I need to put a table somewhere, please help!!!

prewarhero

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Here is my dilema. I am moving to a new house and like most of you I can't live w/o a table at home. If not I would be forced to play at the room more which means I will loose more money in bad games.

Here is the scenario, no room in house/basement that is 18x14
I am in the chicago area so room must be insulated and temp controlled
my budget is about 5-10k to do something.

I need to fit a nine footer

The house has a three car garage but there is a structural pillar next to the single bay so that leaves just the two car area. My wife insists that she be able to park two cars in there at least when I am not playing. The garage would need to be amended for temp control. Any suggestions

the other idea is to add an addition on to the house. I was thinking a 20x15 sunroom that is insulated. I would need to get a permit and pour a slab, but I think they sell pre-constructed sunrooms at a fair price no?

Other idea is a large 20x15 insulated shed. i don't think I need a permit for this, and can ventilate it and run power from the house.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated, thanks so much,
Jordan
 
prewarhero said:
Here is my dilema. I am moving to a new house and like most of you I can't live w/o a table at home. If not I would be forced to play at the room more which means I will loose more money in bad games.

Here is the scenario, no room in house/basement that is 18x14
I am in the chicago area so room must be insulated and temp controlled
my budget is about 5-10k to do something.

I need to fit a nine footer

The house has a three car garage but there is a structural pillar next to the single bay so that leaves just the two car area. My wife insists that she be able to park two cars in there at least when I am not playing. The garage would need to be amended for temp control. Any suggestions

the other idea is to add an addition on to the house. I was thinking a 20x15 sunroom that is insulated. I would need to get a permit and pour a slab, but I think they sell pre-constructed sunrooms at a fair price no?

Other idea is a large 20x15 insulated shed. i don't think I need a permit for this, and can ventilate it and run power from the house.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated, thanks so much,
Jordan

What about a carport in front of the garage? You've got the driveway for a slab to sink poles in. Now you can park two cars outside and put the poolroom in the garage (with one car parked inside - the wifes natch).
 
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Jay, thanks but I don't think the subdivison would go for a carport. Good idea though, and I just asked my wife and she gave me a look that needed no words to go with it.
 
prewarhero said:
Jay, thanks but I don't think the subdivison would go for a carport. Good idea though, and I just asked my wife and she gave me a look that needed no words to go with it.

I'll see you in the shed. ha ha ha :)
 
prewarhero said:
Here is my dilema. I am moving to a new house and like most of you I can't live w/o a table at home. If not I would be forced to play at the room more which means I will loose more money in bad games.

Here is the scenario, no room in house/basement that is 18x14
I am in the chicago area so room must be insulated and temp controlled
my budget is about 5-10k to do something.

I need to fit a nine footer

The house has a three car garage but there is a structural pillar next to the single bay so that leaves just the two car area. My wife insists that she be able to park two cars in there at least when I am not playing. The garage would need to be amended for temp control. Any suggestions

the other idea is to add an addition on to the house. I was thinking a 20x15 sunroom that is insulated. I would need to get a permit and pour a slab, but I think they sell pre-constructed sunrooms at a fair price no?

Other idea is a large 20x15 insulated shed. i don't think I need a permit for this, and can ventilate it and run power from the house.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated, thanks so much,
Jordan

I'd go with the addition but do it right, otherwise it won't add much value to your home. I don't know if those prefab sun rooms will do the trick, maybe I guess. Check with a local architect or home remodeling contractor. It ain't going to be cheap though.

I have to live with a bar table due to size constraints, the only way around it is a bigger house in my situation.
 
a couple of thoughts

prewarhero said:
Here is my dilema. I am moving to a new house and like most of you I can't live w/o a table at home. If not I would be forced to play at the room more which means I will loose more money in bad games.

Here is the scenario, no room in house/basement that is 18x14
I am in the chicago area so room must be insulated and temp controlled
my budget is about 5-10k to do something.

I need to fit a nine footer

The house has a three car garage but there is a structural pillar next to the single bay so that leaves just the two car area. My wife insists that she be able to park two cars in there at least when I am not playing. The garage would need to be amended for temp control. Any suggestions

the other idea is to add an addition on to the house. I was thinking a 20x15 sunroom that is insulated. I would need to get a permit and pour a slab, but I think they sell pre-constructed sunrooms at a fair price no?

Other idea is a large 20x15 insulated shed. i don't think I need a permit for this, and can ventilate it and run power from the house.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated, thanks so much,
Jordan



Probably cheapest to modify the garage. A laminated beam solved the free span issue for a friend. He just added a 30X40 stick and brick addition to his home with no center supports. A steel beam would be smaller and cheaper if you could sell She Who Must Be Obeyed on one.

I scored a book of plans off of the net and have build several barn type storage buildings. One is my cue shop. Completely insulated with AC and fully wired the price was around four thousand for a 12X20 shop. I modified the plans pretty heavily to support some equipment and meet my needs or it would have been even cheaper. I have plans for up to a 16X24 I believe. If you had room for a building that size in your yard it is probably how I would go.

Hu
 
ShootingArts said:
Probably cheapest to modify the garage. A laminated beam solved the free span issue for a friend. He just added a 30X40 stick and brick addition to his home with no center supports. A steel beam would be smaller and cheaper if you could sell She Who Must Be Obeyed on one.

I scored a book of plans off of the net and have build several barn type storage buildings. One is my cue shop. Completely insulated with AC and fully wired the price was around four thousand for a 12X20 shop. I modified the plans pretty heavily to support some equipment and meet my needs or it would have been even cheaper. I have plans for up to a 16X24 I believe. If you had room for a building that size in your yard it is probably how I would go.

Hu

that might be the trick. I don't think I can do 16x24 but 16x20 should be okay. Do I need to pour concrete? What if there is a slant in the yard? Keeping the table level might be a concern. If I can do this for under 5k i would consider it a done deal. It would take up a big chunk of the yard but I figure if the new owners when I sell the place don't want it, I can always take it with me or just sell it right?

thanks,
Jordan
 
jay helfert said:
I'll see you in the shed. ha ha ha :)


Jay, once it is built you have a standing invitation to come by, drink my fine wine, and take my money is cheap short sets.

BTW, I need your videos already, lets do something......
 
Yeah, I have a solution. Tell your wife she needs to compromise.

I supported my family for 8 years with no help, having basically given up on pool during that time. I came over to Iraq and started saving money for any addition. When I saw how much an addition was going to be, I told my wife that basically, her "want" to park a vehicle inside in a fairly nice neighborhood was conflicting with my dream of having a pool table at home.

She gave up the garage, we renovated it, and have found that we have friends that we never realized we had... :D :D :D :D

She needs to give up two of the bays in the garage. If you love the game bad enough, she'll realize she owes it to you, and will let you wall off the two bay part of the garage and renovate it.

At that price though, I hope you're handy, because that's pretty much the cost of materials alone..

Russ
 
prewarhero said:
Jay, once it is built you have a standing invitation to come by, drink my fine wine, and take my money is cheap short sets.

BTW, I need your videos already, lets do something......

Be careful, I may go on the road and meet all you guys. I probably could get games clear across the country and back. By the time I get home, I WILL be in stroke, or broke.
 
Garage conversions make sense in some locales, but northern Illinois is certainly not one of them. Why waste money on something that is seldom going to be comfortable and will force you to scrape ice off your cars every morning for five months a year.

Your other solutions, or perhaps settling for a seven footer make more sense.
 
If I had the $$ I'd build the room onto the house. No question.

Seems like the reasonable answer is a compromise which leaves one garage stall for her and you sacrifice your stall. It will be a sacrifice when the winter assualts your car but if you have a remote starter that will help. Then you fix up the other two for your pool room. Build a cheap tool shed for the yard tools and other garage stuff you'll have to move out.
 
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Another option, is just to extend the garage to have the space of 4x cars, (If the property space permits this to be possible) but have them separated in the middle, with the pool room consisting of the first half, that's nearest to the house, and the other half being used for the cars :)

This way, if your garage, is attatched to the house, it'll be a little cheaper on heating costs, as you'll have a little natural heat from the household, filtering into the pool room, therfore helping to keep the AC neutralised :)

There are a good selection of options that you can go with, and whatever you go with, I hope that it works out for the best :)

Willie
 
Hey, I got a great idea. Take out the wall between the living room and dining room, and put your poolroom in the middle of the house.

And after your divorce, invite all of us over to play. What do you think? :)
 
pouring concrete is the easiest route

When you want to support a pool table and it stay level pouring concrete is the easiest and even cheapest route. I wanted the option of moving my building so it was built with many sills underneath it and dozens of pads. One area is designed to support the weight of a metal lathe that weighs roughly twice what a pool table does.

There is a lot of work involved here and you will probably need a carpenter to help with the basic framing. You can do this yourself but keeping it square is a little tricky. If you are reasonably handy with tools you can do the rest at most with the occasional help of a friend or "dumb" labor. Precut the pieces,put the trusses together, and do the site work(pour concrete or level and have the pads in place) and the shell can be completed in a hard weekend's work by two people. About ten days total build time if you have your ducks in a row.

Hu

prewarhero said:
that might be the trick. I don't think I can do 16x24 but 16x20 should be okay. Do I need to pour concrete? What if there is a slant in the yard? Keeping the table level might be a concern. If I can do this for under 5k i would consider it a done deal. It would take up a big chunk of the yard but I figure if the new owners when I sell the place don't want it, I can always take it with me or just sell it right?

thanks,
Jordan
 
Sell it

Sell the 9 foot table and downsize to an 8 foot table, or 7 foot table that will fit in your basement. Then everyone is happy, and you are not out a lot of dough. Your budget allows for that, and at least you still get to play, and practice. It will also give you an excuse to go play on the 9 foot tables somewhere else every week!

Besides don't you want to get a diamond table anyway? LOL
 
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How about if you raise the roof and make a second story addition over the garage. This solution is not as expensive as you might think. Once the basic structure is up you can take your time with the finish work.

If the kids are gone, knock out the wall between two bedrooms.

In one of my houses I took out the wall between the kitchen and the "old" living room to make a "family" room off the kitchen that had a 9 footer in it. Turned out to be our favorite house with a huge kitchen / family room where we spent most of our time.

If one bedroom is free, extend the house in this area for a pool room.

There are important things in life and there is always room for a pool table. Sometimes you just gotta look around and figure out what is important.

Here is a persuasive argument, "Do you want me home playing pool or at the local hall where it cost $4.00 an hour?"

Our house is the party house for our friends. Weekends with the guys and their wives are usually at our place. I never have to be the designated driver. What is that worth?
 
Sell it

Sell the 9 foot table and downsize to an 8 foot table, or 7 foot table that will fit in your basement. Then everyone is happy, and you are not out a lot of dough. Your budget allows for that, and at least you still get to play, and practice. It will also give you an excuse to go play on the 9 foot tables somewhere else every week!

Besides don't you want to get a diamond table anyway? LOL
 
TheWizard said:
Another option, is just to extend the garage to have the space of 4x cars, (If the property space permits this to be possible) but have them separated in the middle, with the pool room consisting of the first half, that's nearest to the house, and the other half being used for the cars :)

This way, if your garage, is attatched to the house, it'll be a little cheaper on heating costs, as you'll have a little natural heat from the household, filtering into the pool room, therfore helping to keep the AC neutralised :)

There are a good selection of options that you can go with, and whatever you go with, I hope that it works out for the best :)

Willie

this was the first thing that popped into my mind. good luck!

DCP
 
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