Hey all,
I've been planning and slowly working on my build as time and the budget has permitted.
My biggest drawback from not doing the build earlier was the garage door opener being in the middle of the garage which did not allow for any clearance. I shelled out ~$700 to get an "I Drive" (liftmaster 8500) garage door opener installed.
Once the opener was installed the fun was able to start! I went with 1" EMT to make my 12'x9' enclosure. My ceiling height at the end of the garage is about 9'6" and my garage door itself is 16' wide but there is a bulkhead to the left of the picture that didn't allow the fold up nature of this to go wider.
I used this tube cutter pictured here which was pretty easy to use and didn't take that long to cut each piece.
I will be changing out the eye bolts on the frame to a regular 1/2" hex bolt to allow for tube insulation to be installed nice and tight.
Once the frame was put together I attached 4 eye lag bolts in the ceiling so the frame could pivot up and down. I used 4 Husky velcro straps (rated at 100 lbs each) to allow for this. I used 75 lb rated bike hooks on the end that swings up and had to bend them a bit since my floor joists weren't quite close enough for them to sit on.
When the frame is up I have about 3" of clearance for the garage door but I wanted a bit more clearance so I got some 5" lag bolts and countersunk them into 2x4's so after they are on the bike hooks I can get up on the step ladder and just lift the frame up and pivot the 2x4 around to support the frame. I now have closer to 6" of clearance.
As part of this build I also did a 6'x6' DIY truestrike mat with gel underneath. I had to cut two separate pieces of 4'x8' plywood into 3'x6' and screwed them together with pocket holes using a Kreg Jig. I used a jigsaw to cut the holes out and used saran wrap to wrap the gel since it was very hard to handle the gel since it was sticky. I used gorilla tape on both the back and front of the plywood so the gel wouldn't fall out. I used 3/4" screws to attach the hitting mat to the plywood. The hitting mat is a 6'x'6 premium residential from allturfmats.
I did the same countersunk 2x4 with a 5" lag bolt to snug the hitting platform to the wall and then used eye bolts to attach the 12'x9' turf floor to the wall with some spare Husky velcro straps to get the turf off the floor.
The last pieces to the puzzle will be adding a 6'x32' roll of carpet to the frame as a blackout shade and to prevent any mishits. Once I complete that I will pull the trigger on a screen, hopefully from the mill if I make the cut or I'll go Carl's Premium.
After that all I need to do is buy my projector, BenQ 2150st and I'll be making a custom upright manual zoom ceiling mount so I can adjust from 16x9 to 4x3.
Last but not least, I'll be buying a SkyTrak unit and be playing Pebble Beach in no time!
Images:
I've been planning and slowly working on my build as time and the budget has permitted.
My biggest drawback from not doing the build earlier was the garage door opener being in the middle of the garage which did not allow for any clearance. I shelled out ~$700 to get an "I Drive" (liftmaster 8500) garage door opener installed.
Once the opener was installed the fun was able to start! I went with 1" EMT to make my 12'x9' enclosure. My ceiling height at the end of the garage is about 9'6" and my garage door itself is 16' wide but there is a bulkhead to the left of the picture that didn't allow the fold up nature of this to go wider.
I used this tube cutter pictured here which was pretty easy to use and didn't take that long to cut each piece.
I will be changing out the eye bolts on the frame to a regular 1/2" hex bolt to allow for tube insulation to be installed nice and tight.
Once the frame was put together I attached 4 eye lag bolts in the ceiling so the frame could pivot up and down. I used 4 Husky velcro straps (rated at 100 lbs each) to allow for this. I used 75 lb rated bike hooks on the end that swings up and had to bend them a bit since my floor joists weren't quite close enough for them to sit on.
When the frame is up I have about 3" of clearance for the garage door but I wanted a bit more clearance so I got some 5" lag bolts and countersunk them into 2x4's so after they are on the bike hooks I can get up on the step ladder and just lift the frame up and pivot the 2x4 around to support the frame. I now have closer to 6" of clearance.
As part of this build I also did a 6'x6' DIY truestrike mat with gel underneath. I had to cut two separate pieces of 4'x8' plywood into 3'x6' and screwed them together with pocket holes using a Kreg Jig. I used a jigsaw to cut the holes out and used saran wrap to wrap the gel since it was very hard to handle the gel since it was sticky. I used gorilla tape on both the back and front of the plywood so the gel wouldn't fall out. I used 3/4" screws to attach the hitting mat to the plywood. The hitting mat is a 6'x'6 premium residential from allturfmats.
I did the same countersunk 2x4 with a 5" lag bolt to snug the hitting platform to the wall and then used eye bolts to attach the 12'x9' turf floor to the wall with some spare Husky velcro straps to get the turf off the floor.
The last pieces to the puzzle will be adding a 6'x32' roll of carpet to the frame as a blackout shade and to prevent any mishits. Once I complete that I will pull the trigger on a screen, hopefully from the mill if I make the cut or I'll go Carl's Premium.
After that all I need to do is buy my projector, BenQ 2150st and I'll be making a custom upright manual zoom ceiling mount so I can adjust from 16x9 to 4x3.
Last but not least, I'll be buying a SkyTrak unit and be playing Pebble Beach in no time!
Images:
Comment