Side wall protection - acoustic tiles, carpet tiles, or gym foam tiles?

[pathfindr]

Researching options for side wall protection for my sim room. The current thinking is to use peel-and-stick or glue some sort of foam tiles or carpet on a piece of plywood and screw it to the wall.

It seems like 3 popular options are: acoustic foam tiles, carpet tiles, or gym foam tiles. From amazon reviews, a lot negative reviews about acoustic tiles as they are shipped compressed and don't recover uniformly.

I'm leaning towards peel and stick carpet tiles similar to this one https://www.homedepot.com/p/Foss-Fir...15PK/206665156 They look nicer than acoustic tiles or gym tiles.

Would love to hear what people have used and any feedback on the various options.

[BarnBurner]

Just ordered carpet tiles for the side walls as suggested by my TrackMan salesman. I ordered these from Costco. They look really similar https://www.costco.com/.product.100803443.html

[daplanner]

have you installed it? what did you use to install? do you have pictures? thanks

[mthunt]

I have these installed in my sim. I used a crown staple gun and a lot of crown staples. The staples don’t show. I did 250 square feet of it.

[pathfindr]

Just wanted to provide an update on what I ended up doing. I ended up using 2 ft x 6 ft padded gym pads and they look pretty good. I haven't hit any balls yet so I don't know how durable they are but it's definitely quicker and easier than making them myself. Here are some pictures.

[COgolfengineer]

pathfindr Looks good! A few qurstions for you.
1. Can you share a link?
2. How did you attach those to the wall?
3. Do you know if the black wrap reflects infrared light? A floor camera launch monitor could have issues if they reflect light.

Thanks!

[pathfindr]

I purchased them on ebay as the seller is in the US and can ship them in a few days. I also saw something similar on Amazon but the sellers are in China and it would take a few weeks after Christmas to get here. Here is the link to the ebay listing https://www.ebay.com/itm/263831722246 I purchased 4 at $41.69 each.(It looks like the price has gone up slightly since my purchase.) The material is PU leather. Haven't tested hitting balls yet. I have a Skytrack that I can test once I have the new setup in place. (I'm moving my setup from garage to inside the house.) I have also have a new Eye XO still in the box that I will be installing to replace the Skytrak.

In terms of mounting, I am using thumb tacks to fasten the handle to drywall. This is just a temporary setup but it seems to be holding up well. The mats are 2 inch thick and they stack on top of each other. The thumb tacks are there to prevent them from tipping over. I have attached a picture in normal lighting to show how they look.

[Brettster]

That's cool. Amazon has similar mats at $37.00, though it looks like the mats they have are only 1.5" thick, so you've got an extra .5" of thickness:

https://www.amazon.com/Prosource-Tri-Fold-Folding-Thick-Exercise/dp/B01ENULZ7E/

I remember seeing also that someone had bought JuJitsu mats for attaching to the wall. I think those were also on eBay and they were used.

Can you hit some balls in there and let us know how they hold up and what kind of bounce back you get off those on the side? Maybe a video too would be good to see?

[daplanner]

I'm leaning towards peel and stick carpet tiles similar to this one https://www.homedepot.com/p/Foss-Fir...15PK/206665156 They look nicer than acoustic tiles or gym tiles.

In the process of completing my set up as well, did you go with the stick carpet tile - do you have pictures?

[coblue]

Hi, just wondering if you went with the peel and stick option. Did they stick to wall okay?

[BigEd]

Nearing completion of my build here in Western Australia. Been quite a process, but we went acoustic foam from Aliexpress on the side walls and roof. More than impressed with the quality and ultra fast postage. They come super compressed but leave them 48 hours laid out and they fully restore. 50cm 50cm x 5cm foam squares with 50cm x 25cm x 5cm half squares. All stuck on with stamdard double sided tape.

[elli0t]

Have you had any direct ball impacts with these tiles yet? Wondering how they'll hold up and if theres any bounce back? Cheers

[Erinm123]

Wondering how the wall panels held up? Are they effective in deadening the ricochet balls ? Thanks

[Mothergoose10]

I am curious how these tiles have held up as well

[Dmoe]

Nearing completion of my build here in Western Australia. Been quite a process, but we went acoustic foam from Aliexpress on the side walls and roof. More than impressed with the quality and ultra fast postage. They come super compressed but leave them 48 hours laid out and they fully restore. 50cm 50cm x 5cm foam squares with 50cm x 25cm x 5cm half squares. All stuck on with stamdard double sided tape.

Do you have a link for these panels??

[Timmy5under]

I bought these although they are not expected to be delivered until later this week. I thought they were a pretty good price if you bought the pack of 18 and I liked the Matrix pattern. I'll report back once I get them.

https://foamforyou.com/acoustic-ceiling-tiles

[Myurch]

How did they turn out for you? Any photos? thanks

[Timmy5under]

Well what was initially a delay for the machine being down turned into a longer delay with the machine being down. I felt like I wasn't getting a straight answer from Foam for You so I decided to cut my losses and go with regular 3" acoustical foam off of Amazon. It worked out for the best as I ordered from Foam for You slightly early and I miscalculated what I would need so it ended up being cheaper and with less extras. I do wish I had that pattern but not a big deal.

[adilgolf]

I used homemade Vant panels for my build, but if i had to do it all over again, i'd use this kind of carpet/EVA foam tiles. Much easier, cheaper, less work and would do the job just fine.

https://www.simplyhomeware.com.au/products/wasel-interlocking-foam-mats-carpet-tiles-square-eva-flooring-kids-soft-play-gym

[Timmy5under]

Love the look of the Vant panels but couldn’t find them at a price I was willing to pay. Wasn’t gonna tackle making them either😄

[adilgolf]

Yes, they were a bit of a pain to make, not hard, but takes time and patience, then they need to be securely affixed to the walls and ceiling, and they are kind of heavy... The carpet/foam tiles should look nice too if laid out in a pattern... Foam alone can easily get damaged by errand balls, but with the carpet on top, it is much more impact resistant

[Brettster]

adilgolf -

foam alone can easily get damaged by errand balls,

how does the foam alone get damaged? I was considering the 2" thick sound abatement panels, spray adhesive onto cardboard panels that I would then hang along the sides nearest to the screen - would allow me more width there, over 5"-8" curtains.

[BigEd]

Do you have a link for these panels??

Been trying to find the link with no success. Search bevel edge acoustic foam in AliExpress and a lot of results will return.

[Dmoe]

Nearing completion of my build here in Western Australia. Been quite a process, but we went acoustic foam from Aliexpress on the side walls and roof. More than impressed with the quality and ultra fast postage. They come super compressed but leave them 48 hours laid out and they fully restore. 50cm 50cm x 5cm foam squares with 50cm x 25cm x 5cm half squares. All stuck on with stamdard double sided tape.

what did you use to border around your screen and hide any bungees?

[BigEd]

The screen, bungees and screen surrounds all came from Par2Pro. It is the SQ-W custom screen and I cannot say enough about the screen and the company, especially getting it from Canada to West Australia. The screen is attached by small hook bungees cable tied onto the screen and hooked onto angle iron I bolted into the ceiling joists and masonry walls. I paid extra for the surrounds. It comes as a kit from Par2Pro that includes velcro hook tape that sticks to the angle iron. The screen also has hook velcro sewn on the borders. The border is padded 6 inch wide loop velco that affixes onto the angle iron and screen. Gives a great finished looked to the set up. Ill post photos of the build once Im fully finished.

[Brettster]

Dmoe those are called Bumpers. Look up on Google you’ll find them at many places for sale, or make your own with Gutter foam and fabric, or Memory foam and fabric.

[Dmoe]

Dmoe those are called Bumpers. Look up on Google you’ll find them at many places for sale, or make your own with Gutter foam and fabric, or Memory foam and fabric.

and how are they secured to the screen and side wall protection??

[Brettster]

I think most are zip tied to the EMT. You could probably find some videos on YouTube showing them being installed... I watched one a few weeks back. I'll look for it again and let you know.

[Brettster]

Dmoe - I just finished making mine using Gutter Foam (from Home Depot) in 4' lengths, I put 2 of them together and butted them up against each other, and laid them out on Commando Cloth which I wrapped around all the way, then stuck the pieces together with Velcro Tape. That is how I attached them to the side walls for me (my side walls are actual drywall walls) and I ran a long piece of the fabric (loop) of 1" Velcro down the entire wall, the places where the bumpers were taped together were with the sticky (hook) 1" velcro, so there were about 6 to 8 of those down the entire side of about 7' height and those places held them perfectly to the walls, and make for easy removal - it worked out perfectly...

See my Build Post with the final look here:

https://golfsimulatorforum.com/forum/golf-simulator-forum/simulator-builds/348365-golf-sim-shed-build-finally?p=365387#post365387