Raised Sim Floor

[irishgolfer62]

I currently use 9 x 1 meter golf mats for my sim room. They are the high quality Chinese foam back mats people on here are saying are very good, which they are.
Putting on the mats is not a great experience however so I would like to setup a new floor using a high quality golf mat as a base and then insert a hitting mat like Truestrike into the floor to hit off.
Anyone got a solution for this as I haven’t seen anything that I can buy.

[Gman17]

Here is what I built for my Fiberbuilt hitting mat. All 2" x 4" spaced every 16" apart. I bought the TFD Nylon 36 Padded (5mm) from the Turf Factory Direct for the rest of the flooring.

[Brettster]

Very nice Gman17 - is that 3/4" plywood on top of the 2x4s? Is that construction grade plywood, or better, or worse? I guess, how much did you pay for all that lumber (by the sheet/piece) and where did you buy it?

I'm going to be at that point soon - and lumber prices are so crazy right now, which I don't think they are going down any time soon either!

[Gman17]

Hey Brettster, Sorry for the delayed reply. I just got back from a long vacation and stayed off my device the whole time! Wow was that refreshing!

I used 5/8" OSB Board. A heck of a lot cheaper than plywood. I also cut some 8' 2 X 4's in half and then cut them diagonally to build a ramp. Blow up the picture and you can see it. It works great! I think for everything you see there, it was around $ 700. Well worth the expense IMO!!

Let me know if you have any other questions.

[Brettster]

Hey Gman17 - sorry, finally getting back into my sim build and saw your reply. It looks great, and that ramp does too.

Yes, OSB board will do the trick. I'm likely going to go with 1/2" across the entire floor, but after I drop in Foamular (insulation board) to cover the entire area first. Did you put anything down on the floor itself first (concrete I assume)? I may consider plastic/visquene for that, or nothing at all... Either way, I want a nice 'slicable' floor that I can cutout for my ProTee sensors, and also for any divot-action type mats that I may need to use on top for my Garmin Approach R10.

Regarding that ramp, yes, I'd like to consider that as well, wish you had a picture as I'm trying to picture this, so you went with 4' (2x4s) and you cut them diagonally to make the ramp? It's possible, but then I lose that space for putting practice, so I may not do that - at least to start. Sure is exciting seeing this all come together. Can't wait.... we still have some warm temperatures ahead for the next few weeks, so will be out on course, as I work on Sim.

[bubbtubbs]

It looks like only the last 2' are inclined, assuming 10' span on the 2x4 uppers.

[Gman17]

Brettster,

The frame is sitting directly on top of the concrete floor.

Regarding the putting, I have no troubles. You get use to it. Not shown yet are the cups I have. I sketched out where the boards are and now have to cut holes in the turf and OSB......then insert the cups (which will have to be cut down so the don't bottom out on the Sub-Floor). FYI: the width of my sim is 15' and the ramp is 4' in depth. The ramps have been great. The ball usually rolls back down directly to the hitting mat. To me, that is more important than shagging a ball after every shot. My friends love it as well!

If you would like a sketch on the building the ramps, let me know and I will send it to you.

[Brownie]

Will you please send me a sketch or photos? I am using a Softstrike mat that is 1 3/8" thick, 10' from the screen. I want to slope a ramp to the front edge of it. I will carpet it with the Camry Golf rug (11 stimp). Thanks so much. chris4428@gmail.com

[Brettster]

Gman17 please send me a sketch, I'm going to consider building it, maybe I will leave the edges of my 12' width 'rampless' for putting longer putts, that seems a good tradeoff - I would think most shots are going to be on the inside 8' or so of net/screen anyway?

[chrisrbr]

How difficult was it to cut the turf around the hitting mat? My Pro15 turf looks hard to cut. Want to avoid jagged cuts.

[Gman17]

Brownie, I am 10' from the screen and the 4' ramps are perfect. I am putting off of a Fiberbuilt mat onto this product https://turffactorydirect.com/produc...36-padded-5mm/ . I would guess it is a 10 Stimp.

Brettster, that is a good idea. I would add a cup that inserts into the ramp. You can practice putting from different angles to calculate your lines on a slop.

Chrisbr, It was a b.tch cutting the turf for placing my Fiberbuilt into the cavity. I finally accepted that the cut out was not going to be perfect and did the best I could. I am sure a carpet layer has the right tools and skills, but I wasn't going to pay someone to come out and cut a small opening in the turf.

Below is what my cutout looks like (you can see the ramp near the screen). Sketches and more pics will follow tomorrow!

[Gman17]

These pics didn't upload.

[Brettster]

Thanks for extra pics Gman17 ... regarding all those curtains, 1.) where did you purchase those, and how many were required to cover all that space? 2.) do they catch 'shanks' pretty good and just drop them down without the ball hitting any of the beams/(would be walls) behind? I'm thinking of going that route as well, at least for about 6'-8' in front of the screen, probably leave the back 4'-6' curtainless, no way I'm going to hit a ball backwards!