New Build - low(er) ceiling heights

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  • bkeddie
    Junior Member
    • Nov 2020
    • 3
    #1

    New Build - low(er) ceiling heights

    I'd love to install a sim but the best place in my basement has ceilings just under 9'. I'd need to hit into an area of my basement that has the drywalled duct work which lowers that height to just under 8'. All of the packages I've seen have a minimum height of 8 or 9'.
    Any idea of where to buy a package? And/or if I build from scratch (w/ help from this forum) will having the lower ceiling heights where the hitting screen bay is be a problem?
    Frankly, not sure where to begin so any help is appreicated.
    Tags: None
    • 3on3putt
      Champion Member
      • Mar 2019
      • 1315
      #2
      Just build your own. You'll save money and be able to customize it to your liking. (Plus it's just more fun)

      You will likely not be able to hit driver or 3-wood, but that's okay. Anything is better than nothing. And there's still plenty of ways to enjoy a sim even if it's just with irons. Plenty of people are in that same boat.

      With such a low ceiling, I would recommend maybe not doing an enclosure but rather just hanging a screen and then putting up some foam padding on the ceiling above the screen.

        Comment

        • mthunt
          Ultimate Member
          • Aug 2014
          • 4746
          #3
          Originally posted by bkeddie View Post
          I'd love to install a sim but the best place in my basement has ceilings just under 9'. I'd need to hit into an area of my basement that has the drywalled duct work which lowers that height to just under 8'. All of the packages I've seen have a minimum height of 8 or 9'.
          Any idea of where to buy a package? And/or if I build from scratch (w/ help from this forum) will having the lower ceiling heights where the hitting screen bay is be a problem?
          Frankly, not sure where to begin so any help is appreicated.
          Paging Mr 88 Wizard of Coz
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            Comment

            • Wizard of Coz
              #3.1
              Wizard of Coz commented
              11-19-2020, 03:57 AM
              Editing a comment
              Yep the Wiz special 94! He even hits driver and made his own enclosure with 1inch emt pipe. Why wouldn't you build it? It's ez and I don't see where ceiling height restrictions would eliminate building the enclosure. 14 ft wide but only 3ft deep. Hitting from 8.5 ft away.
            • enigmamatt
              Member
              • Nov 2018
              • 68
              #4
              I agree with the comments above around not doing an enclosure, per se. Before we finished our basement I just had netting / screen hanging and it worked well. You could also consider raising the ceiling in your basement -- gets pricey because you need an engineer to do some work for you, but it's what we did to get from 8'10'' to 9'8''. Big difference.

                Comment

                • bkeddie
                  Junior Member
                  • Nov 2020
                  • 3
                  #5
                  Originally posted by enigmamatt View Post
                  I agree with the comments above around not doing an enclosure, per se. Before we finished our basement I just had netting / screen hanging and it worked well. You could also consider raising the ceiling in your basement -- gets pricey because you need an engineer to do some work for you, but it's what we did to get from 8'10'' to 9'8''. Big difference.
                  How did you raise your ceiling height?

                    Comment

                    • enigmamatt
                      Member
                      • Nov 2018
                      • 68
                      #6
                      Originally posted by bkeddie View Post

                      How did you raise your ceiling height?
                      I'm assuming you have 14 inch iBeam joists. A contractor / engineer can help you still properly support the floor above by running LVL beams for a certain distance / span (they can tell you what can be supported), and then you will be able to do smaller beams running between the two LVLs (we were able to do 4 inch thick LVLs between the 14 inch LVL beams -- thus opening up 10 inches of space). Definitely NOT a DIY project...but it was cheaper than ripping up concrete to lower the floor...


                      If you take a look in this thread, I posted a before / after pic of the framing. https://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum...h-low-ceilings

                        Comment

                        • Gresh12
                          Advanced Member
                          • Feb 2017
                          • 277
                          #7
                          I have 8’ in my garage and I’ve had a launch monitor for a couple years now. Be sure you can swing comfortably with enough club to be happy.

                          I had a flat swing so I was hitting 5 iron down for quite awhile and a very choked down 3 hybrid as a tee club (I also am friends with a club fitter so he build me a driver with reasonable flex and weighting at 5 iron length). I have a ton of marks on my ceiling and two large holes now.

                          I’ve since been doing lessons and swinging way more up and now my garage is basically useless for anything than wedge practice. I’ve setup in the backyard now which is way better in summer but where I live it rains a lot so for 6 months of the year I can’t play sim golf (I take my launch monitor to the range though so I’m still happy I have it).

                          Folks on here warned me 8’ wasn’t enough and I wanted it so much I do feel I forced it in. I don’t have regret on the launch monitor but TGC got little use as only irons didn’t feel like real golf so I’d end up just hitting balls on sim range.

                          Not trying to talk you out of it but just be sure to test swing a lot and be sure whatever you can swing is enough for you.

                            Comment

                            • bkeddie
                              Junior Member
                              • Nov 2020
                              • 3
                              #8
                              Originally posted by Gresh12 View Post
                              I have 8’ in my garage and I’ve had a launch monitor for a couple years now. Be sure you can swing comfortably with enough club to be happy.

                              I had a flat swing so I was hitting 5 iron down for quite awhile and a very choked down 3 hybrid as a tee club (I also am friends with a club fitter so he build me a driver with reasonable flex and weighting at 5 iron length). I have a ton of marks on my ceiling and two large holes now.

                              I’ve since been doing lessons and swinging way more up and now my garage is basically useless for anything than wedge practice. I’ve setup in the backyard now which is way better in summer but where I live it rains a lot so for 6 months of the year I can’t play sim golf (I take my launch monitor to the range though so I’m still happy I have it).

                              Folks on here warned me 8’ wasn’t enough and I wanted it so much I do feel I forced it in. I don’t have regret on the launch monitor but TGC got little use as only irons didn’t feel like real golf so I’d end up just hitting balls on sim range.

                              Not trying to talk you out of it but just be sure to test swing a lot and be sure whatever you can swing is enough for you.
                              Precisely what I'm worried about. I'm a touch under 9 now - a 7 iron is fine, need to check on a 5 iron. Driver no way. Going to talk to a contractor about raising the ceiling as has been suggested. Luckily my wife is fully on board.

                                Comment

                                • 3on3putt
                                  Champion Member
                                  • Mar 2019
                                  • 1315
                                  #9
                                  Originally posted by bkeddie View Post

                                  Precisely what I'm worried about. I'm a touch under 9 now - a 7 iron is fine, need to check on a 5 iron. Driver no way. Going to talk to a contractor about raising the ceiling as has been suggested. Luckily my wife is fully on board.
                                  I've seen a few people with basement builds who have actually dug out the floor some to create more ceiling height that way.

                                  Also, consider a backyard shed. The cost of a shed might end up being cheaper than the cost of raising ceilings or digging out floors.

                                    Comment

                                    • enigmamatt
                                      Member
                                      • Nov 2018
                                      • 68
                                      #10
                                      Originally posted by 3on3putt View Post

                                      I've seen a few people with basement builds who have actually dug out the floor some to create more ceiling height that way.

                                      Also, consider a backyard shed. The cost of a shed might end up being cheaper than the cost of raising ceilings or digging out floors.
                                      Just a comment on the floor dig out option -- it was about 2x the price of the ceiling raise option (probably $15-$20k to do the floor). And you have to be especially careful depending on where the foundation footers are poured. Definitely looked into that option, but it is even more intense than raising a ceiling. That said, it's certainly been done and done well by some on these forums.

                                      Good to have the Mrs. onboard bkeddie - very key! Keep us posted on how it goes.

                                        Comment

                                        • 3on3putt
                                          #10.1
                                          3on3putt commented
                                          11-19-2020, 06:51 PM
                                          Editing a comment
                                          Yikes that is pricey!
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