The DIY enclosure kit does not come with the frame.
That surprises people. You order the DIY Golf Simulator Enclosure Kit and a box shows up. Inside: the cover, the flaps, the impact screen, the cable and receivers, the zip ties, the hardware bag, and the fittings that hold the pipes together. No pipes.
The pipes are a separate decision, and it is a few hundred dollars either way. Worth getting right before you order, not after.
What the frame is actually made of
One inch EMT. Electrical Metal Tubing, the galvanized steel conduit in the electrical aisle at Home Depot or Lowe's. Sold in 10 foot sticks.
Carl's does not recommend PVC or rigid tubing with these kits. The fittings are sized for EMT and nothing else, so this is not a place to improvise.
Here is the detail that trips people up. One inch EMT is a trade size, not a measurement. The actual outer diameter is 1.163 inches. Go measure a pipe at the store and you will think you grabbed the wrong one. You did not. Carl's cut sheet notes the same thing for anyone sourcing their own.
Option one: cut it yourself
Your kit ships with a cut sheet. It tells you the exact lengths and how many of each, for the size you bought. I am not going to guess those numbers here because they change with every size and the sheet in your box is the real answer.
What I can tell you is what the job takes.
You need a way to cut steel tube. A chop saw or a sawzall, not a hacksaw and good intentions. Eye and ear protection, because cutting galvanized tube throws sparks and it is loud. Then a file and a deburring tool to clean the cut ends. Partly so you do not slice your hand open. Partly so the pipes seat properly in the fittings.
Then there is getting it home. Ten foot sticks do not go in a sedan. A lot of stores will cut them down for you at the counter. That solves the hauling problem. It also means you are measuring at a hardware store counter instead of in your garage.
Cost: 1 inch EMT was listing at about $19 a stick at Home Depot when I checked, and people report paying closer to $22 at the register. Local pricing moves, so call ahead if the number matters to your decision.
Option two: let Carl's cut it
The Pipe Framing Kit runs $349.95 for an 8x8 and $414.95 at the big end. Every pipe arrives cut to length and marked to match the frame diagram for your size. You assemble, you do not measure.
Do the division and the 8x8 kit costs about what eighteen sticks of conduit cost. So if your frame needs meaningfully fewer sticks than that, sourcing locally is cheaper on materials. That is just true and I am not going to pretend otherwise.
What you are buying with the difference is the cutting, the hauling, the deburring, and not being wrong.
The part that actually decides it
Cut a pipe short and it is not a $20 mistake.
Every Carl's accessory on this store is made to order, and Carl's quotes about two weeks. The Pipe Framing Kit included. Picture the bad version. You buy conduit, cut it on a Saturday, and find two pieces an inch short. Now you order the kit anyway. That is another two weeks plus the price of the conduit you already ruined, and your enclosure sits in a box in the garage the whole time.
That is the real math. Not $350 versus $250 of conduit. It is $350 versus a coin flip on two more weeks.
So, the honest split. If you own a chop saw, have cut metal before, and have a truck or a roof rack, cut your own. You will save real money and the job is not hard. If any one of those three is a no, buy the pre-cut kit and spend the Saturday hitting balls instead of measuring.
While you have the cut sheet out
A few things people order second that they wish they had ordered first.
The Safety Baffle is $40 and it catches the shots that sail high. In a tight room that is the cheapest insurance on the list. It hangs off the top pipes with zip ties and takes about a minute.
The Foam Insert Kit is $150 at every size. It tucks behind the flaps and pads the exposed frame. Easier to install while you are hanging the flaps than to retrofit later, which is the whole argument for buying it up front.
And if you are closing in the back, the Back Cover Pipe Kit is the same decision in miniature. Pre-cut framing for the back cover, $155 to $190, so you are not sourcing another round of conduit for six pipes. Everything is in Enclosure Accessories.
Tools, so you can check your drawer tonight
A 1/2 inch combination or socket wrench. A 3/16 hex key or bit. Tape measure, rubber mallet, pliers. An 8 foot stepladder, and that one is not optional, you are working at the top of an eight to nine foot frame. Add a cutting tool, a file and a deburring tool if you are making your own pipes.
One caution worth repeating from Carl's own instructions, because it is the most common way people damage a new screen. Do not overtighten the zip ties. The screen should hang flat, not stretched. The two at the bottom can be pulled tight. The ones at the top corners are there for tension, not to crank on.
Then think about the room
Once the frame is up, the decisions stop being about pipe and start being about the room it lives in. If that room is a garage and you plan to smoke in it, we wrote up what cigar smoke actually does to an impact screen, the turf and your projector. Worth five minutes before you hang a $1,000 screen.
Not sure which size you are building?
Tell us the room. Ceiling height, width, and how much depth you have behind the tee. We will tell you which enclosure size fits and whether the pipe kit is worth it for your situation.
Email support@fairwayandember.com or call (843) 310-1415. The full build is in Golf Simulators.