Home Gym Flooring? Any thoughts?

[TONE]

I didnt know where to put this thread. Figured this section is the best bet.

Anyway, we are in the process of finishing our basement. We wanted to put a home gym in. Nothing huge. The area this will be in is aprox 14'x14'

The basement will be mostly carpeted. I dont want the carpet to go into the gym.

We'd like something that is very strong, yet soft. I dont really like the idea of the foam tiles you see everywhere. I kinda want something thats very strong. Something you'd see in a health club.

I like the idea of some sort of foam or plastic.

We will have dumbells, treadmill, and a versaclimber. So there will be heavy equipment. I dont want the equipment to leave permanent marks or dents in the floor.

It will also get alot of moisture (sweat) and mopping.

Any thoughts folks?

Thanks in advance.

 

[930dreamer]

I wonder if cork is up to that task? If not, the inter-locking rubber tiles that are available.

 

[[email protected]]

I used 3/4 inch 4x6 rubber mats from therubberman.com in my gym. Very happy with them. They do soak up a lot of light though.

 

[BetterDays]

I was reading about using horse stall mats from Tractor Supply.
Relatively inexpensive, but up to the task.

 

[gabeancounter]

I think epoxy would do well in a gym room. The tractor supply mats in small areas as needed.

 

[hilld]

Use cork, it comes in all sorts of colors, is waterproof, easy to install and most important soft and insulating.

If installing onto concrete, make sure you have a vapor barrier underneath (6 mil plastic) if you don't pass the moisture test. The stuff I used is made by "Natural Cork" and it came in 3' x 1' planks (similar to laminate) and it installed quickly.

It looks great, feels good even on bare feet and it is easy maintenance.

Derek

 

[Bill97Z]

3/8" rubber will be the best. A lot of places carry it online. I am doing a 32' by 12' area myself now. It comes in snap together tiles or large 4' wide rolls. I am going with the rolls for a seamless look. I recommend looking at a few products and obtaining samples. I am going with the one with the color flecs in it to match the paint of the room. Prices are around 1.75 to 3.00 a square foot

Check out

rubberflooringinc.com

 

[Shocker]

Snaplock makes a gym floor. Talk to Racedeck.

 

[RoarkIndustrialSolutions]

www.SnapSports.com

Snaplock makes a gym floor. Talk to Racedeck.

 

[thegarageguy]

Here you go my friend, enjoy and good luck!

http://www.amarcoproducts.com/weight-rooms.htm

 

[AlphaGarage]

We do offer a coating that was designed for weight room floors, to be specific the weight room of a North Carolina Sate Penitentiary. The convicts are a swell bunch of guys, courteous and thoughtful, but they are very harsh in their treatment of heavy weights and workout equipment, in fact some of them can be downright violent. After dealing with, and being disappointed by, various mats, tiles, carpet, epoxies and other weight room floor treatments that kept failing, the prison administration contacted Wolverine for a solution that would last more than just a few months.

Wolverine's answer is EnduraTread 1191 - a 2 part epoxy with a lot of cushion and impact damping properties - yet very durable. It's a troweled coating that goes down about 1/4" thick, so it's really not DIY friendly.

Primarily it's used for cattle and equestrian facilities - horses are pretty sensitive to hard surfaces and cushioned floors are much healthier for their hooves. Likewise it's also used in veterinarian and kennel settings.

EnduraTread itself is black, but there are a couple of ways that overlays are used to color the surface.

So if you have a floor contractor in mind, or access to a chain gang, EnduraTread could be your solution.

 

[spammie]

I did a Wolverine floor in my garage & put down high quality 3/8" interlocking rubber squares for the 10x12 gym equipment area. I saved a bunch of money by buying seconds from ironcompany.com:

http://www.ironcompany.com/ironcompanysolidcolorinterlockingtile-qualityseconds-300persqft.aspx

I posted pictures of everything a while back:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47968

No problem with equipment or dropping heavy weights. As you can see from the pictures, the color of the tiles don't match each other exactly, which is why they're seconds. Otherwise they are top quality.

 

[Keep]

I would also recommend looking at the tractor supply stores for the 4x6 3/4 rubber mats used for horse stalls. Works out to less than $2 a sqft even better if you can catch them on sale.

http://www.tscstores.com/stage/mainhome.php#loadFG_221900

 

[chancer618]

If you want something a bit more permanent try rubberized tiles. (kind with the mini raised dots for traction. Wears well and comes in a variety of colors. I had it in a quasi industrial kitchen and it worked great very comfortable and durable! Comes in sheets or tiles. I actually like the sheet idea if you have any moisture issues as the tiles might come unglued, but the interlocking tiles come in different colors if you want to add a designer touch . See for example (less than $3.0 square foot)
http://www.rubberflooringinc.com/garage/coin-grid-loc-tiles.html or http://www.rubberflooringinc.com/garage/coin-rolls.html