Basement Flooring for Home Gym - DIY Chatroom

DIYamateur · 01-25-2007, 11:51 AM

I am a young, new home-owner and need some advice

....thank you in advance to all who respond!

We have a mostly finished basement, and there is a room down there that we are planning to make our home gym. The previous homeowner had started to finish the room by putting up walls and painting them, but left the cement floor alone.

Can anyone suggest what we need to do to finish the floors? We were thinking of installing vinyl tiles, but are open to a more gym-like flooring if anyone has suggestions. Also, what would we need to do to prep the cement floor?

Again, thanks for any help you can offer!

redline · 01-26-2007, 11:35 AM

Is the cement floor in good condition?
any cracks or other flaws?
Is the basement dry after a rain storm?
How tall is the ceiling height?

cibula11 · 01-26-2007, 11:41 AM

Eventually we will be doing something similar to our basement. Our ceilings are quite low (6'7") so I have considered using a rubber flooring like you find at a commercial type of gym. I saw a guy's workout room done in this and it looks really nice. I guess he bought it at a home improvement store and it wasn't too costly. He said it came in a roll and cut the excess off around the edges of the room. It actually looks really nice. I would assume since rubber is moisture resistant you wouldn't be out anything if your basement got wet. Plus, the rubber doesn't move and so there was not really any prep work.

KUIPORNG · 01-26-2007, 12:21 PM

I would afraid the rubber stick to the concrete and once problem appear such as some spots got damage and you will have problem fixing it...

I would choose what I intend to do with mine: laminate

under the laminate, they have those underpad which serve the water resistance purpose... good, stylish, laminate is nowaday available in the marketplace...

DIYamateur · 01-26-2007, 02:49 PM

The ceiling height is fine, I would say atleast 7ft. We haven't noticed any wetness or dampness anywhere, but we haven't lived there very long yet either. There is a thin crack, but it has been dealt with by the previous owners. It was in the middle of the floor and didn't continue to any of the edges of the walls or anything.

cibula11 · 01-26-2007, 03:14 PM

Laminate would be a fair choice as long as moisture wasn't a huge concern. Even laminate which is made out of mdf will expand when wet. This would cause the seams to be much more noticeable. If you have a dry basement, I agree that laminate would LOOK nicer. But with any basements there is always a chance. Rubber flooring is an extremely durable flooring choice, that's why its used it places where 350 lb. powerlifters are throwing thousands of pounds on it everyday. If you don't believe me go to a gym and see for yourself. Obviously with any flooring it will wear with age, but for everyday use you should get a few miles out of rubber.

cibula11 · 01-26-2007, 03:16 PM

Sorry, one more thing. Make sure your cement floor is level. I was considering laminate until I noticed quite few dips and such. I could fix it, but with laminate you need a flat surface otherwise the pieces won't fit properly

Tmb9862 · 01-26-2007, 05:05 PM

And with rubber you can bounce your miller lite around and not break it. Sorry, anyone else see the commercial?

**Floorwizard** · 01-30-2007, 12:50 AM

johnsonite rubber floors are perfect.

www.johnsonite.com

elementx440 · 02-05-2007, 07:27 PM

what about epoxy floors, like the "naturestone" brand, theres a million others...

troubleseeker · 02-05-2007, 10:59 PM

I would not use laminate unless the basement is completely dry, and I was sure that I was only going to have machines (treadmill, rowing, stationary bike,etc. I would not use laminate with any type of free weights, including dumbells., because it will get damaged. The rubber sounds like the best option to me. I would try to locate the type that comes in small sections that lock together.