Enter the floor you want to cover, what you will do on it and the kind of rubber. You get how many tiles, mats or feet of roll to buy, how many get cut at the edges, and whether the rubber is thick enough by the flooring maker's own chart.
Buy
30 tiles (2 × 2 ft) for a 12 × 10 ft floor6 by 5, none cut · 3/8″ thick, enough for free weights up to 120 lb · 256 lb of rubber · 120 sq ft
Quick answer: divide the floor by the piece and round up each way. A 12 × 10 ft home gym takes 30 interlocking 2 × 2 ft tiles, 6 mats of 4 × 6 ft or 30 ft of 4 ft-wide roll. The thickness depends on the heaviest weight: Greatmats’ chart asks 8 mm for free weights up to 120 lb, 1/2″ over 120 lb and 3/4″ if you drop weights on purpose.
How to use the home gym flooring calculator
- Enter the floor: the whole room wall to wall, or just the corner you train in.
- Pick the heaviest thing on it: machines, free weights up to 50 lb, up to 120 lb, over 120 lb, or weights you drop on purpose.
- Pick the rubber: 2 × 2 ft interlocking tiles, 4 × 6 ft mats, a 4 ft-wide roll, or 1½″ lifting tiles.
You get how many pieces to buy, how many are cut at the edges, whether that rubber is thick enough for what you do, and what the floor weighs where the maker prints a weight. The drawing shows the pieces laid from one corner, with the cut ones in grey.
How thick home gym flooring should be
Greatmats, a rubber flooring maker, publishes a chart of which thickness suits which use. The calculator reads the thinnest thickness it ticks for yours.
| What is on the floor | Thinnest rubber Greatmats ticks | The rubber here thick enough |
|---|---|---|
| Bodyweight and machines | 1/4″ | tiles, mats, roll, 1½″ tiles |
| Free weights up to 50 lb | 1/4″ | tiles, mats, roll, 1½″ tiles |
| Free weights up to 120 lb | 8 mm | tiles, mats, roll, 1½″ tiles |
| Free weights over 120 lb | 1/2″ | mats, roll, 1½″ tiles |
| Dropping weights on purpose | 3/4″ | mats, 1½″ tiles |
Greatmats ticks only 2″ and thicker rubber for vibration and noise reduction. The 3/8″ tiles are thick enough up to 120 lb. A roll goes up to 1/2″; for dropped weights Greatmats says to stack rolls “totaling at least 3/4 of an inch thick or a thick mat”.
The pieces, from the makers
- Interlocking tiles: Greatmats’ Pacific tile is 2 × 2 ft, 3/8″ thick and 8.54 lb. It has no border edges: “To create a straight edge, cut with a sharp utility knife.”
- 4 × 6 ft mats: Greatmats’ mats weigh “about 65 pounds” at 1/2″ and “about 100 pounds” at 3/4″. It sells the 3/4″ mat for “olympic style lifting such as deadlift, clean and jerk and snatch”. The calculator lays them whichever way round needs fewer.
- Rolls: “Most rolls have a standard 4-foot width”, from 6 mm to 1/2″ thick, cut to length; 25 and 50 ft are standard and “most products have a 15-foot minimum order”.
- 1½″ lifting tiles: Rogue’s rubber tile is 24″ × 24″, 1.5″ (38 mm) thick and about 24 lb, made “to absorb the kinetic energy of dropped loaded barbells”.
How much flooring for common home gym sizes
| Floor | 2 × 2 ft tiles | 4 × 6 ft mats | 4 ft roll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 × 4 ft | 6 | 1 | 6 ft |
| 8 × 8 ft | 16 | 4 | 16 ft |
| 10 × 10 ft | 25 | 6 | 30 ft |
| 12 × 10 ft | 30 | 6 | 30 ft |
| 12 × 12 ft | 36 | 6 | 36 ft |
| 16 × 12 ft | 48 | 8 | 48 ft |
| 20 × 10 ft | 50 | 10 | 50 ft |
| 20 × 20 ft | 100 | 20 | 100 ft |
Pieces rounded up each way, so the edge pieces are cut to fit. A floor that is not a multiple of the piece costs more rubber than its square feet: a 10 × 10 ft floor takes six 4 × 6 ft mats, 144 sq ft of rubber for 100 sq ft of floor.
Worked examples
30 tiles (2 × 2 ft) for a 12 × 10 ft floor: 6 along, 5 across, none cut. At 3/8″ they are thick enough for free weights up to 120 lb, and the floor weighs 256 lb.
4 mats (4 × 6 ft) for an 8 × 8 ft floor: a lifting platform’s footprint at 3/4″, thick enough for dropped weights. Two mats are cut, and the four weigh about 400 lb.
100 ft of 4 ft-wide rubber roll for a 20 × 20 ft floor: five strips 20 ft long, 8 mm thick for free weights up to 120 lb.
30 tiles (2 × 2 ft) for an 11 × 9 ft floor: the same 30 as a 12 × 10 floor, with 10 of them cut along two walls.
Common mistakes
- Buying by square feet alone. 99 sq ft ÷ 4 says 25 tiles; an 11 × 9 ft floor takes 30, because each row and column ends on a cut tile.
- Too thin for the heaviest weight. 3/8″ tiles suit free weights up to 120 lb by Greatmats’ chart. Over 120 lb it asks 1/2″, and dropped weights 3/4″.
- Expecting rubber to stop the noise. Greatmats ticks only 2″ and thicker for vibration and noise reduction. A barbell dropped on 3/4″ rubber is still heard downstairs.
- Forgetting the weight. Twenty 3/4″ mats are about a ton of rubber. Check how you will carry 100 lb mats down the basement stairs before you order.
- Measuring one wall. Measure the floor at both ends and use the larger number: walls are rarely exactly square, and the cut pieces take up the difference.
More on home gyms at Dreamy Home Style
- Home gym layout: how much floor each machine needs
- Mini gym ideas for a home workout
- Garage makeover ideas
- Ideas for an unfinished basement
Fitting a treadmill too? The treadmill space calculator checks it and its makers’ clearances against your room. To draw the whole room to scale, use the free 2D floor planner.
Home gym flooring questions
What is the best home gym flooring?
Rubber, at the thickness your heaviest weight needs. By Greatmats’ chart: 8 mm for free weights up to 120 lb, 1/2″ over 120 lb, 3/4″ for dropped weights. Greatmats’ interlocking tiles go down without glue, its 3/4″ mats are made for a lifting area, and a roll covers a large room with the fewest seams.
How many rubber gym floor tiles do I need?
Divide the length and the width by 2 ft and round each up, then multiply. A 12 × 10 ft floor takes 6 × 5 = 30 tiles; an 11 × 9 ft floor takes 30 too, with 10 cut.
How thick should home gym flooring be?
Greatmats ticks 1/4″ for bodyweight, machines and free weights up to 50 lb, 8 mm up to 120 lb, 1/2″ over 120 lb and 3/4″ for weights dropped on purpose.
Can I use horse stall mats for a home gym?
Yes. Greatmats sells the same 4 × 6 ft, 3/4″ mats as weight training mats, for deadlifts, cleans and snatches. Each weighs about 100 lb. Rogue’s 1½″ tiles are thicker if you drop heavy barbells often.
How much does a 4 × 6 rubber mat weigh?
About 100 lb at 3/4″ and about 65 lb at 1/2″, by Greatmats.
What is the best garage gym flooring?
4 × 6 ft mats at 3/4″ for a lifting area, or a roll for the whole bay: five strips of a 4 ft-wide roll, 20 ft long, cover a 20 × 20 ft garage.
Is rolled rubber gym flooring better than tiles?
A roll has fewer seams on a large floor and is cut to length; Greatmats’ rolls are 4 ft wide and up to 1/2″ thick. Tiles are easier to carry and lay, and come thicker: 3/4″ mats or 1½″ tiles for dropped weights.