How to Choose Home Gym Flooring and Garage Flooring

The best home gym flooring can help ensure a safe, comfortable workout by providing padding and support to protect joints from undue stress. It’ll also prevent damage to the flooring underneath.

Although there are a variety of considerations when choosing the right gym floor for your home, a good place to start is with the surface it’ll rest upon. Installing gym flooring over an incompatible surface can lead to a slippery, unstable workout space and even damage the flooring below.

Exercise equipment mats are available in multiple thicknesses to provide the right degree of padding. Mats with added cushioning will protect the flooring below heavy exercise equipment like treadmills, exercise bikes and ellipticals. They’re also a good choice if you use weights and kettlebells for strength training or engage in high-intensity aerobics that involve vigorous movement.

Rubber floor tiles provide the same level of protection as rubber mats and come in varying thicknesses. Pieces of interlocking rubber flooring can be disassembled and stored when not in use. Rubber tile typically looks like a puzzle piece and can be arranged to cover the exact area you want, even irregularly shaped spaces.

This type of gym flooring is constructed of thick foam and comes in mats or interlocking tiles, which are often textured to prevent slips or falls. Foam mats can be folded, and interlocking tiles can be disassembled for easy storage. They’re also easy to clean by using a mild soap and water. This flooring is ideal as padding for your workout room but can also be used in playrooms, basements or anywhere you might need to stand for extended periods of time.

Polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, is a type of vinyl tile used for gym flooring. It comes in multiple color choices and has an easy-to-install, interlocking design similar to rubber floor tile. PVC plastic flooring is a rigid, lightweight and rugged material choice that offers the same protection as rubber, although it may not last quite as long, depending on foot traffic. There’s also flexible PVC flooring that isn’t as stiff and is easier to install. Some PVC tile options have a textured surface to prevent slipping.

Rubber flooring for home gyms that comes in rolls is an ideal solution when you want to cover a large area. This type of flooring is a more permanent solution than floor tile or mats, and it can be installed more quickly. You just need to measure and cut the material to size. Some rubber rolls require adhesive, and some can float freely over the existing floor. You’ll want to check the manufacturer’s specifications to make sure a product is right for your space.

Creating a home gym in your basement is a great solution for those who are tight on space and don’t like unused gym equipment lying around on their rest days. However, it does come with specific considerations. Many basements are prone to moisture, which can wick into the floor via the foundation. To prevent mold and damage from occurring in the space between your basement floor and the overlying gym flooring, choose either plastic flooring or a waterproof carpet mat with a raised base. This will facilitate the flow of air and prevent moisture from building up by allowing for proper evaporation. Rubber is also another good option for basement gyms because it’s waterproof and provides padding that shields your feet from cold concrete.

As with most basement gyms, creating your own personal workout space in your garage will involve covering a cement floor. If the space you’ll be using for your gym will also be the same area where you store tools and lawn equipment or park a vehicle, it’s important to choose garage flooring that’ll hold up to automotive fluids, oil and excess moisture. Options made of polypropylene or PVC plastic are the best type of flooring for garage gyms. Rubber flooring isn’t ideal in this application, as leaking automotive fluids can damage or dissolve it.

Consider whether you’ll need to shift things around in your garage gym to accommodate the different ways you may use the space in the future. The wide variety of interlocking garage tiles, garage floor mats or garage flooring rolls available will give you plenty of options. Remember, mats and tile can be disassembled and stored if you ever need to use the space for another purpose.

Garage floor tiles install easily and are a great solution for irregularly shaped spaces because they’re customizable. This type of garage flooring comes in multiple thicknesses and materials, including polypropylene and flexible PVC. It also comes in various color options, so you can get creative and create a checkerboard or other pattern if you wish. One great advantage to garage tile over garage floor mats and other types of flooring is that tile can be easily replaced. If a floor tile becomes cracked or stained by automotive chemicals, you can simply remove the damaged tile and swap it out for a new one without redoing the entire floor.

Garage flooring rolls are suited for covering large areas of a garage. Polyvinyl is a sturdy choice, as it can hold up to stress and even corrosive fluids like battery acid.