Creating a top-quality home gym in your basement is not as complicated and challenging as most people think. However, to make sure you create the most suitable home gym for your needs, you need to pay attention to a few key aspects. One of them is undoubtedly the type of flooring you’ll install in your home gym.
On this page, we’ll cover the best types of flooring for a home gym in the basement and share with you a few additional types and home gym floor ideas.
Installing Home Gym Flooring Over Concrete
Installing home gym flooring directly over the concrete floor is easier than installing it over an already existing flooring solution. That said, when you’re directly covering over a concrete basement floor, you need to make sure that your new home gym flooring will:
- Withstand moisture during hot summer and cold winter days
- Insulate your home gym from getting too hot or too cold
- Protect your joints, bones, and muscles
- Protect the concrete from any structural damage
- Look good in your overall home gym setting
With all of the five criteria above in mind, we’ve summed up the best home gym flooring solutions. These flooring options tick all of the necessary boxes and provide you with that real gym feel without breaking the bank.
They are:
Rubber Home Gym Floors
Rubber gym floors are a popular choice for many home gym owners. The main reasons for this are that rubber is a healthy flooring solution. It has excellent moisture tolerance, and it offers consistent performance even after years of heavy use.
Another essential thing to consider when it comes to rubber sports floors is that they’re effortless to maintain. This is a significant advantage these floors have over other solutions, as you won’t have to focus that much on cleaning and maintaining your home gym floor.
There are three main types of rubber home gym floors:
- Tiles — Practical and straightforward to install, great for small areas such as basement home gyms.
- Rolls — Ideal for covering larger areas but more complicated to install by yourself.
- Mats — The most versatile type of the three. You can use it to cover your home gym floor or place it independently in smaller areas for heavy-weight exercises.
Foam Home Gym Floors
Foam tiles are an excellent solution for lightweight home gyms. If you primarily do bodyweight and aerobic exercises with some weightlifting, foam tiles deliver top performance.
The foam delivers a high level of cushion and just enough firmness and inflexibility to protect against injuries. What’s more, foam tiles are very affordable compared to most home gym flooring solutions. Plus, they are super easy to install.
Installing Basement Gym Flooring Over Carpet
If your basement already has a carpet installed in it, this will complicate the process a bit. You won’t be able to install the gym flooring the same way. Moreover, you won’t have as many flooring solutions at your disposal as you would if your basement floor was unfinished.
For instance, you can’t install puzzle tiles if you already have carpet in your basement. This is because the puzzle seams will sink into the carpet slightly. This will accentuate and expose the base edges of the tiles and diminish the structural integrity of your basement gym floor.
On the other hand, installing a foam gym floor over carpet is also a relatively poor choice. This is because the foam flooring will tend to slip on top of the surface, especially if you don’t precisely install it across the entire surface.
With this in mind, the best options for home gym flooring over carpets are rolled rubber flooring solutions and rubber floor mats.
A Helpful Table to Help You Decide
When you’re creating a home gym, you’re likely planning for it to be a mini multi-purpose area where you can do a little bit of everything. From light cardio and weightlifting to stretching exercises, your basement gym should accommodate all of these needs.
In line with that, the thickness of the gym floor needs to be adequate for the type of activities you’ll be doing in your home gym. To help you pick the most suitable gym floor thickness, we’ve drafted a table covering rubber and foam gym floors as the two most popular home gym flooring solutions.
Let’s take a close look:
|
Type of Exercise |
Rubber Thickness |
Foam Thickness |
|
Aerobic/Cardio |
¼ Inch and thicker |
⅜ Inch and thicker |
|
Bodyweight Exercises |
¼ Inch and thicker |
⅜ Inch and thicker |
|
Light Free Weights |
¼ Inch and thicker |
¾ Inch and thicker |
|
Free Weights Over 120 lbs |
½ Inch and thicker |
N/A |
|
Heavy Weight Dropping |
¾ Inch and thicker |
N/A |
|
Vibration/Sound Reduction |
2 Inches and thicker |
1.5 Inch and thicker |
Additionally, when you’re creating your ideal home gym but working on a budget, you need to account for the cost of the flooring material.
Vinyl is the most expensive material, followed by PVC flooring solutions. Finally, rubber, carpet, and foam gym flooring lead the way as the more affordable and commonly-used options for home gym owners.
Have a Unique Home Gym Flooring Idea? Let’s Make it a Reality.
Are you planning on revamping your old basement into a lively home gym where you’ll thoroughly enjoy spending time exercising?
At J&J Gym Floors, we can guide and assist you through the entire process. Our experienced and knowledgeable flooring professionals can answer all of your questions and assist you in picking the best home gym flooring for your basement.
Call us today at (973) 453-2425. Or contact us via a simple online form, and we’ll get back to you asap!