Mobile Arcade Room

[psik0tik]

I saw this thread http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=67694.0

And I thought that tunnel one would fit inside a mobile home and then I figured I could make a decent arcade room out of one....so I got the DIY itch again and found a double wide 26 X 48 on craigslist for 1000.00 !!! (I'll have pictures soon) so after I got fiancee approval I bought it and now it's in my backyard. Does anybody have any experience with remodeling these things. It's not in the best of shape but it pretty much just looks like legos. There's no supporting walls so I figure I can knock them all down and have a wide open space. It has 2 bathrooms but I think I'm only going to keep the one in the back. Also I think I'm going to have to update the ac system and the insulation. I think this will make a pretty decent arcade room and best of all it's away from the house and my fiancee loves this idea.

[ChadTower]

Someone find Paigeoliver for this guy.

[shardian]

Just curious, but do you live in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska? Just curious...no reason.

[ChadTower]

When does he break it to her that they're moving in?

[psik0tik]

Nope I live in Tampa lol. I live in a regular house I just have a big back yard. I've been out there tearing the walls down and they come down fairly easy. I pretty much have them all down already minus the ones that surround the bathroom. Next I have to dismantle the kitchen, whoever the previous tenant was they left food in the cabinets and the fridge. And seeing how the power has been off in this thing for 2 months when I opened the door on said fridge my breakfast came back. I think I'm going to duct tape the thing up and just throw it away as a whole.

[shardian]

How do you plan on getting power out there? Hire someone, or diy?

[shorthair]

They usually have plug-ins. When I was a kid, we used to sit up on weekend nights in my friends camper trailer eating Dorritos, drinking Coke, chewin Red Man and filling up spitoons, radio on and Vectrex ablazin.

[BobA]

Wow.  This could be the classic project of the decade.   An arcade on wheels.   I doesn't matter if it goes anywhere it would just be neat.   Good luck on your project.  Looking forward to seeing it.

[MikeQ]

Nope I live in Tampa lol. I live in a regular house I just have a big back yard. I've been out there tearing the walls down and they come down fairly easy. I pretty much have them all down already minus the ones that surround the bathroom. Next I have to dismantle the kitchen, whoever the previous tenant was they left food in the cabinets and the fridge. And seeing how the power has been off in this thing for 2 months when I opened the door on said fridge my breakfast came back. I think I'm going to duct tape the thing up and just throw it away as a whole.

I hope you don't live near Davis Island.  Your arcade will be a house boat arcade room after the next big storm.

[psik0tik]

Nope I live in the Pinellas park area. I'm going to have to hire an electrician and the power company to come hook me up on a separate line. I'd diy it but it's alot of electricity and I don't want to try and climb the pole or tap into my house. But I'm waiting till I get the thing gutted and new receptacles put in and in place before I get power hooked up. Plus I have to get a new panel because the one that's in there won't hold all that stuff plus a bigger A/C unit. It would get hella hot in there with the small A/C unit it has now (aka wall unit). It use to have a central but that has long been taken out and I want to run new ducts because theres no way of telling whats in the old ones. Plus I want to move them around more towards the center of the trailer. This project is going to be slow...meaning it's expensive just to get it going. While I was browsing around on the internet I found people building offices and houses out of used storage containers....I should have went that route. But this will be just as fun

http://www.fabprefab.com/fabfiles/containerbayhome.htm

[saint]

Ack, please don't throw a fridge away with the door still on it. Doors should always be removed from fridges when disposed.

Nope I live in Tampa lol. I live in a regular house I just have a big back yard. I've been out there tearing the walls down and they come down fairly easy. I pretty much have them all down already minus the ones that surround the bathroom. Next I have to dismantle the kitchen, whoever the previous tenant was they left food in the cabinets and the fridge. And seeing how the power has been off in this thing for 2 months when I opened the door on said fridge my breakfast came back. I think I'm going to duct tape the thing up and just throw it away as a whole.

[shorthair]

Ack, please don't throw a fridge away with the door still on it. Doors should always be removed from fridges when disposed.

Oh, right. Forgot all those public informercials as a kid about fridges at the dump an all. And, oops, though he says mobile home I thought he meant RV trailer. <fart> Could still do the chips, soda, and spitoon fillin.

[psik0tik]

When you dispose of them here they crush them right in front of you. Any other time I'd just have to grin and bear the smell when I trashed it It'll be crushed tomorrow and when it happens I'll be sure to stand waaaaay back because I know that stuff is going to come out of it like a tube of sewer toothpaste. Other than that I peeled up the carpet and I found half the floor needs to be replaced. Especially where the A/C unit was, you could literally push your finger through it. So I'm off to lowes tomorrow to stock up 

[Howard_Casto]

Ack, please don't throw a fridge away with the door still on it. Doors should always be removed from fridges when disposed.

Nope I live in Tampa lol. I live in a regular house I just have a big back yard. I've been out there tearing the walls down and they come down fairly easy. I pretty much have them all down already minus the ones that surround the bathroom. Next I have to dismantle the kitchen, whoever the previous tenant was they left food in the cabinets and the fridge. And seeing how the power has been off in this thing for 2 months when I opened the door on said fridge my breakfast came back. I think I'm going to duct tape the thing up and just throw it away as a whole.

So you saw that very special episode of Punky Brewster too saint?

Maybe the world is blind.....

[ChadTower]

I lived in an apt building as a kid where a toddler died inside a fridge.  Climbed in it while his parents were sleeping.  It does happen.

With the amount of work you're talking about for this mobile home, sounds like it would have been cheaper to build a new building.

[saint]

I have never in my life seen an episode of Punky Brewster and hope to go to my grave still saying so.

Ack, please don't throw a fridge away with the door still on it. Doors should always be removed from fridges when disposed.

Nope I live in Tampa lol. I live in a regular house I just have a big back yard. I've been out there tearing the walls down and they come down fairly easy. I pretty much have them all down already minus the ones that surround the bathroom. Next I have to dismantle the kitchen, whoever the previous tenant was they left food in the cabinets and the fridge. And seeing how the power has been off in this thing for 2 months when I opened the door on said fridge my breakfast came back. I think I'm going to duct tape the thing up and just throw it away as a whole.

So you saw that very special episode of Punky Brewster too saint?

Maybe the world is blind.....

[ChadTower]

Hey now, when she got older, she had a rack you could sink a ship with.

[billf]

Friend of mine in Texas had a double-wide double-long modular house.  Think it was about 2,400 sq ft (huge, huge mobile home).

Good lord, that's ginormous!  I just built a 2010 sq ft ranch and I can even fathom it as "mobile".

[psik0tik]

Well 600.00 and a free A/C unit later I can start working. I picked up a free A/C unit off of craigslist and I bought an assload of wood and insulation. I bought that foam stuff to go in between the regular insulation and the wall due to the fact that theres only an inch of material from the inside to the outside once you rip all the panels down. And for all of you concerned I watched the death of the fridge this morning also...and if a kid could crawl into it now he deserves to be studied at a paranormal research lab. Sorry for the lack of pictures so far but my fiancee will be back soon with the cam and I can get pics rolling. All in all I have alooot of space to deal with and now it's going to come down to buying more arcades to fill the space

[shardian]

Insulation is a VERY good idea because those trailers have the bare minimum originally. Very cool you got an AC unit for free. However, why so much money? I hope you didn't buy fancy schmancy plywood. Low-grade subflooring would have been just fine. However, you may want to consider adding floor joists since the place will be stuffed with heavy arcade machines.

Oh, and don't forget that now you also need a pop machine, and a gumball machine, and a....

[ChadTower]

 

[shorthair]

Friend of mine in Texas had a double-wide double-long modular house.  Think it was about 2,400 sq ft (huge, huge mobile home).

Good lord, that's ginormous!  I just built a 2010 sq ft ranch and I can even fathom it as "mobile".

Na, that's pretty common round here. They have several 'show rooms' round town just off the highway. Some of them are the same plans as regular homes.

[psik0tik]

Insulation is a VERY good idea because those trailers have the bare minimum originally. Very cool you got an AC unit for free. However, why so much money? I hope you didn't buy fancy schmancy plywood. Low-grade subflooring would have been just fine. However, you may want to consider adding floor joists since the place will be stuffed with heavy arcade machines.

Oh, and don't forget that now you also need a pop machine, and a gumball machine, and a....

Most of it went to floor support and new ducts plus that foam insulation isn't as cheap as I thought it'd be. Although it sits on a metal frame it still has some open spaces that could use some support. Pics are comming very soon...the fiancee is in miami with the cam so I have to wait till she gets back on sunday  

[psik0tik]

That was what i was thinking....It's my own playland away from the house. I don't have to hear "turn your arcade down I can hear pacman upstairs" The only problem I can think of is the cost of all this. It will be bare at first but I think after a few good auctions I can fill it up and that's where this is going to get expensive. The coolest thing for right now is that I can get my skee ball machine out of storage and actually use it I've got alot of plans but it'll be a long process. Hopefully when it's done I can get some people off of here to come over and have fun. It's one thing to own a personal arcade but it's more fun to share.

[Chris G]

This sounds awesome - the ultimate guy's get-away space.

[psik0tik]

Ok I have a couple of pics to illustrate the hell I've put myself in the first 2 are befores...notice the charred room. The last is where I'm at now.

[Samstag]

Wow.  Is there anything you're not replacing?

[shardian]

Wow.  Is there anything you're not replacing?

Hey, he couldn't have possibly built a shed for that price, so good for him. And lets not even get started on the fact that if he moves, he can take his whole arcade with him intact!!!

[Jouster]

Hopefully when it's done I can get some people off of here to come over and have fun. It's one thing to own a personal arcade but it's more fun to share.

I'm in the Tampa area...I'd be happy to come over and help you play on some machines.

Jouster

[ChadTower]

Hey, he couldn't have possibly built a shed for that price, so good for him. And lets not even get started on the fact that if he moves, he can take his whole arcade with him intact!!!

By the time he's done with this, it will probably work out roughly the same.  Sheds don't cost much if you're doing the building yourself.

Why is that room all charred?  Did I miss the mention of fire damage?

[Chris G]

Holy crap that's a lot of work...   

[Samstag]

Wow.  Is there anything you're not replacing?

Hey, he couldn't have possibly built a shed for that price, so good for him. And lets not even get started on the fact that if he moves, he can take his whole arcade with him intact!!!

All I'm seeing is really old 2x4's and the insulation he's replacing.  Oh, and the floor he's replacing.  I must be missing something.

Why is that room all charred?  Did I miss the mention of fire damage?

I assumed that was the first step of the restoration process.

[ChadTower]

All I'm seeing is really old 2x4's and the insulation he's replacing.  Oh, and the floor he's replacing.  I must be missing something.

That's pretty much all a trailer is... 2x4s and insulation.  It's the aesthetics and functional pieces that are going to bite his wallet.

[shardian]

Well, drywall is $10 a sheet and assuming you have 8' walls, you are gonna need near 40 sheets. Oh, and a few months to mud and paint all that yourself of course.

And lets not get started on carpet...

[ChadTower]

And the insulation isn't cheap, either.  The sum total cost is going to be high.  That's all we're saying.

[shardian]

Ack, I just looked at your pictures again and realized you also have to replace the roof. Have you worked up an initial budget to see if you will actually be able to finish this?

[shorthair]

Well, pouring a foundation, plus the materials can be a bit of both work and money. And building anything requires permits. But maybe he could've built three or four adjoining sheds. He could've looked into straw bale; with decent ventilation, he might not've even needed cooling.

[psik0tik]

The roof is just because I'm not a big fan of the metal roof. Yes insulation is expensive but luckily I have 8 bags of blown  insulation in the garage from when I did the attic in my house. Yes it came with fire damage which sucked but I was going to strip it down anyway Plus my neighbor and my dad have around 12 sheets of drywall between the 2 of them so that'll save some money. The carpet I'm getting from a warehouse....I have remnants of like 6 different colors that I'm going to cut up and make designs with. I've done it before with a friend and it came out really neat. So far I'm in the hole around 1100 so for the size I think it'll be worth it. 

EDIT: I've decided to cover up all the windows so no windows Also the car shop I get my car done at just gave me a few boxes of under car neons...I think I have like 13 sticks of neons..I'm sure I can find something to do with them. Also I went and picked up an old coke machine (the kind that dispensed bottles with the little door on it) and I just happened to notice that a bud light bottle fits perfectly in there  

Looks kinda rough but i can always repaint

[ChadTower]

And building anything requires permits.

It's a good point, but believe me, what he is doing now also requires permits.  Plenty of them.

[psik0tik]

Yeah I have a few The city pretty much rapes you when it comes to building stuff in your backyard. But at least I don't have to pay for the permit just to have it in my backyard.