After hanging out reading AVS for the past several years and discussing various topics from AV equipment to home automation, I decided to finally start building out a dedicated area in my basement. I thought this would be a great place to document my design decisions, progress and end results.
The basement is currently unfinished, but contains a lot of "stuff" that will need to be cleared out. After lots of thought, the main areas of the basement will be the following:
- Storage Area - As I mentioned, we have lots of stuff. We have been working to purge a lot of the items we don't use, but we still need a storage area to organize the clutter.
- Pinball Shop - I collect and restore pinball machines and old arcade games (non video). One of the biggest issues I have right now is that I don't have a dedicated area to organize my parts and work on projects.
- Bar Area - I have been brewing my own beer for years. My plan is to have a bar area where my friends can gather to watch TV, chat and enjoy a homebrew.
- Main Entertainment Area - The core of the basement will be the entertainment area. It will contain a complete audio video system to enjoy both video and music. In addition, this area will have many pinball machines, a couple of older electromechanical arcade games as well as a 14 foot long coin operated bowling alley.
While I have done lots of research, measuring and designing, I don't have a final plan yet. I am comfortable with the layout I have come up with, but still need to finalize several details within the rooms.
Below is a sketch I have made showing the general layout. While I am planning to move forward with the room layout, nothing within the rooms is finalized. Any comments/criticism is welcome. I would love to hear your opinions throughout the entire process.
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A friend has given me a kick in the pants to stop talking about this project (I have been discussing it with him for years) and get started. As a Christmas gift, he has offered to help frame the walls for the pin shop and storage area. I decided to accept his offer and get started. This will allow me to get organized and clear out the general areas.
Before I get too far, I have several items I am researching for my design (opinions definitely welcome). I will be digging through the AVS archives to try to help me with my choices.
- Electrical - I know what is required to power the pinball machines (number of outlets, circuits and locations). I have also already installed a sub panel in my wiring closet to accommodate all AV equipment. I want to make sure I don't miss any outlets for things such as the projector, in the seating riser, etc.
- Lighting - This is going to be tricky for me. I am trying to find the right balance of lighting for different activities. I need lighting that can be dimmed for movie viewing, but can be turned up for general TV watching (football games, etc.), but also will not cause reflection off of the playfield glass on my games. All of this needs to be balanced with visual appeal as well as sound proofing (concerned about cans in the ceiling).
- Sound Proofing - Lots of questions here. This is very important to me and my wife because there are many times that my kids will have there friends in the basement playing games, or I will be watching a movie while others are upstairs doing other activities. I have many questions regarding this topic.
- Video Devices - I know that I want to have multiple TVs in the bar area (how many?). I also want to have a projector for viewing movies and sporting events with several people. I am not sure about the screen size. Also, I had originally envisioned having a motorized screen that could be raised to reveal a large LCD/LED TV for general viewing and gaming. Now I am not sure if this is the best way to go.
- General Design - Lots of decisions to be made around flooring types, seating types, paint colors, wall coverings, etc.
I am trying to document as much as possible by collecting photos of ideas we like. I am also keeping a list of questions as well as tips. I am trying to draw the detailed design on the computer. I am currently using Autodesk Homestyler (
Homestyler - Free 3D Home Design Software & Floor Planner Online ), but it is pretty limited. Does anyone have any suggestions of a better software package (the cheaper the better
).
I am worried that if I start asking too many general questions in my build thread that they will get lost. I plan to ask general questions in the appropriate forums and post decisions here. Of course, I will probably still post some questions seeking opinions in this thread as well.