wood moisture levels in the pile today. Looking to get the cedar boards to around 8% or so before I move them into the space once the HVAC is up and running. Trying to get as little shrinkage or swelling as possible. I’ll be painting the sheetrock dark brown behind the planks to hide any gaps as well.
Out of 18 boards I tested in total, all were under 10% already except for 2 which were in the 15 range.
For any that remain high when I need them, I’ll just set aside as I bought quite a bit extra
Bought some artwork for the room to go with Iron Man and Spider-Man. Like I need more art. I’ve got a storage area full of it ready to hang and some new Wonka pieces at the framers – oh well, at least I can pick and choose what to put up. These were very inexpensive and you can still get them at Hobby Lobby. They are lenticular and very well done
The building out of the cedar framed sleeping loft started with more contstruction. Like many things in life, it’s more complex than it appears. I wanted to put cedar planks on the face of the sheetrock, right? OK, well I also wanted to run them vertically, right? Yup … you guessed it, the only way to do that is to have something BEHIND them to nail to. So, I literally had to frame out the entire cubby hole portion in 3/4″ plywood – that’s heavy stuff to handle alone. After that the entire space needs to be painted dark brown (or black). This will hide any of the sheetrock peeking through should the cedar shrink as it further dries in an air conditioned environment (it does, it will and it did).
After you get all that done, then you can start the actual job you wanted to start – put on the cedar. I had to first frame out the face of the area and to do that I built up the entrance with pine lumber and then laid the cedar boards on top. The cedar was ridiculously expensive but it sure came out nice
I needed to find a way to anchor the sleeping loft ladder in a manner that it would never come off the wall and, importantly look great too. I used 10″ structural anchors (they take proprietary bits to install) and recessed the heads. It was careful planning in order to do this and not destroy the wall behind it, the floor under it and still have it securely installed. In the end it worked perfectly.
Continue story at Part 2
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