Sim room 2020 - Time to get serious

[abirdie4me]

I started building out my Sim room about 4 years ago, but work/family/money got in the way of me ever finishing it. It was functional, but not attractive. My kids are now getting old enough to show interest in golf, so I decided to tear it down and start from scratch. Here is the original room:



A couple of notes:

• The studs on the left and right walls don't line up, so I nailed up some 2x4's so I could hang the screen flat. I thought I would be building a box around them to cover the tarp clips, but eventually realized this approach wasn't going to work. So I left it looking like this for 4 years (LOL).
• The CCE mat has taken a beating and I've never really had elbow or wrist issues that some mention. Still dumping it and upgrading to something else.
• We built the house 6 years ago and had this space above the garage intentionally designed for a golf room. We had them put in the cheapest carpet they had because I thought I would be ripping it up as soon as we moved in...whoops.
• The mat slides all over the place, hence the 2x4's on the ground.
• Note the black marks in the middle of the screen. Rookie mistake, I hung a black backing directly behind the screen and it stained the screen over time. Sigh.
• The GC2 has been awesome, too bad Foresight software is so horrible. I only use FSX range, TGC1 and TGC 2019 for SIM play

[abirdie4me]

Here is a glamour shot of some shots I hit at the very beginning of the build, before I had a proper screen or any clue what I was doing. Hint, bedsheets and a foam mattress cover don't really work for golf Sims.

[abirdie4me]

I spent the evening ripping out everything to prepare for the new build, here is what it looks like now:

[abirdie4me]

The plan:

• I ordered SQ raw screen from Par2Pro (thanks Cory and Denise!), hoping I don't need to use the net I had behind the old screen. For mounting it, I think I'll be attaching plywood to the wall instead of 2x4's, that will give me more flexibility for building the screen borders / padded box on the sides.
• I ordered some carpet tiles from Amazon, plan to use them to protect the ceiling. The ceiling is going to be the trickiest part, there is a fire sprinkler in the middle about 2 feet from the screen that has to be able to drop down in case of fire. I'll have to cut an opening for that. There are also 2 flood lights that I will remove, as I don't need/want light that close to the screen. Also, the AC vent on the right ceiling will have to be moved, it is in the way of my ceiling bay by about 6 inches.
• Note the windows on the right, that is making this design more complicated than most. I'm planning to stop the bay just before it reaches the farthest window.
• I ordered TFD putting elite from Turf Factory Direct, will be installing it on top of 1" EVA exercise mats that I ordered from Amazon. Will probably build a subfloor so that I can put in a few holes for putting, haven't decided yet.
• I ordered the Epson L1300UNL projector with a short throw lens. Crazy expensive, but 8000 lumens should allow me to have the lights on over my hitting area without washing out the image.
• Once I get all of this done, it will be functional again but far from complete. I need to install retractable curtains that can cover the back of the SIM so I can play at night without disturbing the family. I also want to build a bar at the back, but that will be later on after my wallet heals a bit.

Comments and suggestions welcome. This is going to take a while, especially with the lock-down. No idea how long it will take for some of the items to ship, but I'm not in a huge hurry. I've waited 4 years for this.

[SomGolfer79]

I have a spare room that looks pretty similar to yours, what are the dimensions if you don’t mind sharing? Thanks

[abirdie4me]

World’s worst paint job, but I don’t care...this will all be hidden behind the screen anyway. Now on to the hard stuff...plywood on the ceiling is up next, hope to get to it tonight. Not sure what to do about that vent on the right, guess I’ll have to suck it up and go into attic to move it. Huge pain, but necessary evil I guess.

[abirdie4me]

I have a spare room that looks pretty similar to yours, what are the dimensions if you don’t mind sharing? Thanks

16’ 4” x 16’ 2”. However, the back is open to the rest of the upstairs, but I’m keeping the depth of the room at 16ish for now. Eventually I’ll add a bar at the back to semi-close off the area. Here’s a current picture of the entire upstairs, please excuse the huge mess.

[SomGolfer79]

Thanks for the info, can’t wait to see the finished product!

[GoldenSim]

I would strongly recommend a sub floor. As well as giving the option of hole cups, you can add insulation (which should help sound proofing on an upstairs install), and also consider a drop area in the sub floor where the hitting and stance areas are, to allow you to install different height solutions but end up with everything at the same height. See photos for example.

I'm not sure what carpet tiles you have ordered. I used the same idea (from mthunt ) and then when i installed them I realised that I got the same amount of bounceback as I did from plywood! My carpet tiles do not have very thick "pile" so they don't do much good for reducing bounceback. But they are great for a cosmetic finish!

[GoldenSim]

Haha - yeah, I'm pretty lucky to have this much space. But you're asking questions I'm not qualified to answer I'm 99% sure we did the sub floor with 16" centres so that standard insulation fitted. Looking at the pic, with the dropped space being 4' wide, that makes sense. The only thing I'd add, that is not professional construction advice, is think about deconstruction. If you nail anything to an existing structure, how much work would it take to fix what's left if ever you need to remove it. Either if you move your sim, or you move and want to take it with you. Good luck - it looks like it's going to be an awesome space.

[abirdie4me]

Thanks GoldenSim. The 2x4’s I ripped off the side walls pretty much destroyed my walls, including a huge hole the size of a softball at the bottom right. I’m really not very good at this stuff, but the $50k quotes I got from contractors to do this out of my price range. My work won’t look nearly as good, but will come in $45k cheaper!

Don’t plan to move anytime soon, so this will be a permanent golf room. If we do sell, the room will just be a part of the house and I’ll build a new one elsewhere.

[GoldenSim]

Fair shout. Put the $45k into sim hardware and software and you'll never look at the walls

[jasonreg]

I am thinking about acoustic sound tiles - the pyramid foam kind for sides and ceilings. Not sure how the foam will hold up but they are pretty cheap so I will give this a shot on the sides and ceilings I think.

[abirdie4me]

I’ve been considering those as well. I’m not worried about durability, as shots will rarely ever hit the ceiling or side walls in my setup (hopefully). I’m more worried about cosmetics, which unfortunately is not my strong suit. I’m winging this thing as I go.

[abirdie4me]

Got most of the plywood onto the ceiling, that was back-breaking and challenging. Just have one more piece to hang once I get the vent moved, then I can move on to the subfloor tomorrow. I’m so tired, but the sense of achievement (and cost savings) is worth it!

[abirdie4me]

Removing the carpet revealed a huge mess...the builder just stapled and glued the pad down and I spent 3 hours scraping glue and pulling up staples to get the floor ready for the sub-floor. Hats off to actual contractors / construction guys, this is freaking hard work. Starting to appreciate my desk job a bit more...

[jasonreg]

Doing things right is always a lot of work but worth it in the end. Details matter! You would be forever PO'd about that putt that breaks right over the glue spot you did not remove!

[abirdie4me]

3’ x 3’ EVA exercise tiles came in today, along with my TFD putting turf and my first hitting insert to try. Too bad I can’t lay it down quickly, I still need to build the subfloor. At least I should have the floor done by the end of the weekend.

[abirdie4me]

Tested a few theories for the side wall tonight, and I think I’ve landed on this. I used molding to cover the front edge of the plywood, which leaves just enough gap for the beveled acoustic panels to slide into. Tomorrow I will paint the molding and run it to the ceiling and hang a few more acoustic panels. I only ordered 12 since I didn’t know if they would work, now I have to wait until May 1 to get the rest of the panels that I need to cover the sides and top.

Not sure if you can tell from these photos, but I think this is going to work well. Now just need to determine how to attach the acoustic panels, will probably just glue them.

[RicoSuave]

What did you use for the acoustic panels? Are they or will they stand up to golf balls very well?

[abirdie4me]

DEKIRU Upgraded 12 Pack Acoustic Panels, 12 X 12 X 0.4 Inches Sound Proofing Studio Foam Padding High Density Bevled Edge Tiles Soundproofing Panels, Great for Wall Decoration and Acoustic Treatment

That is the description from Amazon. I have no idea if they will stand up to balls, but I don’t expect them to get hit very often. I haven’t installed them yet, so time will tell. I bought them for looks, and hopefully to reduce sound a bit.

[RicoSuave]

Thank you, much appreciated!

[abirdie4me]

I know it doesn’t look like much, but I got the walls and ceiling in the hitting area up. Massive amount of work to do by myself and without proper tools. I had to cut all the plywood with a jigsaw since I don’t have a table saw. Exhausting, but feel like I’m slowly making progress.

I got the A/C vent moved, will get that patched and painted next week. I’m taking the rest of the weekend off to rest up and enjoy the holiday with my kids and wife. They’ve been very patient with me this last week, hopefully they will enjoy the finished product.

Next up is putting in the hooks for the net. I’ve got a few ideas of how I want to do it, but haven’t settled on the final install process. My projector arrived today, unfortunately it will sit in the box unopened for a couple more weeks.

I’ve decided to do the subfloor last. I’m considering expanding backwards and using more of the open area upstairs, but will need wife acceptance before I undertake the effort of cutting into the nice carpet. That would also require another order of turf.