Home Gym flooring

[Forsaken_clown]

Gday, i'm new to this forum but i've got a question i hope can be answered.

We're moving into our new house and i finally get to set up a home gym.... but until i get around to having a shed built in the backyard for it (and the money), the gym will have to go somewhere in the house. There is room for it in the main living room but the only problem is that the flooring in there is ceramic tiles. Now the only equipment i will have is a power rack for squats and a bench for benching (obviously ) ... now i'm thinking of putting rubber matting down underneath the squat rack and bench to protect the surface of the tiles, there should be no impact so i think this should suffice. Now for cleans and deadlifts i was thinking about putting down rubber matting first, then building an oly platform with 2 sheets of ply, then putting rubber matting ON TOP of that to allow for protection of weights thudding around a bit ( i know its not practical to drop a weight 6 + feet onto the ground so lets just say for argument sake that the only impact will be from deadlifts (250 - 300 kg reps)... Im wondering if anyone else has a home gym on a ceramic tile floor and can offer some insight..... Also i'm thinking that the rubber matting may stick to the tiles after time so maybe putting a thin layer of carpet or something underneath the tiles might be a good idea.... Any help is greatly appreciated.


Cheers

[dennisi01]

I would imagine that heavy rubber stall mats would suffice for going under the bench/power rack..if you are dropping bumper plates, i would think that rubber/plywood/rubber should be OK to protect the tiles. just don't drop iron

[HardKore79]

I would imagine that heavy rubber stall mats would suffice for going under the bench/power rack..if you are dropping bumper plates, i would think that rubber/plywood/rubber should be OK to protect the tiles. just don't drop iron

No, even dropping bumpers on rubber mats wont do much for tiles. Overtime it will work them lose or break them. You need to build an olympic lifting platform. Search on here on how to build one.

OP waited 4 years for his first post?!

[Wildtim]

I would build a platform and set it on carpet for any work off the floor. Ceramic tils crack easy, and are a bitch to replace. For the rest of the gym I would do at least rubber over carpet on teh tiles, but then be sure never ever to drop a plate. I've seen ceramic crack from a soup can knocked off a shelf, so it isn't exactly the best flooring choice in a gym.

[yankeemarko1]

I've seen ceramic crack from a soup can knocked off a shelf, so it isn't exactly the best flooring choice in a gym.

I agree. I have them in my kitchen. This has disaster written all over it.

[NCIronWorks]

I would imagine that heavy rubber stall mats would suffice for going under the bench/power rack..if you are dropping bumper plates, i would think that rubber/plywood/rubber should be OK to protect the tiles. just don't drop iron

New here too!! We recently decided to go with heavy duty 4' x 6' thick rubber stall mats for each piece of equip. We got our's at a Tractor Supply for 42 bucks each. Make sure they have been aired out or you won't be able to take the rubber smell! Avoid cheap mats from Sporting Goods Chain Stores, they crack and dry up after a couple of years! Hopefully helpful!

[dennisi01]

No, even dropping bumpers on rubber mats wont do much for tiles. Overtime it will work them lose or break them. You need to build an olympic lifting platform. Search on here on how to build one.

OP waited 4 years for his first post?!

HardKore, thats why I mentioned the rubber/plywood/rubber platform the OP proposed would probably work (rubber, 2 sheets of plywood, more rubber)