Construction Begins on Sim Room Addition

[Kaos]

Construction Starts! Room addition is 15x20 with 11’ ceilings. Slab is 3000 PSI. Room is being added to the back of the garage caddie-corner to the master bedroom (source or potential sound issue for wife). Wives!

Here is the setup:

1. Uneekor Eye Xo;
2. SIG 12 from Shopindoorgolf;
3. Landing turf
4. SIGPro 4x7 premium mat.
5. Optoma EH412ST Golf Simulator Projector;
6. Ceiling Mounts; and
7. Uneekor Swing Optix Camera system (I am so stoked about this system for quality swing videos and analysis - the best I have seen);

Wife is squawking about potential noise because I currently hit in the garage and she can hear everything. She seems to have bionic hearing! So, to waylay her concerns, I had to spend an extra $4k for soundproofing. I am leaving nothing to chance! Here is what I contracted for:

1. CLARKDIETRICH SOUND CLIPS and CHANNEL (best sound reducing clips I could find when doing STC comparisons);
2. 5/8 Type C Drywall;
3. Rock Wool Comfort Batt insulation;
4. 3.5 mil poly at the walls and ceiling over the insulation;
5. Sound dampening curtains for 4 windows and sliding door (potential source for sound leaks & total for curtains was almost $300);
6. Entry door is insulated exterior door to reduce sound;
7. Sound dampening curtain will be added to slide across the door when closed to further dampen sound;
8. Projected STC sound reduction is 60 STC (I am hoping that will be enough to get me under 40 STC on impact screen); and
9. All electrical outlets will be insulated to further reduce sound leaks.

I am having 6 adjustable recessed LED lights installed in the ceiling (spacing and placement TBD). All cabling for Uneekor, projector TV etc. is being prewired into the ceiling and walls to control cords. I am having the electrician (who also has media room experience) pre-install all mounting for Uneekor Eye XO and projector so, in theory, after I paint and carpet the room, all I have to do is mount the Uneekor and projector and plug them in (as in just screw them in!

The soundproofing should be sufficient to absorb the higher frequency driver and iron impact, but the low frequency impact of the ball hitting the screen has me a little concerned. I think I will be okay though. If I can hit less than 40 STC on impact (measured where she is) I am hoping that will be enough so she will not complain.

The A/C unit was moved (temporarily) today. Footing and rebar gets dug and laid tomorrow.

I got a nice deal on the gaming laptop for the room during Christmas (it is $400 more expensive on Newegg now).

1. Lenovo Legion 7i Laptop, 15.6" FHD IPS 144 Hz, Intel Core i7-10750H, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 with Max-Q 8 GB, 16 GB, 512 GB SSD, Windows 10 Home

The attached picture shows the space for the room after the A/C was temporarily moved to make room for the footings. I will be posting pics as the construction progresses.

I bought a Db meter so I can test the noise level. My driver swing speed varies between 108 and 115 Mph (not bad for 56). The test will be with my friend that is in the mid 90’s. I will have PROOF if the wife complains…lol. If she finds 40 to 45 STC annoying I am getting a divorce….lol (jk).

I am not planning to make this a bar type setup as I (like 90%+ of the time) and perhaps 1 other person will be in the room.

If you guys have any questions, I will be happy to answer based on research I did (especially on the sound issues).

Kaos

[Kaos]

Footing dug today and rebar laid! Inspections tomorrow and first concrete poor tomorrow afternoon. Block to be laid Thursday and final poor scheduled for Friday!

[timsiegle]

Awesome! Looking forward to following your progress

[Kaos]

Thanks. It is exciting, but still several weeks away from hitting. Carpet is going to take about two weeks to get in and installed. So I am going to try to get Lowes to come out during construction to measure space to perhaps shave a week or so off of the carpet delay.

[COgolfengineer]

Really awesome! Should be a great setup with all the pre-planning you did, good job on that. Definitely looking forward to see how this turns out!

[Kaos]

Thanks...A lot of research went into the soundproofing. I made a lot of calls and finally managed to get a guy at a local supply company who is very knowledgeable and was kind enough to send me a lot of information in .pdf format with product information, STC comparisons with different products and setups etc. That was a huge help to me and my contractor. I am planning on posting Db tests so folks can see the results of soundproofing.

[3on3putt]

Very exciting. One question though -- if noise was such a concern, why not build it further back from the house?

[Kaos]

That was an option, but I elected to go that way to get the most bang for the buck value wise. In other words, it has the best increase to the house value adding directly to the house. Also, it would have likely been more expensive because I would have had to add additional material and labor (i.e. extra full wall) to have it done right. I would have still had to have it soundproofed.

[Kaos]

Footing concrete poured today. Ready for block! Unfortunately, the block delivery got delayed until tomorrow that will probably result in blocks being laid Friday. Concrete crew is going to prep over the weekend and try to pour the slab early Monday. Weather is 30-55% chance of rain every day next week so I am hoping they can get the slab done Monday,,,fingers crosed!

[3on3putt]

Curious as to what state you live in?

[Kaos]

SE Virginia. We have just been swamped with rain this year (much worse than normal).

[3on3putt]

I asked because I swear that photo looked like my neighborhood lol. Small world but not that small I guess. I'm in NC and the rain here has been beyond ridiculous as well.

[Kaos]

Here is a tip for room addition planning I think some might find helpful (I initially made this mistake but luckily I caught my error) and you may not have stopped to think about. When I initially was planning the room I was going to go with 14x20 room dimension. When I received the plans from my contractor I looked closely and he was using outside dimensions and I was thinking inside dimensions! So, I had to add a foot so that it was 15x20 (and an extra $2,000). Here is why. The walls are 4’” thick (studs). The amount to add for the sound clips noted above is 1 5/8” (clips and hat channel). Then add the 5/8” type C drywall and the walls end up at 6.25” thick. This is times 2 so I am losing 12.5” off of the 15’ width right off the bat. This leaves me 13’ 11.5” of inside width. Had I left it at the original, I would end up with 12’ 11.5” (not what I wanted especially with a 12’ enclosure). I am planning on placing the target line at 7.6” with a 12’ enclosure (no lefties) so I am in great shape. I want the extra 6” so avoid the feeling like I am going to hit the wall. I arrived at that distance by experimenting in my garage. I felt cramped at 7’ like I was going to hit the wall (and probably not really in danger in reality) and tended to “cut back”. At 7’ 6” I can let my swing go comfortably without fear of hitting the wall. So, really pay attention to your plans so you and your contractor are on the same page. Otherwise, you may be disappointed!

[Kaos]

Foundation block laid this morning. Concrete crew is scheduled to prep area (filling, leveling, packing and installing wire) this weekend for slab pouring Monday. Hopefully the weather will cooperate! The area actually looks bigger to me with the block down. Weather permitting, I am hoping framing can get started by mid week.

[Kaos]

Slab was completed today! Pics show filled, foam and vapor barrier and additional rebar along back wall to join new and old slabs and after concrete was poured and pre-smoothing. It was too dark to get the final smoothed slab. We got lucky. Concrete provider decided to deliver today because they are so far behind in filling orders. They usually do not deliver Saturday or Sunday. It will need to cure for a few days and framing will commence! Now I am really starting to get excited.

[Kaos]

Finished slab. Will need to cure a few days to be hard enough for nails. Framing is schedule to begin Wednesday.

[Kaos]

Framing started today. The crew got quite a bit done. I think we are going to get some bad weather next two days so I may lose 1 or both days. I think they can be done by mid next week with framing even with weather. The 11' walls seem REALLY tall...lol. My normal ceilings downstairs are 10'. Then comes electrical!

[Scottygolf]

thanks for sharing the process. Are your entrance doors external from the house? Could you share the rough estimate on the addition minus any sim stuff? you have me thinking on this and moving mine out of my garage..

[Kaos]

thanks for sharing the process. Are your entrance doors external from the house? Could you share the rough estimate on the addition minus any sim stuff? you have me thinking on this and moving mine out of my garage..

The entry door from the house (going from living room to golf room) is going to be an insulated external door for soundrproofing reasons. I will post pics of that. The cost of the room was $42.6K (with $3.8k included for soundproofing). It was actually a great investment because the cost per square ft is ~$142. My house recently appraised at $186 sq/ft. So, it adds ~$46 sq/ft to value net of cost. Then you have to add cost of flooring, paint.

[Scottygolf]

similar to the $40-45k I got. All for golf!

[jerry3]

Congrats on the build gets pretty exciting at this point and it will be done before you know it. Looking forward to seeing the finished product!

[Kaos]

Framing 2/3 done! I think I am washed out for tomorrow. In case anyone is wondering, the side living room window is being removed and replaced by insulated exterior door. As I indicated above, I am adding sound dampening curtains that can be pulled across all windows and doors to help mitigate sound leaks. You can see the window being removed in the fourth posted picture. I will also be adding closeup pics of all soundproofing to electrical and other soundproofing steps taken. I will also post closeups of wiring and how I am prepping ceiling and walls for Uneekor Eye XO and projector install, as well as the recessed LED lighting placements.

[Kaos]

The entry door from the house (going from living room to golf room) is going to be an insulated external door for soundrproofing reasons. I will post pics of that. The cost of the room was $42.6K (with $3.8k included for soundproofing). It was actually a great investment because the cost per square ft is ~$142. My house recently appraised at $186 sq/ft. So, it adds ~$46 sq/ft to value net of cost. Then you have to add cost of flooring, paint.

Yea Scottygolf...My wife said you are spending $65K to play golf in the house?! I explained to her that in reality, it is only a few thousand. She said "what?! How do you figure that?!" I said it is simple. Explained to her that right off the bat the room addition adds (at current appraisal value) ~$46 per square foot net of cost (or $13.8K) in value to the house. I also pointed out that, the way real estate prices are trending, the value increase will likely be much greater over the next five years (especially if interest rates can remain low). So, I told her that is actually costing less than $6.8K when factoring in the cost of the simulator and related equipment. So, what I save in going to the driving range per week, rounds of golf I can play etc. The cost when spread over 5 years is probably not much more than I would otherwise spend at the range and the course. PLUS, when I might otherwise blow her off to play a 4-5 hour round, I can take an hour, play a round, and do something with her. Of course I got the old eye roll, but it is true! Brilliant response? lol

[Scottygolf]

You must be in sales as well. My wife plays as much as I do. My friends will ask me what time are we playing, I have to tell them course is closed as the ladies have it for the day. Each Saturday she has it. Warming up here so a few more weeks and we playing regular. This may be a summer project.