The Games Room - "The ArcAde"

The games room has stalled since the pinball league meet.  I had been planning on the work being completed by now but with work commitments, rugby and other distractions I hadn't had time to sit down and plan the layout etc.

I have now found an electrician who will hopefully be starting work at the end of this month.

The plan is to upgrade the power from the house to the garage and then to run power from the garage up to the Pin Shack.  New MCU's will be installed in both the garage and the log cabin.  I am also taking advantage of the work taking place to add external electrical sockets and additional lighting in the garden.

Click images to enlarge.

"The ArcAde"

The electrical layout:-

A 3D model of how I expect the games room to look when it is fully completed :-

A short video walk through...

The Pin Shack

The electrical layout:-

UK Pinball League Meeting

On Sunday 17th April 2011 I held my first pinball meet.  I had a couple of concerns, firstly would all the pins hold out... they did and secondly would the power trip... it didn't!

The following are a few photos from the day.

My daughter, Charli, is getting some early practice in

The competition went well and the following are some photos from the afternoon's play

The results were as follows:


Position   Player    Score    Points
1 Phil Dixon 89 15
2 Nick Marshall 88 14
3 Adrian Head 75 13
4 Alex Hooper 74 12
5 Aid Cooper 69 11
6 Kate Morris 67 10
7 Tony Smith 54 9
8 Terry Sullivan 53 8
9 Mike Buckley 52 7
10 Dave Langley 48 6
11 Paul Reddington 42 5
12 Paul Marchant-Smith 38 4
13 Charli Head 24 3
14 Frank Triberus 22 2
15 Ava Marchant-Smith 14 1
16 Katie Cooper 8 0

Overall I came third and Charli was top of the three children. Easter eggs all round for the kids!

I think home advantage paid off!

I had a great day and would definitely host a future meet... if I get asked again! :-)

Belated Update

It has been a while since the last update as I have been really busy at work.

The Pin Shack is now up with just the roof left to complete.

The following are some of the photos of the log cabin being built.

The base is being prepared, the clearing and construction took just a day.

Once the base was completed it took just a day for two of us to get the floor bearers down and to build the walls and roof from the ground up.  I need to thank my father in law for all his assistance! 

The roof on and the main cabin is complete

The pin shack has arrived!

Yesterday over 1.5 tonnes of wood arrived!

 So I had to move it off the drive!

Next step is getting the base down.

The Games Room

It's been ages since my last post.

Work has been very busy and I never seem to have any free time.

I haven't had the time or space to work on the Indiana Jones project pin but now the spring is coming I am going to make time!

But first... I have decided to convert my garage into a games room.  I have been thinking about converting the garage for about 5 years and never got round to it.

The Workshop

I had a dilemma.  If I convert the garage into a games room I won't have a workshop, where do I keep the kids bikes and what about the garden tools and the lawn mower!


So I have bought one of these log cabins...

and one of these side stores...

The whole workshop will be 6.5 meters (including the 1.5 meter side store) by 3 meters.

I am off work next week so I am dedicating the whole week to the workshop project!

Saturday - Off to the Rugby - well maybe not the whole week! 
Sunday- I will be clearing the ground for the workshop. The workshop is going in the top corner of the garden.

Monday - I will be finishing off the ground clearance, leveling etc.
Tuesday - The workshop is being delivered.
Wednesday - The mixer, compactor, 5 tonnes of hardcore, sand and gravel and 18 bags of cement is being delivered.  Work on the base will start. I will hopefully be able to get the hardcore down and compacted.
Thursday - I will be mixing and laying the concrete base.
Friday - relaxing... hopefully... while the base is left to set.
Saturday - Rugby - Worcester Warriors vs Cornish Pirates
Sunday - Rugby - THREE games of rugby including the watching the England womens in the Six Nations.

The following weekend I will start work on assembling the log cabin as it all comes as individual planks!  I always enjoyed playing with Lego so I am looking forward to this! :-)

The Games Room

I started to look at how I could convert the garage into a games room a few months ago.

I decided to break the work down into small manageable 'chunks' to make life easier.

The planned stages are as follows:-

1. Replacing the rear window with French Doors.(so I can get pins in and out once 2 and 3 are complete!)
2. Bricking up a side door.
3. Bricking up the "up and over" garage doors (but leaving them on so there is no visible change from the front of the house.)
4. Strengthen the roof joists so I can use the space for storage.
5. Getting the power and lighting extended and fitted.
6. Building an internal ~2M x ~3M – AV room (possibly)
7. Installing a ‘loft’ hatch and ladder.
8. Dry lining and insulating the walls and ceiling with Kingspan or similar.
9. Adding additional insulation in the roof.
10. Boarding the ‘loft’ floor.
11. Fitting an over door heater (possibly Air Con)
12. Putting in a suspended floor with under floor insulation.
13. Decorating.
14. Putting down a laminate floor.
15. Playing pinball and drinking beer!

Work Started TODAY!!  Stage 1 is complete!