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First of all, thanks to everyone for the feedback and advice throughout the process. Very happy with how it turned out.
We wanted a place for the kids to play with their friends in the winter, and decided our unfinished garage would work.
I told my wife we should finish it so it’s nice for them. She agreed.
I told my wife a screen would be cool so they could play games and watch movies. She agreed.
I told my wife, “you know what else we could do with a screen?”
She is a saint.
The garage is detached and is right next to a condo building, so noise was an issue. It also had rafters that were 8’ high. And we live in a townhouse, so I couldn’t structurally change it without impacting my neighbors.
For the garage:
- I raised the rafters to 10’.
- I put acoustic insulation and two sheets of acoustic drywall in, with green glue between them.
- I added additional weather stripping to the door.
- I replaced the traditional opener with a side mounted opener, and raised the garage rails.
- Instead of typical garage lighting I opted for 4 barn cage lights with Edison bulbs, on dimmers to make it have a nicer atmosphere.
- I installed black slatwall to hold accessories and give it a nice clean look. They’re very sturdy too, so no holes from side impacts.
- I put epoxy on the floor for long term.
- I have two Dyson air purifying space heaters so we can have the door open, and theoretically keep the air cleanish.
Phase one done. Now, for the simulator:
- I used a 16’ Par2Pro retractable screen. Because of the angle of the roof I couldn’t put it high enough to get the full 9 feet. But it’s close enough, and plenty big.
- Behind it I put black thick drapes from Room Dividers Now, which block out the light from the window and help the acoustics further.
- I put 1” gym floor mats and black indoor/outdoor carpet from Lowe’s on top.
- Fiberbuilt 3x1 insert for the hitting mat. I was going to cut into the padding so it was flush originally, but since it is for more than just golf, and since the mat is easy to move, I just lay it down when I need it. The monitor hasn’t had an issue picking it up so far. When I don’t need it, goes behind the curtains.
- I have a roomba in there running on a schedule to keep the floor clean, because I’m a little OCD.
- I got the Mevo+ launch monitor. I’ve actually found short indoor mode to be better than normal, even though I have the space for both.
- I broke the bank for a BenQ LK953ST. The Golf Simulator Videos review was compelling. Since I didn’t upgrade from a previous projector I don’t know if 4k is an improvement over a 1080p. But it is a fantastic picture
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- I managed to snag a NVIDEA GeForce 3080 graphics card on launch day, and got a custom machine built for it. Again don’t know what to compare it to, but almost zero lag time running TGC.
- I’m using a 4K receiver and Polk bookshelf speakers. In addition to golf, there’s an Apple TV, a Sonos Port, and a PS5 (I’ve had good luck lately snagging stuff.)
- Foldy chairs from MOMA.
- I’m hitting almost balls, because noise, kids playing too, and I didn’t want to have to install a baffle up top and ruin my pretty ceiling. I probably can’t play online tournaments any time soon since I have to boost my driver and woods above the 5%. But honestly I need to practice first anyway
I think that’s it. Finished it yesterday. I’m super happy with how it turned out, and looking forward to breaking 90.
My sons birthday party is tomorrow and he can’t have his buddies over, so being able to play golf with his cousin is hopefully a good consolation prize.
Thanks again to everyone - I spent probably 200 hours researching stuff, and this forum was an incredible help every step of the way.
We wanted a place for the kids to play with their friends in the winter, and decided our unfinished garage would work.
I told my wife we should finish it so it’s nice for them. She agreed.
I told my wife a screen would be cool so they could play games and watch movies. She agreed.
I told my wife, “you know what else we could do with a screen?”
She is a saint.
The garage is detached and is right next to a condo building, so noise was an issue. It also had rafters that were 8’ high. And we live in a townhouse, so I couldn’t structurally change it without impacting my neighbors.
For the garage:
- I raised the rafters to 10’.
- I put acoustic insulation and two sheets of acoustic drywall in, with green glue between them.
- I added additional weather stripping to the door.
- I replaced the traditional opener with a side mounted opener, and raised the garage rails.
- Instead of typical garage lighting I opted for 4 barn cage lights with Edison bulbs, on dimmers to make it have a nicer atmosphere.
- I installed black slatwall to hold accessories and give it a nice clean look. They’re very sturdy too, so no holes from side impacts.
- I put epoxy on the floor for long term.
- I have two Dyson air purifying space heaters so we can have the door open, and theoretically keep the air cleanish.
Phase one done. Now, for the simulator:
- I used a 16’ Par2Pro retractable screen. Because of the angle of the roof I couldn’t put it high enough to get the full 9 feet. But it’s close enough, and plenty big.
- Behind it I put black thick drapes from Room Dividers Now, which block out the light from the window and help the acoustics further.
- I put 1” gym floor mats and black indoor/outdoor carpet from Lowe’s on top.
- Fiberbuilt 3x1 insert for the hitting mat. I was going to cut into the padding so it was flush originally, but since it is for more than just golf, and since the mat is easy to move, I just lay it down when I need it. The monitor hasn’t had an issue picking it up so far. When I don’t need it, goes behind the curtains.
- I have a roomba in there running on a schedule to keep the floor clean, because I’m a little OCD.
- I got the Mevo+ launch monitor. I’ve actually found short indoor mode to be better than normal, even though I have the space for both.
- I broke the bank for a BenQ LK953ST. The Golf Simulator Videos review was compelling. Since I didn’t upgrade from a previous projector I don’t know if 4k is an improvement over a 1080p. But it is a fantastic picture
.- I managed to snag a NVIDEA GeForce 3080 graphics card on launch day, and got a custom machine built for it. Again don’t know what to compare it to, but almost zero lag time running TGC.
- I’m using a 4K receiver and Polk bookshelf speakers. In addition to golf, there’s an Apple TV, a Sonos Port, and a PS5 (I’ve had good luck lately snagging stuff.)
- Foldy chairs from MOMA.
- I’m hitting almost balls, because noise, kids playing too, and I didn’t want to have to install a baffle up top and ruin my pretty ceiling. I probably can’t play online tournaments any time soon since I have to boost my driver and woods above the 5%. But honestly I need to practice first anyway
I think that’s it. Finished it yesterday. I’m super happy with how it turned out, and looking forward to breaking 90.
My sons birthday party is tomorrow and he can’t have his buddies over, so being able to play golf with his cousin is hopefully a good consolation prize.
Thanks again to everyone - I spent probably 200 hours researching stuff, and this forum was an incredible help every step of the way.
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