The process
Measure. Spec. Install. Calibrate.
Four steps in a fixed order. Skipping the first is how people end up with equipment that does not fit the room they own.
Most simulator projects go wrong in the same place. Someone picks a package from a website, it arrives, and only then does anyone measure the ceiling. We invert that. The room gets measured first, the specification follows from what the room can carry, and the price follows from the specification. It is a slower start and a much faster finish.
Step One. We Survey The Room
Six measurements, and every one of them can change the build. Ceiling height at the lowest obstruction in the swing path, which is the duct or beam your driver will actually find rather than the height in the middle of the room. Width wall to wall at the hitting position, because the club needs room through impact and follow through, not just the ball. Depth from the screen wall back past your swing. Floor level corner to corner, since almost every garage slab falls toward the door and a sloped hitting surface quietly corrupts every reading you take. Then light, because ambient light washes out a screen faster than a cheap projector does, and power, because projectors and computers want circuits that are not already carrying half the house.
We do this on site wherever we can. If you would rather start remotely, send us those six numbers and photographs of the room and we can get most of the way there.
Step Two. We Specify To The Space
The room decides the components. A basement under nine feet rules out overhead launch monitor mounting and points to a side or floor unit. A bright garage needs blackout treatment before it needs a brighter projector, because that is cheaper and works better. A concrete slab needs a subfloor under the turf, always, because hitting off turf laid straight onto concrete is comfortable for about a week and then your wrists start telling you otherwise.
You get an itemised quote. The launch monitor and any room preparation appear as their own lines rather than being folded into a single number, because those two items move the price more than everything else combined and you should be able to see them and decide.
If your room genuinely will not support what you want, we say so at this stage. It happens more often than the industry admits, and it is a much better conversation to have before the frame is up.
Step Three. We Build And Install
Any room work we flagged happens before we arrive, in a sequence you get at quote stage. Duct reroutes, added circuits, floor levelling, insulation and heat in a garage conversion. Then we install: framing, screen tension, turf and subfloor, enclosure, projector mounting and geometry, cable management.
A straightforward residential bay is usually one to two days once the room is ready. Commercial builds run longer and the schedule is driven by structure, power, acoustic treatment and egress rather than by the golf equipment.
Step Four. We Calibrate With You
This is the step most installers skip and it is the one that makes the room useful. Launch monitor calibration. Altitude set to your actual elevation rather than the sea level default the software ships with, which matters more than people expect if you live somewhere high. Projector geometry checked against the screen. Then a gapping session with you, so you leave with your own numbers on record rather than a manufacturer chart.
A simulator that is physically finished but never calibrated to the person using it is an expensive television. Every handover ends with your numbers written down.
What It Costs You To Start
Nothing. The survey and the quote are free, there is no pressure process, and we would rather lose a job at the quoting stage than install a bay into a room that was always going to disappoint the person paying for it.
Questions We Get Asked
How long does the whole process take?
For a straightforward home bay, usually a couple of weeks from survey to handover, with the install itself taking one to two days. Rooms needing preparation add time before we arrive rather than during. Commercial projects typically run six to twelve weeks from site walk to opening depending on what the room needs first.
Do I need to do anything before the survey?
Clear enough of the room that we can measure it, and know roughly what you want to practise. That is genuinely all. If you have already taken measurements, bring them, but we will take our own regardless because the lowest obstruction is easy to miss.
Can you work with my builder or contractor?
Yes, and on bigger projects that is usually how it goes. We provide the specification for structure, power, lighting and floor build up, and your trades handle their parts. Coordinating early avoids the situation where a finished room needs opening up again.
What if I already own some of the equipment?
We will work with it where it suits the room. Tell us what you have at quote stage. If a component genuinely does not fit the space, for example an overhead unit in a low basement, we will say so rather than install something that will not read properly.