In a garage, the ceiling is almost never the lowest thing over your head. The garage door track is. It hangs from the ceiling, runs 12 to 14 ft back into the garage, and typically sits 7 to 8 ft off the floor. The opener rail usually runs down the middle at a similar height. That is the number that decides most garage simulator projects, and it is the one people measure last.
This guide covers how to measure it, the three layouts that work, when it is worth changing the opener, and one safety step we recommend to every garage owner whichever layout they choose.
Measure this first
Stand where you would hit from and measure from the floor to the underside of the lowest thing overhead. That is usually the horizontal door track or the opener rail, not the drywall. Then measure the same way at the wall where the screen would mount.
- Floor to underside of the door track, at the hitting position and at the screen wall.
- Floor to ceiling, so you know how much height sits above the track.
- How far the track runs back from the door. The track only covers the door bay.
- Where the opener is: on a rail down the center of the ceiling, or on the wall beside the door.
Send us those numbers with your wall width and we will tell you which layout fits. Or run them through the fit calculator, which asks for the track height directly.
Three layouts that work
1. The housing clears the track
If the screen housing clears the garage door track completely, it mounts right up at the ceiling. No shimming, nothing else to change. Our main housing is 7 in by 7 in and each side housing is 4 in by 4 in, so on a taller garage ceiling there is often room above the track line.
2. Shim the housing down below the track
If the housing does not clear, the assembly gets shimmed down with extruded aluminum or unistrut and threaded rod until it does. The screens then deploy below the track instead of into it. This is a common garage install. It does bring the top of the bay lower, so check your swing height at the hitting position, and plan on ceiling protection: a build shimmed down to clear door tracks puts the ceiling closer to the ball than a normal room would. See the ceiling padding sets.
3. Hit toward the house instead of toward the door
Turn the bay around, or set it along a side wall, so the screen wall is away from the door. No shimming, no opener and no rail to work around. It is cheaper and easier whenever the depth allows it. The two-car garage guide walks through which wall usually wins.
The practical test for any of the three: stand in the hitting position with a driver and make a slow, full swing. If nothing is in the way, the layout works.
Should you move the opener?
If your opener hangs on a rail down the center of the ceiling, we usually recommend pulling the center rail and moving to a wall-mount jackshaft opener, which sits on the wall beside the door. Two reasons:
- The ceiling gets crowded fast once a projector goes up, and more with an overhead launch monitor.
- You swing differently under an obstacle. If part of your brain is worried about hitting something, your swing shortens and flattens, and you will not notice it happening.
Before ordering a jackshaft opener, check the door against these requirements:
| Requirement | Value |
|---|---|
| Spring type | Torsion, not extension |
| Torsion bar | 1 in |
| Clearance, side wall to end of bar | At least 8.5 in |
| Bar past the bearing plate | At least 1-1/2 in, undamaged |
| Track radius | 12 to 32 in |
| Door size | No larger than 14 ft x 18 ft, or 180 sq ft |
Mounting a jackshaft unit is straightforward for a capable DIYer, given solid blocking, or a 2x6 lagged into studs if there is none. Two things make it a professional's job: the door must already be balanced, and it must be a torsion spring door. Either of those is spring work.
Never touch the torsion spring. Winding or unwinding one takes winding bars and training. These springs are genuinely dangerous.
What about raising the tracks?
A high-lift conversion reworks the door hardware so the door travels further up the wall before it turns horizontal, which raises the tracks toward the ceiling. It buys the most height, and it is more involved and more expensive than a wall-mount opener. It is worth pricing if your garage ceiling is around 10 ft and the track is the only thing in the way.
What it costs varies a lot by door and by market. One owner on the Golf Simulator Forum wrote that a door company "quoted me about $1,200 to raise the tracks." Get a local quote before you plan around it, and compare it to layouts 2 and 3 above, which cost little or nothing.
Safety: lock the door out while you play
If the garage door travels above the screens when they are down, fit a shut off or lockout so the door cannot be opened while you are hitting. Someone taps the opener in the car and the door rolls open overhead, right into the space you are swinging in. We recommend this on every garage install, whichever layout you choose.
Two more things to plan at the same time
- Power. Each of the three motorized screens has its own 120V plug-in power lead. They do not need three separate outlets. Plan where the leads will reach power at ceiling height while you are planning the bracket positions, and plug them into a surge protector.
- Structure. Brackets are included and must land on studs or joists, or on rated heavy-duty toggle bolts. Never drywall alone. Fasteners are not included, because the right fastener depends on your framing. The ceiling load guide covers what to check.
Send us your track height
Wall width, height to the underside of the door track, depth, and where the opener is. We will tell you which of the three layouts fits your garage and which size goes with it, or tell you it does not fit. Free, no obligation.
Call or text 817-458-8556, email hello@thehomefairway.com, or start with the fit calculator.