Back Garden Simulator Build UK

[Slither66]

So this has been a 2 year project, although it wasn't supposed to take that long but we had a few hiccups along the way.

As both my wife & I played golf we decided that our dream would be to build a golf simulator in our back garden to use over the winter months, we had thought about building it in the garage but that was going to be too small and we ending up coverting it into a gym.

I'll attached a few pictures with some commentary and keep adding to this thread over the next couple of days until we get up to where we are currently, any questions please ask away.

Please ignore the Rabbit Hut & the Washing, in the corner is our decking that had been up for 20 years and was starting to rot & being in the UK we were lucky if we could use it half a dozen times a year for BBQ's & sitting out.

There was a lot of trips to the tip & these old railway sleepers we so rotten in parts they disintegrated in your hands when lifting them up.

[Slither66]

Once we had shifted all the rubbish out of the way which took a few weekends we were able to start work on the building itself, with the floor coming first.

We had 9 x 3 (225 x 75) SC4 graded tanalised joists laid flat and cantilevered out to give us a distance of 17 feet (5.1mtrs), then used 5 x 2 (125 x 47) SC4 graded joists tantalised joists at 400 centres that would form the floor. These were 14 feet long (4.2mtrs)

[Slither66]

Onto the floor and the timber frame kit, it's tough work putting up a kit with just two of you & the need for a rest ever so often was required

We also had to join the panels and clad them first when putting them up against the fence, which made them a lot heavier.

My wife choose the cladding design, we used a Fortex Freefoam 333mm Slate Grey Cladding along with natural Western Red Cedar Cladding.

[Slither66]

With all the walls up, it was time to clad the front as well.

And then it was time for our first hiccup....ooppss, unknowingly we had built the building too high & it was time for the local council to visit.

The build was put on hold.

For anyone that is interested in the UK you can only build up to 2.5mtrs high against a boundary fence. There are also a lot more rules & regulations to consider but that's for another day.

[Slither66]

After 6 months of consultation with the council and having to put in revised plans we were finally given the go ahead, 2 foot (600mm) had to come off the top & we had to lower the base by 6" (150mm), not an easy job at all and a lesson well learned.

The wet & icy winter also took its toll on the floor and we had to cut this away & re-floor it.

[Slither66]

So onto the next challenge, we had lost a lot of height & therefore had to re-think about how would we be able to swing a club with the height being extremely tight now.

To start with I had the roof layout re-designed, from 9" (225mm) Space Joists in a straight run to now having the swing section part of the building using 4 x 2 (100 x 47) SC4 grade joists running at right angles to the main joists, that would gain us an extra 5" (125mm) of ceiling height back.

[Slither66]

Onto the roof then...……, this was fairly straight forward

[Slither66]

Time to deck the roof and be water tight for the first time

[Slither66]

Onto the doors & windows....

[Slither66]

Now for the decking...starting to look like a meaningful building....and then my dad passed away & everything stopped for a couple of months while we helped my mum deal with everything.

[Slither66]

Back to building again, this would be around May this year & onto the inside....so this is where I may another addition to my swing height challenge and went down into the floor....

[Slither66]

At this point you'll also notice that we went with the Protee system, our reasons for choosing this came down to our research & budget...we wanted something that would feedback all the vital elements of our golf swing and be in real time as well. It was a pretty easy decision, the feedback on the forums was good, the software options were excellent, their support team had fantastic write ups & Dave their representative here in the UK was excellent to deal with plus our cat liked it :-)

[Slither66]

On with the and testing out the net before we went any further, how far off the back wall could we go, how well did the bungies work, was the scaffolding the right decision for the frame. Again we had researched and it all proved to be good, so thank you for others that had posted their builds on hear as this is where we pinched a lot of the ideas from.

[Slither66]

Time for the 1st fix electrics to be put in and then to insulate, vapour barrier & clad the walls

[Slither66]

Now it was starting to come together and look like we might be getting somewhere, then unfortunately my wife's dad passed away & the build sat again while we dealt with another life event...so sad.