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Hey new friends,
So like many others, this quarantine gave me an excuse to do something I've wanted to do for a long time. I claimed a side of the garage and built out my simulator with the help of reading several posts here and online research. Given this was my first foray into this I wanted to keep to a pretty tight budget. With a family I'm not sure how much time I'll get to put in the sim, so no sense in going overboard initially. I figure I can always upgrade things if I can justify it based on usage. Also, I tend to be pretty frugal so anywhere I can save a penny I will.
Design Goal: A nice looking setup; comfortable place I could have a few friends over, and get some swings in when the weather sucks here in northern VA.
Target Budget: Under $4,000
Space: So like I said, this is in my garage. I had an overall depth of 20ft, 9ft wide but the ceilings are only 8.5ft so that's my real limiting factor. I'm average height and can easily swing all irons and my 3 wood, but my driver is a little too close. I can swing it, but if I really crank one I end up hitting the ceiling. There's also a beam that cuts all the way across and hangs down about 16in so that limited my directionality, otherwise I probably would have set it up to go the other way.
Components:
Launch Monitor - Skytrak w/GIP ($2,400 bought used from a member here)
Screen - SQ Raw (Imperfect) from Par2Pro ($200)
Projector - Viewsonic PS501x ($405 factory refurb from Viewsonic)
25' HDMI Cable from Lowes - ($35)
Enclosure - 2x4's and deck post brackets from Lowes ($80)
Mat - 5 Star ReACTION 5'x5' ($215)
Ceiling Protection - Foam insulation and foam acoustic tiles ($75)
Bungee balls, tarp clips, curtains, etc. ($100)
Carpet - EcoRug 6'x8' from Lowes (3 @ $22 each)
Paint and other miscellaneous ($50)
For the ceiling protection, I picked up a 3/4" thick 4'x8' foam insulation board at Lowes that's used to insulate the exterior of homes/buildings. It's pretty firm, but I wanted to dress it up a bit so I used a spray adhesive and glued the foam acoustic panels I got cheap from Walmart.
For the flooring, I went dumpster diving at a local carpet store and grabbed pieces of padding they had thrown out from installations and used that under the green carpets to make it more comfortable than the hard concrete floor, and to keep the balls from bouncing all over the place. The black border is some cheap laminate I had laying around that I spray painted black and then stapled the carpet to to hold it all in place.
Take a look and let me know what you think and if you have any questions! Thanks to everyone for their builds that they've posted, and hope mine inspires some others!
Trevor
So like many others, this quarantine gave me an excuse to do something I've wanted to do for a long time. I claimed a side of the garage and built out my simulator with the help of reading several posts here and online research. Given this was my first foray into this I wanted to keep to a pretty tight budget. With a family I'm not sure how much time I'll get to put in the sim, so no sense in going overboard initially. I figure I can always upgrade things if I can justify it based on usage. Also, I tend to be pretty frugal so anywhere I can save a penny I will.
Design Goal: A nice looking setup; comfortable place I could have a few friends over, and get some swings in when the weather sucks here in northern VA.
Target Budget: Under $4,000
Space: So like I said, this is in my garage. I had an overall depth of 20ft, 9ft wide but the ceilings are only 8.5ft so that's my real limiting factor. I'm average height and can easily swing all irons and my 3 wood, but my driver is a little too close. I can swing it, but if I really crank one I end up hitting the ceiling. There's also a beam that cuts all the way across and hangs down about 16in so that limited my directionality, otherwise I probably would have set it up to go the other way.
Components:
Launch Monitor - Skytrak w/GIP ($2,400 bought used from a member here)
Screen - SQ Raw (Imperfect) from Par2Pro ($200)
Projector - Viewsonic PS501x ($405 factory refurb from Viewsonic)
25' HDMI Cable from Lowes - ($35)
Enclosure - 2x4's and deck post brackets from Lowes ($80)
Mat - 5 Star ReACTION 5'x5' ($215)
Ceiling Protection - Foam insulation and foam acoustic tiles ($75)
Bungee balls, tarp clips, curtains, etc. ($100)
Carpet - EcoRug 6'x8' from Lowes (3 @ $22 each)
Paint and other miscellaneous ($50)
For the ceiling protection, I picked up a 3/4" thick 4'x8' foam insulation board at Lowes that's used to insulate the exterior of homes/buildings. It's pretty firm, but I wanted to dress it up a bit so I used a spray adhesive and glued the foam acoustic panels I got cheap from Walmart.
For the flooring, I went dumpster diving at a local carpet store and grabbed pieces of padding they had thrown out from installations and used that under the green carpets to make it more comfortable than the hard concrete floor, and to keep the balls from bouncing all over the place. The black border is some cheap laminate I had laying around that I spray painted black and then stapled the carpet to to hold it all in place.
Take a look and let me know what you think and if you have any questions! Thanks to everyone for their builds that they've posted, and hope mine inspires some others!
Trevor
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