"Gaming shed or basement room?" Topic

We are trying to decide between buying House A which has a finished standalone shed 17x17 (interior) I would use for gaming, or building House B (for more money) in which I would have hobby space in the basement slightly larger.

What are people's experiences with the standalone gaming shed/outbuilding? Likes, dislikes?

Does shed have heat, a/c, or electricity?

Or a bathroom? Insulation? Natural light?

Basement for me – easy access and more secure. Can't count the time I have dropped down in my robe just to do a quick pass thru (sometime just to spray a another coat of dullcoat).

Basement, for all of the above reasons.

Basement. All the reasons above. Plus, it's like an underground lair … how cool is that?

Ditto.

If I had the choice, I'd go basement. Though, a shed would be much easier to build at this time – I need some downed WWII British Airmen if I'm going to get a basement now…

Basement or another room in the house, if basement construction not possible. Other posters have given sound reasons.

Would there not be enough room to just add a 16 x 16 room onto the any new house you build? Beats having to navigate those stairs when you get older.

Basement is the way to go. Currently mine is a converted workshop. Its great, and has lots of potential too if I can every get to refinishing it.

I would prefer basement, but basement is beeing refurbished as a dog kennel.

So some time far into the future we will build an annex to the house.

Basement, but I had the "darn" kids cause two large leaks in mine…

We built a room above our two-stall garage, 20' x 21', solely for gaming, and crafting (wife is into various fiber hobbies: sewing, quilting, weaving, etc.), so it is a multi-purpose room for both of us. We also justified it as a hangout room for our teenage sons to use with their friends (never happened much, but it sounded very good…).

Basements tend to be difficult to regulate the heat in, during the Winter season. Because of this, we added a gas fireplace to our basement (controlled by a thermostat), but we also went with one in our new room, above the garage (also controlled by a thermostat), which is our primary heat source; adding new ductwork to connect the new room to the main house would have added another $10 USDk-$15k to the price, plus we would have chopped up the existing house severely to add it in (cost includes newer, larger capacity, furnace and CA units to handle the additional square footage).

If you went the shed route, consider a 220 VAC heating/AC unit in the wall, such as you find in hotel rooms. This is what our contractor suggested, for cooling in our new room -- works great, along with two ceiling fans (worth the investment!), and windows on opposite sides (allows cross-venting -- makes a huge improvement, during warm days, allowing us to avoid using AC most days; they also provide decent, natural lighting). They are fairly easy to have installed in the wall, and they can heat/cool a decent sized area. Cheers!

Shed if it has natural light. Basement rooms can become very depressing places

Walk out basement because of natural light.
Shed is nice because does not encroach on other activities in the house (such as quite sleep)and everything can be left in situ without upsetting spousal Feng Shui. More natural light. A covered walkway might mitigate migration through the elements.
And insulation heating/cooling as pointed out above, depending on climate is key.
Besides, shed is almost iconic for miniatures.

The shed has AC/Heat but no bathroom. Sgt Slag, that is exactly the system it has, the motel style system. Obviously, the basement would have bathroom.

Part of my question that I did not articulate well is HOW MUCH better is the basement? Me holding out for basement gaming space is a big driver behind building over buying, and I question spending the extra money for that reason.

We built and i had a game room built downstairs. All the other reasons listed are good.

For me, I like the fact that I don't have to go outside to grab a set of rules I might want to look at. I don't want to have to deal with rain and snow. And if it is really cold, waiting for the shed to warm up would suck. A timer might work for the shed with regards to heating and cooling. You still have to get fully dressed to go to your game room.

And then you get to trudge all the back to the house to use the toilet.

For me, it was the hassle factor. I know a lot of gamers have sheds and they work great. You work with what you are allowed. You have a choice of two options.

I think it would come down to how long are you going to live in that house. If it is your retirement home, then go with the basement. If it is going to be just a few years, maybe the shed is a better way to go.

Matthew

Please do the daylight basement, a house with one room you can designate a hobby room(not combination guest/hobby) or at worst an ATTACHED garage. I made the mistake of having a nice 2 car detached garage. Its cold, takes the wood stove forever to heat it up. Its miserable in the summer. And if your kids are grown and moving around, it will turn into a storage building and you will never get use out of it.

On top of it, weather variations will take its toll on whatever you are storing out there as well as being a pain to get to when it snows or in heavy rains. Let alone the lack of security of the detached building. I have had things stolen several times over the past many years.

Go for the basement!

Also, a shed can be easily build if need be whilst a basement cannot.

Basement.

If you airbrush, make your own terrain or have groups around playing till all hours, go the shed. I had a similar choice a couple of years ago, a rumpus room as part of the house that I could dedicate, or a four car brick garage that could no longer be used for cars as the previous owners extended the house over the drive way. Chose the garage, never regretted it.

I have just built an outside games room which I think has turned out great. Currently I am waiting for the builder to finish off the covered walkway.
I was previously in a room which was formally half the garage which worked well for years until it leaked, then I found that some books had problems with mould.
I have found that during the winter my new room has been really cold but, it does not take much to warm it up as it has been built to current building regulations. When I get time I intend to fit a small heat pump before next winter come around. It lacks a toilet which is not very far away.

I'm thinking of the following:

1: When you say "Holding out for gaming space" the first question i am going to ask is "how much" and are you guaranteed to keep it, or is "family stuff" going to eventually creep in and take it over, and in 2-3 years time you wish you had the shed in the back.

2: Have you thought of looking at a house with a detached "in-laws quarters", or a second detached garage, or pole barn?

3: We're in the planning and budgeting phase for building a second garage, but making it a game house instead….That way I get electricity, and toilet, and heat/ac….and room for my stuff….

4: Also, have you checked to see if you would have a wet basement or not? (Depending on ground water)….

@McWong73. I think you have a proper building, not just a shed. Given my comments above, I pass this property on my way to work that has an old 5 door carriage house with living quarters right above. I would claim that entire building for my game room in a heartbeat.

My problem is the wife loves the property that is for sale, which has the gaming shed (though it has AC/heat unit and nice windows). The house to be built is on a rise and there is little to no fear of flooding. The house to be built costs a chunk more, however, and would likely require me to work a few more years and also cut into my gaming spending budget.

Better space or more toys?

Basements ALWAYS have fear of flooding, one stopped up drain or clogged pipe and down to the basement it goes…

Okay, flooding is a big concern. In the two years after my house was built, my game room flooded 4 times. Lost lots of stuff and the hassle of cleaning out the entire room, 20 x 24 feet, so that new carpet could be put in was a huge pain. After the 4th time we called a drainage company to pipe all the gutters underground, emptying into the street and then put 2 large drains in front of our garage that also piped underground to the street.

Yes, the water came in from the garage, my game room is just behind the garage. I still get in a panic when we have torrential rain for more than 20 minutes. But 7 years later, we are still good and dry.

That is the first thing I will be looking at with the house we retire in, 20 years from now. It has to be good ground.

The US and Uk are very different in terms of basements. Most UK houses are brick built with no steel frame or basement . in addition UK houses are often smaller than those in the US. This means that a shed is often more practical, but still does not have a loo. Air con is very rare in wargaming rooms too.
Donald Featherstone had his final gaming room in his loft which is also a popular choice in UK. I suspect, but have no stats< that many UK gamers get the majority of their gaming done at the local club.

martin

Having built a shed/log cabin/summer-house specifically to be my gaming room, I'd advise against it. I spent nearly £5,000.00 GBP on it, had thick insulated walls and electric radiators. It was still too cold for me to use it for about 7 months of the year, though. Rather a waste of money. I also really worried about my collection being in it, due to temperature extremes, chance of break-in, fire, etc.

I've now sold that house and moving into one with a converted cellar, you can probably guess what I'm going to be using that for…

At one point I also had to make a choice between a shed or a (smaller) room in the house. I chose the room, for many of the reasons already mentioned.

One of my issues was humidity and rain. Living in a country where it rains quite a lot (Belgium) made we opt against the shed. The fear for humidity changes and the occasional leak, effect on scenery items, books etc. made me chose the room inside the house. Also, I live in a rural area, and it's not uncommon for mice, birds etc. to try to find their way inside (a shed) during winter months. But I guess that all depends on how sturdy and luxuruous your shed is, whether you plan to have heating in there etc.

The shed sounded like a good idea for use during the summer months, but would probably be a pain to use during winter.

I'm BUILDING a house in Maine to retire to. The basement is one big giant room, 32' by 32' It's all mine except for the furnace, electrical service, and pump. This is pretty much the way I have it now except my present house is 25' by 25', but support walls cut up the basement.

I'm planning a nice 6 x 12 foot table, working area and a 144 foot run point to point model railroad.