Simulator Basement Buildout

[mjbgolf]

My wife and I decided to build a home with an unfinished basement that I would perform a custom finish incorporating a golf simulator. After much consideration, I decided to go with Protee. The first consideration was a projector. I didn’t want to be in the shadow, so I wanted a low throw projector. I chose a BenQ 1080ST manufacturer refurbished from EBay.



I wanted to make sure that the sound was dampened and not loud upstairs. I put 1” foam board insulation in between the joists. This was a little difficult to cut the size properly, but works great for noise. I then put regular bat insulation beneath the foam board.



I put plywood in places where the ball could hit the wall instead of drywall. I also had to figure out where I needed cables and run them in the ceiling. I ran the USB cameral cables in a conduit, projector cable conduit, projector outlet, speaker wire. You need to have a conduit in case the USB cables go bad so you can run a tape measure or something else in there to pull new cables. This has to be metal conduit to meet building code for low current. I later ran a switched outlet to where the USB cable hangs out for the halogen lights.



I wanted an incised location for the audio / video. The touchscreen will be located directly above it.

[mjbgolf]

I wanted carpet on the walls to dampen the sound. The best deal I found was black indoor / outdoor at Menards for $0.45 per sf. I used crown staples to hang the carpet with double sided carpet tape on the seams. You can use glue to hang but it’s impossible to get off without ruining the drywall.


I wanted to put carpet on the ceiling too, but there wasn't a good way to install. After much research, I decided to use the Fabrimate system.www.fabricmate.com/sfs.php This is a track system to stretches fabric tight to make fabric boards. I couldn't find anything like this any cheaper than here at $1.90 per lf. They make a product called ReCore board that is recycled water bottles that comes in 4'x8' sheets like drywall www.fabricmate.com/cores-recore.php . This acts in two ways for this application: first as a sound dampener, and second as protection where balls hit. This stuff costs about $1.50 per sf, so I only used it where balls or clubs would hit the ceiling. Everywhere else I used 1/2" foam board that is about $0.33 per sf.

[mjbgolf]

The fabric I purchased locally instead of Fabrimate. They are in California, so shipping is expensive. The material is recycled polyester that comes in 66” rolls. It’s pretty easy to install. There is a pizza cutter looking tool that runs the fabric into the track.







Since the projector is right over the golfer, I wanted to protect it. I build a box out of black shelving board that I bought at Menards.

[mjbgolf]

I had sheets of 1” foam board insulation leftover, so I fastened one to the wall behind the screen. I have a bunch of thick moving blankets also leftover, so I put bungies on them and hung them behind the screen in lieu of a net to dampen sound and provide support for the screen.

[mjbgolf]

I had both 1” and ½” foam insulation leftover so I made a stance mat out of them. I glued them to together and topped it with 3/16” plyboard. I taped the ends with black gorilla tape. I purchased a 6’x10’ roll of turf from www.allturfmats.com/product-p/pb72120.htm for $175. The whole assembly is pretty light weight so moving is really easy. The foam can slide a little on carpet so I put a rubber mat down underneath that I bought from Home Depot that is for rugs on wood floors.

[mjbgolf]

I put double sconse lights in the room to give it the home theater look. I got a Dell touchscreen, but found out that a real keyboard is WAY more efficient for the game, especially for aiming right and left and choosing clubs. I’ll have to build something to put the keyboard below the monitor. Right now it’s on an end table. I used some of the extra carpet and fabric to make curtains around the screen to look more professional.



Lastly, I wanted to build a nice bar for the gents to hangout during and after rounds. I call my room “The Boardroom”. Meetings take place nightly!

[mcook]

Matt you did a great job! Look forward to playing online with you!
I built a subfloor for my ProTee sensors and had them sunken in. One of my friends has a low follow thru and because he went further than my ProTee hitting sensor he cause my turf and ripped it. Per Zmax's suggestion I added a Fiberbuilt extension panel. It's the same company that builds the ProTree grass top and it tongue and grooves right to the end of your ProTee sensor. No there's no worries for me whenever I have people over that they could catch the turf past the sensor mat. Check out your follow thru area past the hitting sense and feel if a low follow thru could catch your turf.

http://www.fiberbuilt.com/golf/fiberbuilt-grass/
I called Firberbuilt and got the fairway grass panel without the tee holes.

[Jsgregg]

Absolutely fantastic!! Very well thought out. You really have done a terrific job.

How do you like the projector? If you moved it back slightly and switched to 4:3 you could fill the whole screen.

[mjbgolf]

The projector is really good. 1080P and 3D capabilities. This is also going to be used as a home theater, so I wanted 16:9. I mulled that over for a while and decided the white at the bottom was fine. Movies look amazing in the room. Everything is dark and there is only 1 window, so the picture is very bright.

[Maverick]

Great job Matt! The room looks awesome.

As Michael said, you'll want to add a fairway extension panel. Also, you might want to look into adding a wireless remote control/mouse with a mini keyboard. Works like a Wii controller.

Let us know when you want to test online play.

[Maverick]

Also, looking at the picture of the floor, the light beams should be centered over each sensor. And they should also overlap a little.

[Maverick]

Fixed attachments.