All my pins under one roof - the TRUE holy grail!

[DRANO]

So, it looks like my new gameroom might soon move from dream to reality!

While my project may not be quite as ambitious as Adam's new "facility" in Keswick one of the things I have wanted for so long, more than any game, is to have all my pins under one roof and in a space where I could not only play pinball, but also hang out with friends, play some cards and entertain. A proper man-cave if you will.

About 7 years ago my wife and I sold our downtown loft space for a nice bungalow in Etobicoke. It had land, space in abundance and was a great place to start a family. It also allowed me to truly begin my long-time love affair with pinball. I got my first, a TAF, almost as soon as we moved in. An IJ and MM followed within a couple of years.
Starting a family took a bit longer than expected but we continued to fix up our home and I renovated the entire basement. I even set aside a nice space for maybe 5-8 pins. At the time I thought this would be the most I would ever want or need... and so the collecting continued.

After a short while we were blessed with not one, but two children at once. The news of twins sent both of us into a panic and my wife wanted to sell our home and move closer to her parents. We once again packed our things and moved into the city proper. In the process I gave up a lot of pin space, which would now have to be shared between the family room and kids' play area. Today, much of my collection is either at my shop, or folded up in the warehouse awaiting restoration... with only room for 5 at home. with 19 pins to date, I have almost 3/4 of my collection stored outside my home.

Well, the day has finally arrived!
We're selling our house downtown and found a new place a little further west with more green space and (of course) more pin space.
We have some other major renos to tackle first, and I know it will take several months to realize, but I will eventually be able to house 17-18 pins and maybe a vid or two plus bar, TV and a few other things. The new place also has an attached double garage which I will heat and use as a workshop for my restoration work. It'll also allow an overflow area for 2-3 additional games. Direct access from garage into basement with only 4 steps is also a massive plus!

I will post progress and plans over the following months.
Can't wait!!!

 

[Vengeance]

Congrats Adriano, look forward to seeing your new space.

 

[Chris Bardon]

Congrats-it's great when you can buy a place with pinball in mind instead of trying to fit into whatever you had before.

 

[DRANO]

Thanks Adam, and sorry to have missed your place.

Just got back from LV. My wife actually bought the house while I was away
(We'd been watching it for a couple of months though)

 

[mwong168]

Just got back from LV. My wife actually bought the house while I was away

You bought 15 pins in the past year and she bought a house, I would say you are both even or you could forgive her :lol:

Congrats Adriano and so glad to hear this good news and be nice to be able play most of your games not during my work hours.

 

[frolic]

Congrats Adriano. I didn't realize your currently place had so many in storage. You are going to be living large .

 

[WARLOCK]

Congrats Drano. All the best to you and your family in your new home to be. Woo hoo!

Only a few of us know this feeling (of too many pins, and 3/4 or more of them not at home, folded, and waiting for love!)

Really happy for you! We are quietly looking too.

 

[jooky]

Woohoo congrats! Methinks you definitely have the best pin collection this side of sauga/etobicoke

 

[g-man]

Sounds very cool....well done.

Sorry I am busy on your moving day, but apparently I am available when you open up your gameroom!

 

[superjackpot]

Nicely done Adriano. Looking forward to seeing how you lay it all out!

 

[Menace]

You're wasting time posting here? Get packing!

 

[EJB]

Congrats Adriano! So happy for u to be able to house all of yor pins under one roof. All the best bro

 

[DRANO]

Thanks!
I have a tentative layout already planned out

The only requisite from my better half is that the space be finished.... which is fine by me.
Just trying to decide if I want the place covered in drywall or if I should go for that vintage 70's wood panelling for the real "man cave" effect

The space is currently cut in half with a non-loadbearing wall. Can't wait to start the demo!

 

[DRANO]

So... things are starting to move along. We take possesion in 10 days and I want to start planning.

Now, I'd like to say that I did this purely as an organizational tool to help plan electrical, lighting and other services, but of course it was a helluva lot of fun too.
I've imagined this space in my mind for several years, and it's finally starting to take shape.

It's not a huge area, just over 22'x18' at it's deepest, but I want to maximize pin layout, while still having room for a few other things.
Here is what I think is the final plan. 17 pins in the main space, along with a bar area (facing a flat screen) that has some sort of built in MAME component. Maybe some flip-up consoles on the bar top itself for up to 4 players? Mike... gonna need some help
Also, the central area could/would be used for something more social. Likley a fold-up poker table or a cocktail vid and chairs... although the MAME would make the cocktail redundant.
And finally, just a little bit of open wall space left over for my guitars and a few cool man-cave accesories.
I know the corner pins will have some issues if I want to slide the glass out, but that's something I'll have to live with. If sliding the occaisional wedgehead forward 4' to gain access is my trade-off for having this many pins and my extras, it's a small price to pay. There's a 24" gap so only the largest of players would find this uncomfortable.

Next, in the attached 2-car garage, I would house my new workshop and also plan to keep a rotation of maybe 3-4 pins in there (at least one of each type; DMD, early SS and an EM). Hopefully these could remain set-up (unless I'm in the middle of a restoration) and act as an overflow space for any really big get-togethers.

The space is currently divided into two rooms via a non-loadbearing wall, so I can't wait to walk in with my sledgehammer!
HVAC runs from the bar up to the smaller wedgheads, so the head-space should work out perfectly.

 

[luch]

looks good , just think 2 ft of space may not be enough. but trade off would be one less pin.

 

[DRANO]

looks good , just think 2 ft of space may not be enough. but trade off would be one less pin.

Yeah, it does sound small, but I have a tight little workshop at work and I've had games set up in similar spaces, even less (18") and still played pretty comfortably. I tested 24" by placing a standup cabinet behind me while I played and it was actually okay. That's also measured from the top of the wedghead (head) so it's really like 26" :lol:

For the more violent or larger players, it could feel a bit tight... they'll just have to stay off Farfalla or IJ.

 

[luch]

yeah and those machines where it is thight no one will need to pass by in behind the player ,

 

[superjackpot]

The layout seems great but the pins look too close together. You really want to keep the hands of adjacent players from touching. Not sure if your drawing is to scale but the backboxes look too close for this. I also think 2 ft is tight when standing behind a pin. It really depends on your stance.

Due to your HVAC, is having a DMD game on the wall opposite the bar not an option? I think your toppers would a concern. Not sure how far your reno will go but you may be able to gain an inch or two of ceiling space if you find the HVAC was boxed in with lumber thicker than it needed to be.

As for your electrical, go for 200 amp service, not just for the gameroom but your whole house. Re outlets, I agree with a max of 4 William's DMDs per 20 amp circuit. A couple of recommendations on outlet location. Plan to have outlets located so that cords are not visible across any spans of open wall. Install a couple redundant sets of plugs to give you plug in options. This will also support a layout change. A support system to keep cords a couple feet off the floor will make it all look clean. Don't forget the (floor) outlet if you plan to have a cocktail in the centre of the room.

When I was trying to find the optimal layout (and size) for couches in my reno'ed basement, despite all the computer drawings, a scale paper drawing of the floor with scale cutouts of my furniture was the best. It may help with your pin layouts.

Here's another layout... one game less, but more space between games (except for wedgeheads) only because of how many pins seem to fit across your longest wall. However, if the ceiling is that low in the middle you may not have alternatives. (I found that although my Joker Poker is almost 8" below my HVAC, raised PF clearance was < 1/4"!)

Enjoy! These are fun times!

 

[mwong168]

I like Barry's rearrangement better and could you not relocate the laundry facilities upstairs and try to sell it to your wife as easier access to gain some more pin space?

 

[WARLOCK]

Barry, nice alternative layout! Woot! If Wong already likes the layout, then you are approaching the best laid plans Drano. Here here, for laundry room pins!

Besides, non of us can play Black Hole well anyway, and we may get in less trouble with the cursing involved from that one machine if it is in the garage.