Securing Floor Layers

[David W]

High everyone. I am nearing the floor installation part of my build. I am going to build my floor up two inches to be level with my mat. I will use a 1" hard foam board, followed by 1/2 " gym floor mats, then 7/16" turf. I was thinking about screwing an upright 2x4 for a border for the floor material to come up against. Then I was thinking about using double face tape to hold the layers together. I don't want to glue it, so If I ever wanted to change anything, I could take it apart.

The part that I am most concerned about would be the turf. I would think that if it were taped down, over time, there could become roles in it. I want to putt on it, so it has to be, and stay, flat. How have you guys done an installation like this? Thank you.

[Stetson]

I “stood up” a 2x4 on the front and back, then used the wall for the sides. This created a completely locked in platform. Then I used 1.5” rigid insulation with OSB over it, no gym mats. You can use tape between the rigid and gym mats to keep them in place.

I used carpet adhesive to glue the carpet to the OSB. I am not sure how it would bond with the gym mats. I would think the carpet tape would do very well over time but I cannot guarantee it. The benefit to the adhesive is that it is everywhere, not just in strips. So every single step is on a secured spot.

[David W]

Thanks for the help. FYI, I was thinking that gym mats would add a little softness and help reduce bouncing. I would love to glue it but just hate the thought of taking it up if I ever wanted to change anything. I am a little leery of tape.

[Stetson]

Ultimately there is no perfect answer. I went with the system I did because I didn’t want squish, I didn’t want to set up to a putt and have my feet sinking down, thus I went solid. My way was cheaper and more solid, but you won’t lay down for 2 hours to watch a movie on it.

[Timmy5under]

I think a lot of it is based off the size of the area, smaller sizes may walk more than larger areas. I built all of my turf around the FiberBuilt 8' x 4' hitting area and anyone who has dealt with that knows it's a tank, almost immovable unless you lift it up. Because of this everything stays centered around it without any travel. For reference it's a 15' x 20' pc of turf I cut the hitting mat into with subflooring.

[David W]

Timmy, I am curious how you cut your mat into the floor. I have a 9x4 FB which I haven't even taken out of the boxes, except the two 4' square mats and hitting strip. I assume the other boxes is are frame. I was thinking about putting it together on the turf, marking it, remove it, then cut the turf and subfloor. Did you do something along those lines? BTW, my turf area is 15'x16'.

[Timmy5under]

Hi David, yeah pretty much. One thing I did and you may be doing it but I turned my turf over to mark and cut from the backside. When they say measure twice and cut once I think I upped that to measure 10 times and cut once. I also put the FB directly on my epoxy coated concrete floor and built out around with my subfloor ((3/8" cork and 1" foam tiles). Even though the FB mats are super heavy I thought this was the best way to keep anything from traveling because the epoxy floor is somewhat slippery. It was also planned this way to provide the same height so I could putt and not have any drop-off or rises.

[David W]

I got lucky! My neighbor came over to visit while I was working on the sim, and it turns out that he was a union carpet and tile layer for years. He talked me into gluing the turf down, and he is going to help. In all truth, I am going to help as he actually does the work, lol.