# Thickness of rubber flooring??



## mph

Hi, looks like I'll be moving house soon and have agreed with the mrs i can have he full garage for a gym not just half, so I'm in the process of spending plenty of money and working down my list have come to flooring.

What sort of thickness of rubber should I be looking at? I see a lot of 12mm and 18mm (often referred to as heavy duty), and have even seen 300mm thickness.

i'll have all my gym equipment on it and will be doing all sorts of lifting including deads.

thanks


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## Blinkey

Why do you need a rubber floor in a garage?


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## Porkchop

The Vegetarian said:


> Why do you need a rubber floor in a garage?


So he can smack dem weights down like a badass!


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## Aztekk

Where's the best place to buy, looking for some myself.


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## a.notherguy

do you really mean 300mm? thats some thick flooring!


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## madmuscles

a.notherguy said:


> do you really mean 300mm? thats some thick flooring!


That'd be like a breeze block, you would'nt need weights just rearranging the floor would be a workout in itself!


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## dalboy

this is what i used

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EASiFit-CHECKER-RUBBER-STABLE-MATS-6ft-x-4ft-x-18mm-thk-Supplied-as-2-Piece-mat-/140856761078?pt=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item20cbb79af6

and i know others have used the same too. Great stuff.


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## K-Rod

You can forget any overhead lifting with an extra 300mm beneath you!


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## Al n

Iron weights and a concrete floor. Fcuk it just slam em down and think of the clang as confirmation that they were heavy ass weights.


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## Guest

Horse stable matting mate, google it


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## Prince Adam

dalboy said:


> this is what i used
> 
> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EASiFit-CHECKER-RUBBER-STABLE-MATS-6ft-x-4ft-x-18mm-thk-Supplied-as-2-Piece-mat-/140856761078?pt=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item20cbb79af6
> 
> and i know others have used the same too. Great stuff.


These I nearly got

But opted for Easimat from Amazon much cheaper and does a surprisingly good job


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## BLUE(UK)

I had some left over 3/4'' ply from a job so used that on my floor and then some quarry conveyor belt(mate replaces this stuff at work) so it was free really. It does the job.


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## Andrewgenic

dalboy said:


> this is what i used
> 
> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/EASiFit-CHECKER-RUBBER-STABLE-MATS-6ft-x-4ft-x-18mm-thk-Supplied-as-2-Piece-mat-/140856761078?pt=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item20cbb79af6
> 
> and i know others have used the same too. Great stuff.


Looks good. Cant decide whether or not to spend more money on my home gym or go back to a public gym.


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## Prince Adam

Andrewgenic said:


> Looks good. Cant decide whether or not to spend more money on my home gym or go back to a public gym.


Get your own gym mate, it's the future.


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## mc187

if you live near the country - pop into a farm/stable - they will sort you out


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## The Cheese

mc187 said:


> if you live near the country - pop into a farm/stable - they will sort you out


Why would they?

I live in the country and my family own a stables. But do you think we keep matting on hand to sell? Stables are no different to anyone else. They buy the stuff they need and use it themselves.

If the OP wants stable matting, just look online. It's what everyone else does. Including those who actually use it for horses.


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## mc187

The Cheese said:


> Why would they?
> 
> I live in the country and my family own a stables. But do you think we keep matting on hand to sell? Stables are no different to anyone else. They buy the stuff they need and use it themselves.
> 
> If the OP wants stable matting, just look online. It's what everyone else does. Including those who actually use it for horses.


i suggested this because a stable will know of a local supplier or of a trusted supplier that can deliver. who knows the OP might get lucky and bag himself some used matting. IF he lived near the country then its an option.


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## CJ

I own a vulcanusing company (conveyor belt in quarries)

Can't beat old belt for matting...will last forever


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## The Cheese

mc187 said:


> i suggested this because a stable will know of a local supplier or of a trusted supplier that can deliver. who knows the OP might get lucky and bag himself some used matting. IF he lived near the country then its an option.


And that's what I'm saying - I'm saving him a trip.

He's wasting his time going out there as they won't have used matting and he can pick up a trusted supplier off the net. Any decent Farm and Country place is going to have them. Same price as we pay for them as well.


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## Canada Bob

I've used recycled rubber 3/4 inch thick heavy duty 6ft x 4ft mats on wooden floors for years and they are hard to beat, they don't break down like the softer foam mats do. Best to get mats with a diamond or other pattern on the surface, you can loose your footing on smooth mats especially if you've been sweating on them, add to that try to get a mat that isn't smooth on the down side too, if you don't have air circulating under the mat they can start to gather condensation off concrete and they finish up stinking the place out, see if you can find something in the UK like the mats shown on the link below, a 6ft x 4ft x 3/4 inch mat {weighs a ton} costs around $70 over here, around 50 quid ? well worth it though to get it right the first time...

http://www.rubbercal.com/Maxx_Tuff.html

Canada Bob.


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## mph

Sorry all can't get used to this frickin iPad, I meant some mats go up to 30mm which seemed insane. I've googled stable matting and the price seems to be the same for the thickness.

This is more about what thickness I need to not smash the floor.

Checked out the thickness at my current gym and they use 18mm which of course is commercial, makes me think 12mm will do it.


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## dt36

Prince Adam said:


> opted for Easimat from Amazon much cheaper and does a surprisingly good job


Looked at these to, but still not decided. Do you think you can still jack a car up on these and use axle stands without them cutting through the mats. Asking because I use my garage for a gym, but also do my own servicing etc on my families cars. Not sure if they would be too sponge like for a jack and stands.


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## Prince Adam

dt36 said:


> Looked at these to, but still not decided. Do you think you can still jack a car up on these and use axle stands without them cutting through the mats. Asking because I use my garage for a gym, but also do my own servicing etc on my families cars. Not sure if they would be too sponge like for a jack and stands.


No their prob not tough enough, horse stall mats you would need for that try langdean rubber Birmingham


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## Prince Adam

Prince Adam said:


> No their prob not tough enough, horse stall mats you would need for that try langdean rubber Birmingham


Just thought can easily take up my mats for when you wanted to jack up


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## Canada Bob

dt36 said:


> Looked at these to, but still not decided. Do you think you can still jack a car up on these and use axle stands without them cutting through the mats. Asking because I use my garage for a gym, but also do my own servicing etc on my families cars. Not sure if they would be too sponge like for a jack and stands.


It depends on the density of the mats, as long as they aren't foam {no matter how dense/heavy the foam} you should be alright, but to make sure I would put a small piece of plywood, say a foot square to spread the load of the jack, mind you I gave up jacking cars up years ago, if you get it wrong or the jack fails you'll be in for the last bench press of your life, way too risky jacks are.

A better/safer way {one that you can use in your garage or on the road, or even on sand or soft ground} is to get a decent sized truck inner tube, slide it under the car {the position isn't critical} and then pump the thing up, there's not a car or a pick up truck on the planet that an inner tube can't life way off the ground, as I say even off soft ground, try jacking off sand or grass to see what happens.

The beauty of the inner tube lift is that unlike a jack it can't slip or even move, so once the vehicle is up where you need it to be it's safe to work on.

It's a good idea to check the underside of the vehicle to make sure there's no sharp edges or protrusions that might puncture the tube, I usually put a piece of old carpet on top of the tube to give it some protection, add to that if you want to be absolutely sure the car isn't drop on you you can slide a block or two of wood to protect you if the worst comes to the worst...

It's fun to lift a 3,000 lb vehicle a foot off the ground with nothing more than an inner tube, folks watching you do it swear blind it can't be done, only to see that at a pressure of 6 to 10 lbs / sq inch lifts the vehicle clean off the ground. Best to use a 12v inflator though as it takes a lot of air to fill a pick up size truck inner tube, takes around 5 minutes, but it comes in handy if ever you need to change a wheel when your out on the road, I always have one in the boot with the 12v inflator.

There's one Mod that helps though, ask the tire shop to put a valve on the outside of the tube, that makes it easy to get at rather than trying to get to the original valve that would be on the inside of the donut {if you know what I mean}.

The tube is a good thing to have in the car anyway, in summer folks use them to float around on the lakes or rivers, in winter we use them to fly down the snow laden hills, not only are they FAST but unlike toboggans you don't break your back going over rough ground or landing after you've taken flight :lol:

The inner tube thing is fun to see, but in my book it's way safer than messing with a jack...

Canada Bob.


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