New house basement

[Greybird2]

We met with the builder and architect yesterday. We went into the basement of a house that is under construction.

The first thing the builder says is, "All of our houses get 9 foot deep basements"'

Big smile. Laundry upstairs. 2000 sq ft. Another big smile...

[Greybird2]

Not our house, but it looks like this.

[grapegorilla]

Sounds nice. So show us the gym floor plan

[Duplicitous]

Make sure it's a walkout and has a wider-than-normal door. Heck, French doors would be even better.

[radrd]

I assume 9-foot deep means 9-foot ceilings, which would be awesome. If not, make sure you at least have 8 feet. That was hard to come by here in Seattle and I lucked out.

Walkout is also a big plus. My door is standard size and I haven't run into any big problems, but I can imagine some machines intended for commercial gyms wouldn't get through without significant disassembly.

The other thing to think about is flooding. I would get a geological survey done (or whatever it's called) and get ahead of any potential flooding/moisture issues. Very common with basements and permanent fixes can be expensive.

[gym62richard]

Make sure it's a walkout and has a wider-than-normal door. Heck, French doors would be even better.

, I totally agree, when I built my gym the biggest mistake I made was fitting a standard door, at the time I happened to have a new 34"x78" door and decided to use it to save a few bucks, I had some real struggles humping equipment through that doorway.

Last year I fitted a leaf and a half door, I now have clear access of 50"x80", it also has a low profile threshold, which I'd also recommend.. When I bought my Panatta equipment everything came with fully welded frames and I was able to wheel everything straight into the gym, no way would it have fitted through a standard single doorway.

[DayChallenger]

Would love to have a own gym one day, but I noticed that it's bit hard to get it motivated in home.. what I have now just few bars and few plates, to play around. Is it just me like that? definitely own gym would be useful in times we have now, at least in my country all gym closed.

[grapegorilla]

Would love to have a own gym one day, but I noticed that it's bit hard to get it motivated in home.. what I have now just few bars and few plates, to play around. Is it just me like that? definitely own gym would be useful in times we have now, at least in my country all gym closed.

I think it just depends. I loved going to gym for the social aspect. I love my home gym because it’s just me - lol.

[RGrizzzz]

Just make sure you know for sure that the ceilings will be 9'. That may mean 9' walls. You'll lose the depth of the floor, which will be a few inches. Also, think about where your utilities and duct work will be. The ceiling may drop a foot or so in those areas. Ducts usually go down the middle of the house.

I have a newer house with 9' basement walls. It's nice, but still has about a 100" limitation. If you going to look at something like a Rogue rack, you'll be able to fit a 100" rack, but none of the pulley attachments that fit on top. The newer Cave series setups have different choices depending on rack height. (more at 100")

What I'm saying is, it might be better to go all the way to 10', if it's an option, and you can swing it. Also, think about heat sources, assuming you're somewhere it gets cold. In SE PA, in the coldest parts of winter , my basement has seen it as cold as 58 degrees. When we finished most of it, we did put in a gas fireplace and a few HVAC ducts. (Plumb in a vent/gas line access now, if it's in your future plans, to save money later) The gym is unfinished, but I can open the door to let some heat in. If you're not going to finish it initially, still have them frame in a wall or two. You can hang mirrors and put in a few outlets. Recessed light housings are also handy, so youre not swinging things by hanging bulbs. (Ask me how I know) Talk to the floor people about rolled rubber for the gym floor.

[C123C]

You are going to be so psyched to design a gym in that space. Must be great. My house came with a finished basement (people lived in it less than a year before moving back to TX) and a finished room for gym laid out with stall mats. A little smaller than I'd have liked but totally fine for me.

Buddy has a pretty large house. His basement is unfinished and I think 3500 square feet. He's going to be doing all kinds of stuff to it and I've been helping him with the gym side. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

You definitely need to keep us looped in on this one. You don't get many chances to build new homes no less new home gyms!

[Duplicitous]

Would love to have a own gym one day, but I noticed that it's bit hard to get it motivated in home.. what I have now just few bars and few plates, to play around. Is it just me like that?

No, a lot of people have a difficult time with self-motivation. For me, I nearly always worked out alone long before a home gym ever even crossed my mind. These days I get to do it without dealing with all of the hassles that came with a public gym.