Garage Sim Build – Part 1

I'm still here at Phase 1 in what I'm calling "Project Golf Sim while hopefully not causing a crippling divorce". So far, so good.

We built a house and finished last summer/fall in 2024. Initially, the dream was a basement simulator; however, an extra 12-16 feet by 15 feet, extra space in the basement, plus the costs to raise ceilings from 8.5 ish to 10+ feet, was just too much. The extra square footage actually equated to a surprisingly high increase, as it meant way more concrete/rebar/framing, etc plus it would push the overall size where property taxes jump up as well, so I scrapped it, destined never to golf inside. With my dreams dashed, I fell into a mild depression. "Don't these people know I'm trying to get better at golf?" I used to yell at the sky.

Then the architect said, why don't you just heat your garage? Oh..right, ya lets do that. So after the house build was largely done, we moved in, with the garage and pad completely unfinished. To heat the concrete dude installed pex tubing, with rigid foam insulation around the outside grade beams, as well as a really nice flooring rigid foam to keep the heat in the slab. With labour and materials that probably added $5k to the overall slab price. Next up, I insulated and vapour barriered using rockwool insulation, which cost roughly $2K. Drywall and wood were another $1K. The plan is to stain or paint the bottom wood and paint the drywall. Also protects from garage crap hitting the drywall and breaking apart.

Installed boiler system and pumps; this was the main cost and ran $5K with installation. These units have jumped up a ton in cost in Canada over the past few years. The next issue this caused was with a heated garage in Canada, and two cars also parked inside, with melting snow, which meant high humidity. So that equated to a separate HRV for the garage. The HRV also has a mini electric heater attached as well, so as it pulls in air, if the air is way colder than the air being exchanged, it will heat up, so it blows in nice warm air. HRV was $2K, and electrical for the heater and HRV was $1.5K.

Next up, I realized the friggin door rails were way too low, so I had to switch to a high-rise door system for both double doors and side-mounted openers. That was all told another $2.5K. Probably something I should have caught at the start, but what are you gonna do.

That takes me to about the end of Phase I. If you see a Phase II post, it will mean I've achieved my goal in life. If nothing is added any time soon, then I may be getting a divorce and trying to decide how you split custody of a miniature golden doodle.

Oh, to finally add, I have a gaming laptop, and have purchased the GC3 launch monitor. My plan is for this winter or fall to just get the turf, screen and projector, and get a rough setup going. Hopefully mud/tape and painting for next summer. Happy golfing!

The plan is for a 12-foot-ish or a bit wider, 9-foot-high screen. Trying to research some options and ideas. Ideally, in hindsight, I would have made the garage a bit wider to accommodate a 16 ft screen for true 4K, but again, there is sort of no end in sight with these things.

Any ideas or thoughts are welcome!