Anyone build their own bowling lane?

[AZBowla]

Our little chat box got me thinking about this. I know there's no way in hell I could do it simply because I live in a little tiny apartment and don't have room for a 70 foot long lane, but if the day came when I could buy a house with a big basement, I was thinking maybe this could be done. Nevermind getting a pinsetter or a ball return, I would be fine with rigging together a manual pinsetter (really it would be a bunch of big PVC pipes that I could stand the pins up in and then lift up out of the way to set them up, sort of like the plastic rack is used when playing pool). For a ball return, just roll it back up the gutter for the player to pick up, then when it's your turn to bowl the other player goes down to the other end and acts as the pinsetter and ball return guy, etc. It would sort of work like the half scale bowling lanes people have built (search half scale bowling on youtube and you'll see these), but mine would be full size. A simple computer program and a used computer could be set up in back for the person playing "pinsetter" to enter the scores - I can write that myself and have the output displayed on a monitor somewhere on the wall or something. If I really wanted to get fancy I could network two computers together so you could enter names and start new games etc from the front computer and that would then be read by the computer in the back, but I digress...

Am I crazy (yeah probably) and how much would it cost for just the wood and gutters? Could a synthetic surface be used so that there wouldn't be a need for oil? I just think that would be so awesome if anytime I wanted to go bowling all I had to do was walk down to the basement, turn on the lights and go for it. That'd be so friggin' sweet.

[75lockwood]

LOL!!!! i Love how i made a joke about this this morning in another thread, now here it is!

[scottymoney]

I would love to do it if I had the room, but I wouldn't do it unless I had a working pinsetter. Call me lazy but it would just not be fun having to walk down and set them up everytime. And I know the wife isn't going to do it even if she is bowling with me.

[75lockwood]

I would love to do it if I had the room, but I wouldn't do it unless I had a working pinsetter. Call me lazy but it would just not be fun having to walk down and set them up everytime. And I know the wife isn't going to do it even if she is bowling with me.

That's what having kids is for, geeze

[AngeloPD]

here you go, pretty pricey imo but comes with a pinsetter already
http://www.fusionbowling.com/pricing/

[striker12]

not bad prices for lanes but problem where the heck am i going to get that kind of money from.

[75lockwood]

here you go, pretty pricey imo but comes with a pinsetter already
http://www.fusionbowling.com/pricing/

How about Bowling boards gives away one of these instead of a ball? LOL

Look's really cool, definitely interested, now all i need is to rob a bank truck

[billf]

I saw a tow truck hooking up to an armored car yesterday. If only I knew lol
My dream is to own a bowling alley and now it looks like that would cost over one million just in lanes never mind land, building, etc. Come on Powerball, Bill needs the winning ticket (next jackpot is 120million).

[GoodGorilla]

I heard that Lebron James has a lane in his house.

[AZBowla]

Well if I wanted to blow 100 grand then sure, I'd call up those fusion bowling guys, but come on, 80% of that cost has got to be the pinsetter and the ball return, and 18% is the labor to have it put in. I bet if you just built the lane yourself using synthetic materials and rigged up a manual pinsetter you could get the whole thing done for a couple grand, tops. Yeah walking down each time and setting the pins up would be a pain, but if it meant having my very own bowling lane for a couple grand, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

I'd like to see a cost breakdown that shows how much the wood is, how much the surface is, how much for the gutters, etc. The half scale guys can build their lanes for about $500-$750 and that includes the little half size pins and bowling balls, so a full size set up can't cost that much more. If you know where to go, you can get old pins for free from many bowling centers.

Bill, if you ever do hit that jackpot and build your own bowling center you should have a grand opening night of free bowling for all us forum members to come down and congratulate you on your win. If I ever win that kind of money, I don't think I'd own my own bowling center, but you can be sure I'd have a nice big game room in the basement with two brand new lanes with ball return and pinsetters in it just for me. And an entire DV8 arsenal of balls to go with it!