You will always have an open lane when you build a bowling alley at home.
Building a bowling alley in the home is a dream come true for a bowling enthusiast. Before you make the dream a reality, be prepared to give up a lot of space in your home and make a significant investment in the project. Contracting company, ServiceMagic, estimates the cost of a home bowling alley at approximately $45,000. You can reduce the expenses by finding used equipment and cutting out things like electronic scoring.
Instructions
1. Choose a location in your home with ample space. Think beyond clearing a room for the lane, pin area and seating. Consider if you need distance from other parts of the house (or from your neighbors) to reduce noise disturbance.
2. Construct a frame for your bowling alley. Design the frame dimensions to fit within your space. Standard candlepin alleys measure approximately 42 inches wide. You can adjust the length to fit your room. Use standard 2 by 4 lumber pieces with deck screws for the frame. Set the lane with horizontal cross beams every 10 feet, and space your vertical support approximately 10 inches wide from each other for the entire length of the alley. The frame will look like a large rectangle full of smaller rectangles.
3. Set baseboards on top of the frame. Choose baseboard material that provides little flex (Whip City Bowl recommends quarter-inch-thick plywood). If your baseboard flexes too much, the board will move whenever you throw your ball, potentially moving the pins. Let the baseboard extend over the side edges slightly, so you can attach and secure the gutters.
4. Install the surface of your lane. Use a hardwood laminate. Whip City Bowl recommends purchasing laminate with a maple finish to most accurately re-create the look of a real bowling alley. Secure the laminate boards to the baseboard with construction adhesive during the installation.
5. Build your kickback walls (the walls on the closed sides of the pins) with quarter-inch-thick plywood. Support the walls with a square frame made with 2 by 4 lumber, approximately 4 feet long and 30 inches tall. On the back wall of your frame, where the lane ends behind the pins, hang a pair of rubber-backed rugs to stop pins and balls.
6. Assemble rectangular chutes, wide and deep enough to hold a bowling ball, to serve as your gutters. Piece the chutes together along the edges of the lane and secure to the baseboard and frame.
7. Tailor your bowling alley. With the basics in place to play a game, you can add more details, based upon your preferences and budget. Options include installing lights above the pins, expanding the hardwood laminate beyond the lane, adding chairs, purchasing a mechanic pin remover and more.
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