Golf Sim Shed build - finally...

[Brettster]

Hi Everyone,

I'm starting this post as a way to keep myself accountable. The tasks are huge, but not insurmountable as I'm having to do all my build work by myself. Contractors are either non-existent in this post-pandemic marketplace, or they have so much work they are 3 months out! I'll be posting up here as I make progress... and hope to be completed by Thanksgiving 2021.

As a side note, 2 of my local courses that I have a season-pass to, both told me today they are closed for the season! Bummer, but not to worry, now that my Golf Sim dream is about to become reality! I will be preparing this Sim for 2 LMs, the first being a ProTee (sensor/optical-camera based unit with 2 sensors one for hitting, the other for putting) which I have purchased about 2 years ago, as well as the TGC2019 license. The second LM will be setup for the Garmin Approach R10 (radar based unit) which was purchased about 1 month ago - I tested it on the range, and into a net in my backyard at 8' from the ball-to-net and it gave very good accuracy.

Here are the basics... I've tried to consider other Sim builds in our previous house (2nd floor $45k, Basement $15k, and possibly shed, but never got that far). After all the hassle and trouble of considering it, finally decided to move to a house that had 'potential' for the Golf Sim I've always wanted. It has a 12'x16' Gambrel roof shed already constructed in the back and just steps away from our back door... now - to solve the other issue... it was setup with a garage door in it and has 3 ceiling joists (limiting the ceiling height). Not to worry, I've already removed garage door, and will soon be cutting down ceiling joists which I don't believe do anything for the structure as the load on a gambrel roof is carried down the sides and I'm sitting on concrete. The snow load I've watched over the last 2 winters is minimal as it all melts and slides down the steep roof slope.

Here were the starting pics... Prior to September 2021...

[Brettster]

Garage door was removed including track. It was a heavy beast from the 1980's! Here's the wall framed up where it used to be.... I will post additional pics as I'm already siding that wall and almost done.

[Brettster]

I'm trying to decide how to handle shanks/high wedges (54, 58, 60). With the gambrel (barn) roof as you see, it will narrow in the area where I can setup baffles as I approach the green from above. I've been back-and-forth on this and need some input... Here are some ideas I am considering:

1.) Black-out curtain panels (8' high by 9' wide), I would like to extend them to about 8' out from back wall, which is about 7'4" from screen forward. If I do choose these, should I hang them on a tensioned wire, to reduce golf ball hittable metal in the simulator, or just put in standard curtain rods (both left and right of screen) hung from the ceiling? If I choose this route, can I use the same curtain/panels for directly above the screen and created large swaths of fabric just draped in hanging pieces? Will this stop balls better than other methods when hitting high balls?

2.) Long pieces of black canvas cloth draped over tensioned wire. This method just uses bulk canvas curtains and could also be used to hang large sections of fabric above the screen back to almost the hitting area. Also, I would guess I would have to hang multiple wires: 1 set (left/right sides) about 8' high. Second set up above where screen will be that run horizontally to let me hang (or drape) pieces of canvas cloth.

3.) I was considering baffles at one point, but now feel that is not the kind of weight I want to introduce to my ceiling/roof - so this option is likely out for now.

4.) One last option considered was large cushions (such as ju-jitsu mats), or something similar hung on with spray-on glue to the ceiling. Though this is likely another option that is too heavy for me to consider as I want to keep any extra weight off the roof, even if it is suspended weight pulling down.

If anyone has ideas or additional input it is greatly appreciated. Please understand that I will not be building an actual framed area to catch errant balls. It is just not practical with the shape of the roof line in the shed as can be seen from pictures.

Thanks in advance for any input,
-Brett

[Brettster]

1.) Wall was finished inside and outside (vinyl siding put on).



2.) Window was cut/framed and installed.



3.) Door bottom was cut off to allow for raised floor.

Still battling weather conditions and have exterior trim on Window to finish off. Will be hopefully finishing floor tomorrow and buying all lumber / drywall / insulation to get inside walls done.

Still planning completion by Thanksgiving day... I have blackout curtains, extra heavy moving blanket to deaden sound behind screen. 801 projection screen, black fabric ordered from Chicago Canvas.

[Brettster]

Wow - been a crazy busy holiday season! I've finished installing my raised floor and turf arrived last week. I have 1/2" gym mats arriving tomorrow which I will place under the turf to give a better feel. Now, I'm searching for what to use for Fringe/Rough turf around the edges, any ideas out there?

Here is the floor perimeter installed and shimming with roof shingles across the joists (2x4s laid on their side running the 15' length of my building). I have laid 4 within the 12' width and two on each side. I laid 4 cross joists running only under the larger gapped area. I'll see if I can find a pic of the floor before any of the subfloor (3/4" plywood) went over the top of it. The areas between the joists is filled with 1 1/2" Foamular 150 for insulation.



Here is the nearly finished floor with turf rolled out when it arrived. I picked it up myself and realized they were loading it with a forklift! When I asked them how much it weighed I was told around 200lbs, way too much weight to ask my kids to help me carry , so I had some installers come out and lift it out of my van, into the shed and roll it out.

Now as I add 1/2" gym mats under, and adjust for the location of my sensor mats (2 hitting and 1 putting) - I'll be cutting out holes through the material and go from there. I now have the next 3 days of fairly decent weather (up to 50) before we drop back into the 30's every day - so I want to have insulation in, drywall in place and electrical updated as quickly as possible, so I can turn on my panel heaters and get some heat in the building to make it tolerable to finish the painting/screen hanging/trim work and other interior work.



Been quite a job so far - and learning a lot... still excited to get completed and to start hitting balls.

[Ryan5508]

looking good!

better hurry up and get the heater put in. You are going to be running out of warm days soon.

A friend has an electric wall mount one from amazon that has been working great for him in his garage so far.

[Alex.Morgan]

Looking great! Keep the updates coming

[Brettster]

Here is the flooring layout before I covered it with 3/4" plywood underlay. I'm showing this as it's important for ProTee sensor placement. I had to make sure this area (offset right) is big enough to allow for left/right placement of the hitting sensor - as I measure where the top of my swing reaches. I will be verifying all of that soon, and completing the placement of the sensor into the floor.



The last image is from where screen will be, back. The second image is from the door toward where the screen will be. The framed opening in floor (left in last pic, right on other pics) show where the hitting sensor will be.

[jobruba37]

Great work so far Brett! Very impressive what you have got done in such a short amount of time. I will definitely be following your progress!

[Brettster]

Thanks jobruba37 - I'm kicking it up... only a few more days of decent weather, and Christmas/snow coming fast... See my latest post (from 12/14), I still have 2 infrared lights to hang (for ProTee), and wiring to do for 4 outlets and then will have wiring checked by qualified electrician as he didn't have time to do all my wiring for me.

I've been doing pretty much all of it myself - which has resulted in tons of learning, and purchasing nails/screws, materials, tools, levels, boards, wire, on and on... but now I know how to do pretty much everything at this point - except for plumbing - which I will never learn enough to be good enough at that - but hey I'm not going to have any plumbing in the shed, so all good

[Brettster]

Well - moving right along - these tasks are taking longer than usual and I've had to extend my deadline to Christmas (instead of Thanksgiving) - but, it's going to be worth it!!! I finally cut down the ceiling joists and have swung driver... I had to move lighting/wiring and re-hang lights from collar ties. I'm still not set on these 2 LED bare bulbs, but they do give me 825 lumens each. I'm leaning more toward recessed LEDs, will look much better once the insulation and ceiling boards are up. I also have to install 2 infrared lights pointing down (one each) at the ProTee sensor mats, and finish wiring outlets around the building - then have a qualified electrician check my work.

In these pics - I've installed 4 studs on each side wall to allow for 6" of distance (about 5" to 11" total from back wall - after drywall is up). I then laid out an area for 2 LM mats, the ProTee mat is an extra mat I purchased and works well to show me where to position it. I've been measuring the 'top of my swing arc' to make sure I have clearance as my Gambrel roof drops down steeply on each side giving me about 6' to 8' of height in the middle part of the building, so I have to keep the swing arc peaking somewhere near the middle of the building or anyone with a flat swing could smack the ceiling on their swing... I've measured/re-measured this placement as the pics show - and the ProTee sensor mats (1 hitting, 1 putting) have to drop into the floor at just the right spots - so I left plenty of space to do that as can be seen in last post pics.



After that, I took my Garmin Approach R10 out there and placed it where I plan it to sit - inside the wall cavity, after the drywall is up. This gives me the extra depth I need to get close to 9' from ball to screen and will increase my accuracy on the Garmin R10 which is radar based. I've already tested it into a net and anything 8' or greater seems to be fine, but when I shortened up to 7'6" to net the readings got short on distance. The way I have it, I plan on a mat in the spot where the tape measure is setup. It is measuring about 9' from the front part of a 30" drop in hitting strip (30" x 12").

[Brettster]

I completed wiring 4 GFCI outlets and only have left the infrared lighting (required by ProTee sensor mat). The horizontal camera mounts up there as well directly above the hitting sensor. The 2 infrared lights mount (1 over the hitting sensor, 1 over the putting sensor) and are both wired to a transformer.

Here are some pics of wiring / and the lighting/camera framing board I installed floating (with l-brackets) over the top of the collar ties up at around 10' of height. By the time the lights are mounted to the underside of the board they will hang at about 9'5"-9'6" directly over the sensors. The camera will also hang above the hitting sensor.


(2 GFCI outlets wired on one wall, one wired on back wall, and one wired on opposite wall to this one).


(this is the framing/mounting board - 1x4 I floated over the collar ties and will secure with L brackets. This board is to be directly over the ProTee hitting sensor and ProTee putting sensor following the path to the screen at the pink wall. The Horizontal camera - HCAM also mounts on this board directly above a specific spot on the hitting sensor.

Notice there are already 2 LED bulbs mounted behind the framing board where the bright light spots appear - I will leave those for a good amount of light when using my Garmin Approach R10 which I will hit from directly adjacent & parallel to the ProTee hitting sensor. See previous post for location of Garmin R10 radar unit which I will embed into wall as far back as I can - to gain more distance to the screen for more accurate distances with the Garmin). I will either leave those as single LED bulbs - they are bright at about 875 lumens, or I will install 1 or 2 recessed LEDs in these locations as eventually the underside of the collar ties are to be covered up with Luan board to create a faux ceiling. I may paint cloud/sun on the ceiling, if that does not interfere with ProTee sensors as they point up from the mat - they may need to have black only directly above them for better ball/reading.)

I've come to the conclusion doing this work that it's very taxing on an old man, and that if I do not use a drill/power screwdriver it aggravates carpal tunnel in my wrists/hands. This came up last night, after doing the electrical and manually screwing in outlet boxes, and again today when checking them out, this time I realized it and got my drill and loaded up a philips #2 bit to relieve the pain

I can tell you - almost every task I start out to do, nearly every day that I work on this, seems to take 2-3 times longer than I expect, and also I realized that MOST people that show-off their builds either a.) start from a finished room already - so they have no rough-in/electrical/flooring/walls work, and they have no demolition to do like I've been doing which seems to be the hardest jobs or b.) they are having someone else do the work and just reporting on - this got done today, then this got done - so they are managing the tasks and not doing the back-breaking work all alone! I will NEVER forget the construction lessons I've learned, and I hope that I recover quickly from the pains/strains I've self-inflicted over the course of this massive project... .as I start using my Sim

Hopefully to see, very soon... I've been swinging (airing it out) quite a bit to verify I have the correct location for mat-cutting and sensor embedding to happen, as well as hanging screen and then 'balls up'. Can't wait - but just wanted to let anyone know - if they take on this much of a project - how much work is involved... and I realize some have to do it this way (like me), because COVID-19 seems to have let most contractors pick/choose who and when they will work - and it's often months away from when you need it done - which I didn't have the time for. Feel free to contact me (via PM here) and I'll give you words of encouragement.

[jasonreg]

Take your time - it is coming along really nicely - you will get there soon enough! I too was a bit of one-step at a time - this site is fantastic for getting enough info to get the next step.

[Brettster]

Thanks jasonreg - for the comments... I am definitely one-step at a time. This time of year especially with 3 kids and Christmas, but I'm ploughing through, trying to do at least one thing every day, even if it's a little thing.

You're right I've studied many posts from this site and it helps me almost every day. I wouldn't be anywhere near as far as I am without it. I have a handful of posts printed out in full with some of the pics showing details as I work through many steps. I know I'll really, really appreciate it when the whole thing is done. Or when it's done enough for me to start hitting balls - soon please

A little more wiring, checking with electrician, and had to order some more 1.) tarp clips, 2.) usb extension cables for the VCAM (vertical camera) so I can start hanging cameras/lights then, to mount the sensor mats in the floor, place the electric heating panels and get the building warm, at least, and hauling out the computer and other things, get the screen/curtains/ceiling baffles up... can't wait!

[Brettster]

Merry Christmas All and Happy New Year! 2022!

I have HEAT - yes, good heat... 2 electric heating panels and 1 portable oil heater on wheels... (for those days when it drops to single digits (like this Sunday).

The holidays have slowed me down a little, but I'm still pushing forward... even though there are a lot of family activities. Just today I finished hanging my fourth drywall sheet and last week I wrapped up all electrical wiring.



I now have 6 GFCI outlets running on 2 circuits to my shed. I also have 2 switched light systems (see pic) - they are: A) standard LED bulbs mounted overhead and light the entire inside (these may need to change to recessed or spot pointed LEDs depending on how they affect projector display on the screen, at the moment they are mounted about 9' from screen, and will be 6' or so from the projector - probably below the line of sight). B.) Halogen bulbs for the ProTee sensor mats (both hitting sensor and putting sensor require an overhead halogen bulb which are both wired to a transformer and only requiring 1.2 Amps).



The last pic shows the corner where I've hung 3 drywall sheets, the other pic shows the drywall/sheetrock I hung for the 2nd heating panel... I'm using 2 electric heating panels - mounted as shown to the walls on either side of my shed - I'm hoping they will be enough to heat the entire building, but remains to be seen at this point, they were on 12 hours yesterday and 13 hours today... today I also moved the portable oil heater seen in the pic near one of the heating panels and turned it on low as I may need to use that for supplemental heat when it's very cold, or in the morning hours if I want to heat up the shed quickly for a practice session.



I'm still realizing how much time all this work takes! It's not for those strapped for time, or for someone trying to fit it into family time... just way too much to do... but I'm pushed by the fact that I may soon be done and be able to play some range sessions and Sim golf on courses around the world... but I can see, with the shortage of contractors right now, it's very hard to get this work done - so stay at it... I've readjusted my deadline to January 10 - coming soon!!! Cheers...

[Fattsoo]

Gotta say, I’m really enjoying this post and looking forward to seeing the final result. Keep up the great work OP!

[Brettster]

It's getting cold tonight, real cold! I have a pluggable thermostat (for the oil heater) and a temperature/humidity gauge that transmits bluetooth temps to my house (hopefully)....

And... I'm watching Sentry Tournament of Champions on Maui Hawaii on Golf Channel - so, getting REAL EXCITED about finishing... that being said. Yesterday and 3 days ago I added insulation and about 6 more sheetrock sheets to the walls... I'm about 2/3 done with walls! In fact, so much so, that the walls are up where I can hang my screen, so likely that may be my next step, if I can get the temps warm enough in there during the day (hopefully I can with the thermostat coming).

Here's some pics of my progress:


Here are some pics of the back wall where the R10 will be recessed into at the floor... Can't wait!


Oh yes, forgot to mention, I'm planning a Murphy Bar (folding bar counter) to fold down from that side - it's really the only open space I have (of any kind) where guests can stand when others are hitting. Well, as others have said - you're building your Simulator for yourself, and not for others, as others will eventually stop coming, and then you will be all alone...

Here's a shout out to the books that I've used to get to this point... Excellent reference, along with YouTube and HomeDepot websites.


Here are links to the books:
Build Your Own Sheds & Outdoor Projects - 5th Edition - Creative Homeowner
Building Sheds - Joseph Truini
Ultimate Guide: Barns, Sheds & Outbuildings - Creative Homeowner Ultimate Guide
Shed Manual - John Coupe and Alex Johnson
Framing Roofs - Fine Homebuilding

Just so you know, remember it has been a little over 2 months for me, working mostly alone and about 3-4 days/week (4-6 hours/day). So, plan accordingly. I can tell you, it's not an easy task, but these books made it tolerable as they included exact instructions on which nails, screws, bolts, lumber, type of lumber, measurements to use as well as how to do drywall, insulation, exterior house wrap, sheeting, shingling/roofing, electrical wiring, including GFCI wiring inside an outbuilding, handling doors, windows, siding (how to hang), how many screws to put in (per inches of material), etc. etc. I really could not ask for more - the Ultimate Guide was probably the best reference guide, but they all added little bits on some topics.

Good luck... PM me, if you have any questions...
-Brett

[GullLakeMi]

Keep up the good work. It will be worth it. I'm a golf nut and desire to improve my game. I much prefer to play alone. Rounds with others take nearly as long as real golf (w/6' gimme's). I put on a podcast, game, etc. and work through a warm up and round. League play on TGC 2019 is fun to see how you compete. Fair warning, guys put up scores that will make you scratch your head. You are almost there. Keep in mind, you'll probably be tweaking stuff as you start playing. Took me a while to settle into my custom build.

[Brettster]

Thanks GullLakeMi - yep, I will probably prefer to play alone too - as I do on course all the time, my wife says I'm a 'loner' golfer and not a traditional golfer who likes to play with others. I can see it taking a lot longer with others too.

Plus, I'm hoping to add a treadmill and drop in Fitness Golf at some point to get my full workouts done out there I can believe the 'head scratching' scores too - I'll try to keep it in perspective, recently found some online golf leagues that look like they might be fun (on Facebook), but I have to get enough heat into the building at this point - to finish my setup.

Tweaking, yep, going to be a lot of fun - right now I just wish I could get enough heat, but know that Mini-Split is the only way to do it, so - planning on that, and unfortunately causing me to wait a little bit longer (I really wanted to play some of the Hawaiian Courses during tournament play as the start of my Indoor Sim golf). But, alas, waiting on heat and it looks like we're in for another 10 days (at least) of very cold temps in Northern Indiana.