1899 House 27'x17' arcade How many arcade games can sit safely? ?

[shawn28341]

Hello, like it says.  I have a room upstairs in my house.  I am all but ready to bring arcade games into it. But have a rather growing collection and want to know how many games have you put upstairs and was comfortable with? Game list so far. . NFS underground,  Arctic Thunder, Cruis'n World, 2 Hydrothunders linked, Gauntlet Legends, MK3, Area 51, Ms. Pacman, Raiden, 60 In1, 512 in 1 cabinets. Already in this room Full size air hockey table and 2 Shooter basketball game. Going to have a small booth for eating at and the Walk in closet was turned into a counter top bar with a few bar stools. There will be a small claw machine Toy Taxi added soon.  In the next few years a Mario Kart Arcade gp or fast and furious super cars.  Maybe one more small cab. Like popeye. And a few tv's that play only video games play through and 80's cartoons only allowed.  Maybe watch Ghostbusters or back to the future. . I think you've got the idea.  :0)  So how about the weight as an issue.  Any guidelines?  Air hockey is light. But the biggest one sportscraft carries. The one with blue neons on It and the legs light up.  Any input would be great.  I love sit down racers. .   Pictures are from the room and fixing it up and where it is at this time.  Those are ceiling fan blades that I painted the pacman and ghost on.  I painted the bar stools as well with the left over paint from painting ms. Pacman. So pretty dedicated to the project just how many can I put in it?Thanks

[Le Chuck]

Just figure it out the way Calvin's dad told him how they figure out how much bridges can support.  They drive bigger and bigger trucks across until the bridge breaks then they put one less than that on the sign and rebuild the bridge. 

How thick are your joists?  How far are they spaced?  Call an engineer. 

[yotsuya]

Just figure it out the way Calvin's dad told him how they figure out how much bridges can support.  They drive bigger and bigger trucks across until the bridge breaks then they put one less than that on the sign and rebuild the bridge. 

How thick are your joists?  How far are they spaced?  Call an engineer.

Chuck speaks the truth, especially if racing cabinets are in play. Those things are heavy.

[Malenko]

To add on to Chuk's questions:   How long is the span/run of the joists? What material are the joists? Any foundation issues?  Are the joists already bowed at all?
I guess most importantly, since we have no numbers,  whats under the arcade room, and how upset would you be if there if a racing cab went through the floor and landed on it?


Now the non structural questions: Have you checked the electrical in that room? You might need to have a new run to a separate breaker if you plan to have a bunch of those on at one time.

[shawn28341]

When I first bought the house I poked a hole in the ceiling and Actually looked at the rafters.  This house was built 115 years ago.  They used rough cut wood but the spacing was unusual.  It wasn't like every four feet. Less than that but almost random. The room underneath it back in the day would have been the biggest room in the house. The dining room. The arcade room is exact same size. Downstairs has eleven foot ceilings. . upstairs has 9 foot.. it has a pool table in it and probably won't change.  A 9'X6' projection home theater in this same room downstairs. Computer desk, aquarium. When I first moved in the floor was uneven bottom floor.  I fixed with two twenty ton jacks.I also layed cement and then jacked up one support wall during this process, ten years ago. My house is 4300 sqft. It's a big house But without a few here or there doesn't make sense to put them all in a room downstairs. Upstairs is perfect. If I had one more room downstairs that was a little bigger I'd use it instead. I have another home projection theatre in the other room upstairs beside where the arcade room is. And a big workout center in another room across the foyer .I just wonder how much is to much.  I am also covering the Windows in this room. It's going to stay dark all the time with only blue neon light strip or crazy Lights around the room.  I'm seriously going for an awesome old school arcade feel. . I loved the 80's feel when you walked into a nice dark arcade.

[Generic Eric]

No one wants to redo a finished floor.

Is the room in that floor finished?

The building codes from 115 years ago probably aren't what they are today. 

You should be able to find the weight online or in a manual.

Consider reading this page http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article28.html

IANASE  I am not a structural engineer.  For the peace of mind, you should consider finding someone that can tell you that.  Good luck.  I can't even get a plumber.

[Malenko]

its better to over brace than under brace.

[shawn28341]

http://www.jammaplus.co.uk/forum/uploads/6548/00v0v_hLcGvKt9UPR_600x450.jpgThe heaviest cab. not to be a racer is Gauntlet Legends. That thing's a monster.  I wanted one three or four player cabinet and was going to be Rampage World Tour. But this one came up, I'd never played it and probably the prettiest cabinet I've ever seen posted on craigslist.  And for player.  I'm not much into gutting arcade games for Mame but it would be a Mame cabinet's dream come true.

[DaOld Man]

I think my biggest fear would be getting those machines up a flight of stairs.
But seriously, you are talking about a lot of weight, but if they hug load bearing walls you might be better off.
I don't know if I could sleep well at night knowing that much weight is above me though. (Even though not directly above your sleep room, still who knows what domino effect would happen if a downstairs wall gave away or ceiling fell in.)