Simulator build assistance/recommendation

[Clappadappa]

Hello, I’m looking to build a simulator room in my house in the near future. I’ve been having fun golfing and would like to do it more and to get my son involved. The issue I’m currently trying to figure out is the space. My basement from floor to ceiling is about 7’5”, so digging down would probably be too expensive and with the room it would probably end up being about 14x18. My second idea was to build a shed in the yard but my towns code doesn’t allow anything above 200 sq ft. Lastly I have a standard two car garage 18x20x8.6 that is what I could go with. Does anyone have experience with raising their ceiling? My current idea is to hit towards the door, I’m liking the protee simulator since I’m a lefty and have right friends, so I would hit 10ft from the door, tee would be centered in the room so 9ft for left/right. If possible I’d like to add atleast 2ft in ceiling height to ensure clubs clear the ceilings. I’m not sure this helps but my garage is adjacent to our family room which has a vaulted ceiling (wife would murder me if I tried to setup a sim in there). I’m curious if that could be done to the garage and if anyone has done something similar and what they experienced with costs. I know the logical answer is to contact a structural engineer. That’s what I will do if my dream comes to fruition, I’m just looking for input advice or recommendations from anybody so I don’t get my hopes up for nothing. I’ve attached images of my garage the attic and family room if this helps anyone understand my rambling. Thanks for any assistance!

[cmckelvmi]

How tall are you and your son? 8' 6" might be enough for a driver unless you have a super high follow through. frodaddy00 raised the ceiling in his garage if you want to look up his posts.

[Clappadappa]

I am 5’7” and my son is currently 2yrs old so we don’t have to worry about his height for probably another 14 years. I’m more worried about when I have friends over to play as I have a few ranging from 5’11 to 6’4

[3on3putt]

Don't give up on the shed idea. Something around 16.5 x 12 keeps you under the 200 square foot limit and is enough space for a sim. Plus you wouldn't have any ceiling worries figuring you could go 10 or 12 feet with no limitations. The only x-factor there is the righty/lefty thing as you would not be able to hit from center. But with the right kind of launch monitor it will work. It would be cramped inside and not great for spectators but maybe if you had a side or an end that could be left open so that seating and spectating could spill into the yard or something.

[Clappadappa]

I could squeeze it, it would be difficult for the winters since nobody would want to sit outside and wait haha, if I could keep the shed insulated or just not have guests during the winter this would be a good alternate. What launch monitor would you recommend for this setup? If the pro tee is light sensitive then having doors open wouldn’t work well in the summer I’m assuming.

[3on3putt]

Yeah I was envisioning like a barn door so you can open up an entire side. That way your hitting spot could actually be right up near the door. If you did it that way you could flip it around and do a length of only like 12 feet (because the entire back side would be open while you're hitting) and a width of 16 feet, which is enough for both righties and lefties to hit from center. Depending on where you live, it may not be all that enjoyable in the winter time even with some space heaters. And rain would always be an issue. If you had to put righties and lefties on opposite sides, an overhead monitor like one of the Uneekors might be best.

[Clappadappa]

*Update*.
so looking at my garage, if I didn’t raise the ceiling or replace the trusses, alternately or for the time being I could remove the drywall and boards in the attic I could have over 10ft of ceiling height, with support the support beams running across with 22” between each 2x4. Would anyone have an idea how I could setup a protee simulator that would allow a left hand and right hand golfer to swing in between those beams?

[soccerdude]

So are the pictures of the attic above your garage? If so, I did exactly what you were thinking about doing. I turned my regular trusses into diy scissor trusses and raised the ceiling in my garage from 8 feet to almost 12. It turned out really good.

[Clappadappa]

That’s exactly what I would like to do. Did you hire a structural engineer first or do it yourself? I live in an area where we can get a lot of snow fall so I don’t want to ruin the integrity of the roof. How much did it cost you to do yourself?

[soccerdude]

I did not hire a structural engineer. I found the design and idea online, and then reviewed it with a truss designer at a local lumberyard. He thought the design looked structurally sound. But again, I stress, I did not hire or get the opinion of a structural engineer. Personally, I think I over built it. I used two by tens for the scissor trusses. Every one of the original truss supports is attached to the 2 x 10 trusses by 2 x 1/2 inch thick carriage bolts. The ends of the scissor trusses are attached by hurricane ties to the original exterior walls of my garage. As for cost, I did this a little over a year ago now so my memory is a little fuzzy, but I think I spent for $500 or or so on the 2 x 10s. I did the demolition myself as well as the building of the scissor trusses and framing. My garage was not insulated, so I ended up framing up interior walls on three sides with two by fours. Then I paid around $2000 to have the walls and ceiling insulated and vapor barriered, and then another $2000 to have drywall installed and finished on the ceiling and the new interior walls. I did the painting of the ceiling and walls myself. The paint is probably a few hundred dollars. I also did the trim and baseboards. I did the flooring in vinyl plank which probably cost $1500 for both the flooring and the installation. I can’t remember how much the two by fours were to frame up the inner walls. I found the original picture that I used online but I can’t seem to upload it right now. It’s too large a file and I don’t know how to shrink it on my iPad. I will try to make it smaller on my PC tomorrow. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions. I live an hour east of Vancouver Canada, and we definitely had a couple of snowfalls of probably 6 inches since I vaulted my ceiling, and the garage roof is still standing :-) All of the prices I mentioned are in Canadian dollars.

[Clappadappa]

Appreciate it! I’ll most likely consult a structural engineer first and then determine if I’ll diy or pay for it.

[soccerdude]

Okay, I've included the image I found online when researching scissor trusses. This served as my inspiration. I thought of a few more costs that I didn't mention yesterday. I'm sure I paid a couple of hundred dollars just for the carriage bolts and nuts. Also, I probably paid in the neighborhood of $1000 for electrical. I had new lights, electrical outlets and a wall embedded heater (with fan) installed. That's all I can think of at the moment.