Anyone have any experience with this stuff? I am planning on turning a 10 x 14 room in my apartment into a gym/bike room. I will be ripping up the carpet and need something that will dampen the trainer noise and be hopefully durable.
I bought one package that consisted of 5 squares and use it under the bike.
Works as expected, although its a bit more squishy than a gym floor.
While walking on it in my cleats there will be marks left in the foam, while if you had the gym-quality squares, there wouldn’t be indentations.
I didn’t put it through out a room, so I would imagine that if it was the primary floor, that it would get more abuse.
Also, given that it is squishier, than it might not hold up that well to much abuse from cleats, table legs, benches, etc.
However, for $90, if it doesn’t work out, than you aren’t out much money.
I just finished converting part of an old out-building into a gym and used this on the floor. I can’t tell you about long-term durability, but as I finished the room, I walked over it a bunch, dropped tools on it, etc. and you’d never know it. It worked out quite well and seems like it’s going to be very nice. It’s awesome to walk on. Seems to have some good R-value. It was easy to work with and fit together without gaps.
Does it stay even? or do the puzzle pieces come unlocked?
I’ve done that in my garage for my bike work area. Sure beats standing on concrete.
It’s somewhat squishy as people have said. I’ve never had a problem with them coming apart while working. My friend borrowed them for his kids to practice their martial arts in the backyard. Still together after they whale on each other.
We had our trainer area floored with a cheap set and after a while, the cleat marks and other dents and stuff were pretty annoying. There are different grades, however, so the durability will depend on which version you get.
I built a gym room in my basement and used this stuff. No problems in the nine months it’s been down and it goes down easily. Highly recommended if you only want to do it once and have it last. It’ll be $350-400 to do a room your size.
How thick is that? Is it harder, more like rubber as oppossed to foam?
i don’t have them, but my primary concern with them is having sweat seep through the cracks of the tiles and damage the floor beneath. anyone have that problem?
i don’t have them, but my primary concern with them is having sweat seep through the cracks of the tiles and damage the floor beneath. anyone have that problem?
You should put down roofing felt over your existing floor prior to installing the finished floor. That will take care of any possible problem.
I have had it in my basement (with concrete floor) for over 5 years now. It is under my home gym. It works great. Never pulled apart. Very little wear and tear. It is a bit soft, but, not too bad.
I do not use it under my trainer. I use the thinner rubber mats specifically designed for under treadmills, exercise bikes, etc. However, that is simply b/c I ran out of the puzzle blocks and got an extra mat with my treadmill.
I was looking to do the same thing. I ended up covering the entire floor, were I have a treadmill, indoor bike trainer and Vasa Ergometer. I tried the Home Depot product mentioned earlier (http://www.homedepot.com/...e-_-D23X-_-100594264). However, I personally felt that the rubber was too thin and it tended to crumble easily. I ended up finding a company online, who specialized in all types of rubber flooring products. You can basically order it in various lengths and thicknesses. It is commercial gym quality. (http://www.rubbercal.com/elephant_bark.html). I am very happy with the Elephant Bark Mats. I ordered the 3/8 inch thick, by 48 inch wide and various lengths.
The puzzle mats that you are looking at tend to be very soft and crush easily. They are typically the same Blue foam type product, which you can buy from Target or Toys R Us for kids to play on.
When it came down to cost, the Elephant Bark was a little bit more vs. the Traffic Master Active Tiles (Home Depot). However, the quality is great.
-Joe
I built a gym room in my basement and used this stuff. No problems in the nine months it’s been down and it goes down easily. Highly recommended if you only want to do it once and have it last. It’ll be $350-400 to do a room your size.
If you read that web page, that flooring almost universally gets terrible reviews. Complaints about pieces not fitting, crumbling in the hands, etc. You might have been lucky enough to just get a good batch.
I have these set up in my garage for my workbench/bike area. I think I bought them at Target…they were cheap. Bike cleats do leave marks. But otherwise, I’ve had no issues. Fairly durable and they stay together. They serve their purpose, which is to provide a softer area to walk/stand on when I’m working on my bikes, tinkering or working out with my kettlebells (which is pretty rare…ha ha). My trainer is set up on them as well.
Sweat does leak through the cracks, which is no big deal in the garage, but I would consider that if I was placing them in the house.
I just finished converting part of an old out-building into a gym .
yeah, i’m having trouble getting past this first part…
is the rest of it still out-building?
I used the home depot ones they are great-
-i put plastic sheeting down under the tiles to deal with the “sweat leak” issue
-been there 3 years, no damage at all, including under a very heavy treadmill…
Thanks for the link.
I am looking at this product as something to use at Swim Exits. I have used the astro-turf in the past but it never lasts very long. Is this the type of product that could get wet and then be dried and stored easily? 50ft/48" is a great deal for $600.
I would recommend that you call the company and talk with one of their reps about your intended application. They have always been very helpful.
Being that it is a rubber product, it can get slick and become a fall hazard; especially if you intend to run the length of the swim exit to the Bike racks. Again it’s best to ask the company and let them know how you intend to use the mat.
For home use, a damp mop or towel and a little soap is all that I use to clean up the sweat.
We’ve had it upstairs under our treadmill and Bowflex for about 5 years. It’s worked great. FWIW, we just laid it on top of the carpet–extra noise dampening and less work.
I hate to say it but you get what you pay for with this type of flooring. The light weight stuff that you find at Sports Authority is squishy and traps dirt and dust like crazy. If you drop a weight it will not do much to protect the floor beneath and when jumping/walking on it feels dead. I use the same rubber matting I use for my horse stalls. It is an ass kick to move - each 4x4 piece weighs about 80lbs and you need a carpet knife to cut but you can drop barbells on it, it will not deform under load and it feels good when jumping and training on it. If you check with the flooring people at HD and Lowes they should have industrial type interlocking rubber flooring available. Here is what I use: http://www.rubbermats.com/ssm.html HTH.