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Flooring for my room of pain

Chris OubreChris Oubre
in General Training Discussions

I'm going to replace the flooring in my "Room of Pain".  It will have a treadmill, trainer and a set of dumbbells.  I'm considering using recycled rubber interlocking tiles.  What concerns me are the holes and gaps in the tile.  In particular I'm worried about my copious amounts of sweat.

Has anyone used these types of tiles?  Do recycled rubber tiles develop a strong sweat odder?

Comments

  • novaavantnovaavant
    What's the sub-floor under the rubber? I think the base type inter-locking tiles might get crushed under the weight of a treadmill and sweat and stuff will definitely get between the crevices.

    I have a carpeted basement where I just put down a rubber trainer mat over the carpet and then have the bike on that and it works but it's a small space and I only have the bike and always have a towel draped over the stem to catch most of the sweat.

    Depending on the size of the space, budget etc. I'd consider doing commercial grade continuous rubber if you have a whole room to do.

    Something like: http://bit.ly/1RL0bJj



  • Jacklyn MooreJacklyn Moore

    Why not good, old fashioned, indestructable, washable vinyl. Cheap too! 

  • MattAaronsonMattAaronson
    I have rubber tile flooring. I installed them myself over hardwood. The tiles are dense and heavy and overall an excellent gym surface. They have a particular smell, not unpleasant but certainly not unnoticeable either. I have ad no problem with sweat smelling up the room long term or anything like that. I do put my trainer and treadmills on mats and not directly on the flooring. Overall I have had this flooring for about 3 years and it has performed extremely well.
  • John WithrowJohn Withrow
    I had the interlocking dense rubber floor inn my basement in NJ for ~4 yrs with no issues. I put it directly onto the original concrete floor. There is a slight rubber smell for the first month or so, then that fades. I agree with Matt that it has a particular "smell", but not a funky smell, just that "oh, I'm in a gym" type of smell. I put a think yoga mat under my bike rollers to catch my copious amounts of bike sweat. I would also put a large bath towel on the floor next to my bike for big rides (this might be gross, but... the towel was so I could spit onto it or blow snot rockets onto it during intense sufferfest workouts).

    Mine floor was also right next to my endless pool, so a section of it also got a lot of actual water splashed on it a few times a week. I had a decent exhaust fan in the room, and it would dry out in no time.

    Had I to do it all over again, I would put the exact same flooring down.

    I actually bought this kind local in NJ and picked them up from this place: http://www.amarcoproducts.com/Weight-fleck-tile.htm
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