DIY - Level platform for hitting strips to span garage drain

[JGolf7]

Hello,

First time poster but long time forum researcher.

I am setting up my golf simulator in the garage. I ran into an issue where my garage floor slightly slopes towards a drain in the center. I want to build a platform that is level and spans the drain. I also need to platform to be moveable so we can park cars in the garage after each session. I purchased a CCE 1x3 strip and have a Fiberbuilt 1x3 strip arriving soon. I’ve been searching these forums to get ideas on the platform and finally came to the following options for platform sizes and platform heights.


Platform Heights:
There are two different platform heights that I am considering. I would like the height to be as low as possible, but I am concerned about the strength underneath the CCE or FB as I would be using 1x2's on their side (although I wouldn’t expect anyone to step on the hitting mat). I also have concerns about the 0.5" carpet padding and how far it might compress when standing on it since the goal is to get the golf mat flush with the carpet.


Option 1: 2.75" Height

• Standing areas section
  • 2x4 on its side (1.5" height)
  • 0.5" OSB
  • 0.5" Carpet Padding
  • 0.25" Carpet
• Hitting mat section
  • 1x2 on its side (0.75" height)
  • 0.25" OSB
  • 1.75" Golf Mat (Fiber and CCE seem to be this height, shims could be used for Holy Grail if needed)
• Pro - More piece of mind with freely swinging all clubs
• Con - Concerned about the strength of the platform underneath hitting mat.

Option 2: 3.5" Height

• Standing areas section
  • 2x4 on its side (1.5" height)
  • 0.5" OSB
  • 0.75" Hard Pink Insulation Styrofoam
  • 0.5" Carpet Padding
  • 0.25" Carpet
• Hitting mat section
  • 2x4 on its side (1.5" height)
  • 0.25" OSB
  • 1.75" Golf Mat (Fiber and CCE seem to be this height, shims could be used for Holy Grail if needed)
• Pro - More structure under hitting mat
• Con - Might change my driver swing or potentially hit ceiling on a wild swing.

Platform Sizes:
The two different platform sizes I am thinking about are ~ 6'x10' and ~ 4'x8'. The 6'x10' would be nice because I could hit off the CCE and FB just by spinning the platform. I am not sure if I would need any bracing between the parallel 2x4s running the length of the platform or if I potentially have too many parallel 2x4s and it doesn’t need them all for strength. I worry about the weight of all the 2x4s in the larger build, especially if the platform is supposed to be portable.


~ 6' x 10'

• Details
  • Able to hit off CCE and FB
  • Any additional bracing would be 9.58" 2x4s
• Pro - Able to hit off two different hitting strips by simply spinning the platform
• Con - This might be very heavy and not very portable

~ 4' x 8'

• Details
  • A single hitting mat would be available
  • Any additional bracing would be 11.33" 2x4s
  • There are two 2x4s that I would need to make 2.625" for the platform to be 4' wide. I could make it wider and use a 3.5" 2x4.
• Pro - Lighter weight (portable)
• Con - Can only hit off a single golf mat (not sure if it would be easy to swap out the hitting strips although I think the CCE and Fiberbuilt strips are similar size)

Questions for the experts:

1. Do you guys think the 2.75" platform height would work? Would the 1x2s be strong enough underneath the hitting mat (strong enough for impact of club on mat)?
2. Does the makeup of the platform seem to be ok? Carpet padding directly on OSB with carpet over top, does this sound like it would be firm or soft?
3. Which platform size would be better? I wanted to 6' x 10' but it might be extremely heavy and would take a lot of work attempting to get 2x hitting mats to be level with the standing area instead of just 1.
4. Just looking for opinions overall, I have 9’4” ceilings in the garage and am 6’3” tall so I want something lower to the ground but I think it is important that I span the drain and the platform is level.

Thank you!
J

[chicub15]

I built something very similar using a Fiberbuilt 1x3 hitting strip. I made mine the correct height so that with the hitting strip just sitting on a gym floor foam tile everything was flush (stance mat, hitting insert, putting grass) and the foam has held up well. I would have no concerns over using 1x2.

[JGolf7]

Ok great. Thank you for the info!

Merry Christmas!