Dedicated sim room in Louisiana

[kalcormier]

I found this forum a little over a year ago. Like so many others it has been a wealth of knowledge and inspiration for me. It's time to give back.

My first build was in a 2 bed 1 bath house I was renting. Therefore, everything had to be removable. The only space big enough was the living room at 15 x 10 x 8. It was tight but doable. So I moved all my furniture into the spare bedroom and setup the simulator. My girlfriend thought I was crazy but it had a benefit I will share in a little bit. I did have to repair a few holes in the drywall when I moved out.

Specs were:
EMT frame with connectors from www.a1tarps.com
10 x 8.5 Carl's Preferred Screen.
4 x 5 CCE real feel hitting mat
Viewsonic PJD5553LWS Projector
Home Depot indoor/outdoor cheap turf
Toshiba Satellite CPU with intergrated graphics card (below recommended spec but it works)
Sklz Putting Mat
Skytrak launch monitor
TGC and E6 software



At the beginning of the year we started house hunting. She did not want a golf sim in the living room and I didn't want to be stuck in the garage. So the deal was if she got a nice kitchen then I could do whatever I wanted for a golf room. We moved in at the end of February and I set up temporarily in the garage. All the same stuff with a couple upgrades. The garage actually wasn't bad until Summer came.

The CCE mat had started causing shoulder pain so I added a Divot Action Insert and a Birdie Ball Putting Mat.



Here is version 3.0. The back patio is 17 x 17. It was setup to be a 4th bedroom. It will be the dedicated golf sim room.

I was lucky that the foundation and roof was already there. We started by framing in the walls.


Next I wanted to increase the Ceiling height from 8' to 9'. So we cut out the ceiling joists and recessed the center section.




Once that was complete the outside was blacked in and the Roxul Safe and Sound insulation was added.


The outside was wrapped in Hardi Plank boards to match the existing siding.


The inside was wrapped in Luan plywood.


Then came the painting.


Next I hung the screen. This time by the slotted angle iron method. I have a new Direct from the mill screen coming to fill the whole wall.

I ran the HDMI cable and brought the laptop cart in.


I order a ton of turf samples. I will be putting wall to wall turf from Grass Tex. I went with the True Turf product which is the same as STI NP50. And some fringe for the borders.


I was trying to hold off on posting to show the finished product but I figured it would be a pretty long post and I could always come back and add the new pictures.


Stay tuned for more pics when the new screen and turf are installed.

[gene438]

Very nice....where in Louisiana are you located. I'm in Baton Rouge and I have a full room simulator with turf putting green like I think you are going for. My suggestion is to build a sub-floor or devise another way to allow multiple putting holes. The turf is expensive, but I suggest to not skimp because I believe you will may find it is the best part of the room.....

If you are close by and want to see my setup or need help, let me know.

Gene

[kalcormier]

HI gene438 I'm in Monroe but grew up near Lafayette. There's 3 or 4 rooms I have bookmarked that I've looked at countless times. Yours is one of them. You went with the NP45 turf right? I definitely didn't skimp. I had settled on the 45 too but then changed to the NP50 at the last minute. My plan was to lay down some foam tiles and roll out the turf on top of that. Then get a coring bit to drill some holes out in the concrete to drop cups in. The company where I bought the turf said most people build a wooden subfloor and staple the turf down. Do you think that is necessary? How did you go about installing it?

[gene438]

Yes, I built a subfloor out of 3/4 in plywood and 1 x4's . Then put carpet pad, then the turf. I stuffed insulation in between frame and plywood to kill any noise. I way overbuilt but it is solid as a rock.

BTW, I grew up in Monroe and graduated NLU .... Good luck on the build.

[legendsfan]

I think the coring bit for the concrete is a wise decision. You don't want to lose any height and the concrete can easily be drilled for the cups. I did something very similar for my install.

[gene438]

Legend is right...losing height may be paramount and rule a sub-floor out. Here is a link to the cups I used.

https://www.amazon.com/Kingtop-Practice-Putting-Bright-Plastic/dp/B072JRP284/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1530308797&sr=8-3-spons&keywords=golf+cups&psc=1

[kalcormier]

Thanks for the comments guys. I agree I word like to avoid building a subfloor if at all possible. But if stapling the turf is the best method I could do something shallow. @legensfan Did you tape the tuf to the concrete? Or how did you install?

[kalcormier]

Well I decided to lay 3/4" Tongue and groove plywood subflooring directly on the concrete . Got the turf in and rolled it out so it can relax.

[MSUGOGRN]

Following this project pretty closely. Going to look great. Curious why lay the sub-flooring on top of concrete vs just laying the turf right on the concrete?

[kalcormier]

In my old build I just laid my CCE mat on top of the cheap artificial turf. It worked but it's difficult to get a feel for distance with the ball dropping off the end of the mat when putting. In this modification I wanted my Divot Action insert to be level with the turf around it. I needed a way to recess it. I thought about the interlocking foam tiles but went with the plywood in case the turf doesn't lay perfectly flat and I have to staple it down.

[MSUGOGRN]

That's a great point. I can totally see how you need to raise the turf up a little bit. Had not thought about that yet but I can absolutely see now how putts would down off the mat. What about attaching the turf to the sub-flooring? For concrete, I would have probably just glued it in certain places. Would that work for the wood as well?

[kalcormier]

I would imagine glue would work, possibly carpet tape, and I've read where someone on this site used narrow crown staples. I'm leaning towards the staple route.

[wjochetz]

kalcormier Great looking build! I'm planning to do something very similar with the ceiling joists in my garage to raise the ceiling height. Do you have any more pictures of the modifications you made to the ceiling that you can post? Any commentary or advice on how you and your dad tackled that stage of the project would be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks!

[kalcormier]

Thanks! Unfortunately I don't have any more pics. If it would help you any I could get in the attic and take some from the top side. But I can try to explain what we did. If you look at picture #8, we left 1 joist on each end. Then, we cut out all the joists in between. If you look at picture #9 , we took a 2 x 10 (because the joists were 2 x 10's) and used a joist hanger on each end and hung it in between the 2 joist that weren't cut out, and also nailed it to the cutoff joist so the bottom was flush. After that, we took the cut out pieces of joist and put them back up where they originally were except now they are 10 inches higher because each end is resting on the 2 x 10's. I hope that helps, it's kind of hard to explain. Let me know if you want the pics from in the attic. Where are you located?

[wjochetz]

Thanks for the response! Very helpful! I’m located in Houston. When you reinstalled the cut joists, did you fasten them to the perpendicular joists, the rafters or both? In picture #7, it looks like you originally had a strongback running perpendicular on top of the ceiling joists with 2x4’s running vertically from the strongback to the ridge board. My garage also has these but most framing I’ve seen for hip roofs don’t and, given that they are only 2x4’s, my suspicion is that the purpose of the two vertical 2x4’s was more for supporting the ridge board while the rafters were being installed rather than them being needed for support after all the rafters were installed. Did you reinstall these after reinstalling the cut joists? Again, thanks for your help!!

[kalcormier]

Yes, they were fastened to both. And no, we knocked them out and didn't put them back. I think your suspicion is correct. No problem, Let me know if there is anything else I can help with.

[kalcormier]

Finally got up the courage to cut a 12 x 24 hole in the middle of my new turf to recess the divot action insert. It was definitely nerve racking but I couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

[kalcormier]

I also got the fringe around the edges cut and installed. New screen will be here Monday.

[ballgame168]

Where did you get your turf and how did you install?

[kalcormier]

Ordered the turf from Grass-Tex. As of now it is just rolled out. Because of the backing it lays flat and it's big enough it doesn't move. I have the option to staple it if need be.

[gene438]

I know it sounds crazy...but kalcormier is right...I just rolled out my turf and I think I might have stapled one edge, but a piece that big will just roll out and stay in place...no need to glue, staple, etc.

[ballgame168]

Sorry. Meant the fringe. Grass-Tex as well? If so, what what model?

[kalcormier]

Grasstex soft landing

[kalcormier]

[kalcormier]

New screen mounted