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Thread: Horse mat vs plywood

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
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    Default Horse mat vs plywood

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    Any reason why the entire floor of a garage gym isn't 2 layers of horsemats vs using both the mats and plywood?

  2. #2
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    Nov 2009
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    Texas
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    Wood has a completely different feel and grip than rubber, along with different compression and wear. As you might imagine, different people prefer different things. Weights handled, lifts being trained, and environmental concerns are also factors.

  3. #3
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    May 2019
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    Installing a garage full of nasty 100 lb stall mats times two is my idea of hell.

    My garage gym floor is bare concrete. A Rogue plate tree on casters rolls easily on the concrete. A 4x8 platform with two layers of 3/4 plywood topped with stall mat is surprisingly easily to move around on the concrete. Then I've got a single 4x6 stall mat that we drag around to use for various accessories as needed. So far there have been no problems training on bare concrete.

  4. #4
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    Sep 2019
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    A follow up question or two, as I continue to creep towards pulling the trigger on a garage gym.

    1) My garage has no insulation. It's basically a few walls and a roof. It gets very very hot, and when the cars come in from the rain, it gets extremely humid. Add to it....our dryer blows out in the garage. I'd imagine it can get to 130 in there. Would this completely destroy my equipment, particularly a quality rack (like the Rogue H2 or Titan equivalent) and quality bar?

    2) The garage is concrete. I was going to put horsemats down, but want to make sure the floor doesn't trap any 'dampness'. This thread <https://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/general-q-and-a/79219-platform-idea-damp-garage.html> references some flooring at Home Depot. Is this what skid is talking about? https://www.homedepot.com/p/DRICORE-...0006/202268752

    So, I guess I'd put the DRICore down (4 squares x 4 squares?), then the horsemats on top of the Dricore, same space?

    Many thanks for any help and guidance. I'm absolutely clueless on construction things, etc.

  5. #5
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    Aug 2018
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    "My garage has no insulation"
    Can you insulate it? If there is no drywall roll type insulation would be easy.

    "... our dryer blows out in the garage."
    Get some flex hose and move it so it exhaust outside.

    "... but want to make sure the floor doesn't trap any 'dampness'."
    Do you have any indication of retained dampness today? If not, the I think the tiles are overkill for a problem that may not exist. I would consider sealing and painting the floor. This is a fairly easy process, but does require emptying the garage. Home Depot sells the paint.

    I would also consider adding some ventilation. You haven't said if there is a ceiling in the garage. Either way, I would put an exhaust fan as high up as possible to exhaust the hot air at the top of the room. You will need a fresh air supply which you want to draw from the bottom.

    You didn't say if cold is an issue. If it is, the your exhaust fan needs to seal shut when its off so your warm air doesn't escape when you want it.

    Bottom line if it's going to remain a working garage with cars coming and going, then the best you can do it modify the air the cars let in. Heaters and fans are your best tool. That dryer vent is your biggest source of humidity. Make that the first priority to move.

  6. #6
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    Thanks for this reply. I appreciate it a lot. I'll clarify a couple of points...

    1) Cool is not an issue. I'm in Tampa FL
    2) the moisture in the garage does come from the dryer exhaust AND when a wet car comes into the garage, and that water evaporates (even when the dryer doesn't get turned on). So, buy default, the floor gets wet/damp.
    3) The garage is concrete, and was painted. I do not thing there are any cracks, but I'd have to check.
    4) there's a ceiling in the garage, yes. It's barely up to 8 ft.
    5) I have thought for 4 years how to correct the dryer vent...I've asked our GC when we renovated our home 2 years ago. He didn't even have a solution. The flex hose, for a few reasons, is not viable. The GC confirmed as well.
    6) I don't know about insulation. The garage doors face east. I am pretty sure it is the roof/ceiling that is the main culprit with heat coming in. I think it is, literally, plywood. It's is a flat, low ceiling. Maybe could put some insulation up there but not sure. Ventilation is also non-existent.....

    But I certainly can reask him, and ask about the venting.

    Quote Originally Posted by Oso Rojo View Post
    "My garage has no insulation"
    Can you insulate it? If there is no drywall roll type insulation would be easy.

    "... our dryer blows out in the garage."
    Get some flex hose and move it so it exhaust outside.

    "... but want to make sure the floor doesn't trap any 'dampness'."
    Do you have any indication of retained dampness today? If not, the I think the tiles are overkill for a problem that may not exist. I would consider sealing and painting the floor. This is a fairly easy process, but does require emptying the garage. Home Depot sells the paint.

    I would also consider adding some ventilation. You haven't said if there is a ceiling in the garage. Either way, I would put an exhaust fan as high up as possible to exhaust the hot air at the top of the room. You will need a fresh air supply which you want to draw from the bottom.

    You didn't say if cold is an issue. If it is, the your exhaust fan needs to seal shut when its off so your warm air doesn't escape when you want it.

    Bottom line if it's going to remain a working garage with cars coming and going, then the best you can do it modify the air the cars let in. Heaters and fans are your best tool. That dryer vent is your biggest source of humidity. Make that the first priority to move.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
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    370

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    "the moisture in the garage does come from the dryer exhaust AND when a wet car comes into the garage, and that water evaporates (even when the dryer doesn't get turned on). So, buy default, the floor gets wet/damp."

    "The garage is concrete, and was painted. I do not thing there are any cracks, but I'd have to check."
    That's good, so the humidity is not coming up through the floor, in many areas water coming through the concrete is a problem.

    "I have thought for 4 years how to correct the dryer vent...I've asked our GC when we renovated our home 2 years ago. He didn't even have a solution. The flex hose, for a few reasons, is not viable. The GC confirmed as well."
    No problem, used 4" rigid. Check for code issues but I suspect you can run the exhaust up the wall to the ceiling line, horizontal to an exterior wall, and then exit. The reason for the vertical run is to save the wall space. You may have to install a lint trap or clean out port but this is done all the time. I'm on Long Island and my dryer vent runs about 6' vertical before existing so I don't think you'll have a code issue.

    Ventilation will be your big solution. Worse case open the garage door when it's not raining and circulate air. The humidity will equalize with the outside. Not as good as air conditioned space, but it's a garage, hahaha. I think I would get some floor based construction fans from Home Depot and set at the garage door blowing in. That will force out the hot air at the top of the room and at least get you to outside temperature. Plus the moving air provides you with the perception of cooling.

  8. #8
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    Feb 2020
    Location
    Netherlands
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    Regarding your initial question; I train outdoors in my backyard which is layered with 'smooth' cobblestones, kind of brick like. Initially all I used was horse-stall type mats to deadlift on and what ended up happening was the cobble stones right underneath the weight plates got compacted and sank into the ground (Dutch soil is very soft, even after being properly processed for building on top of). So I built a deadlift platform consisting of sheets of plywood in combination with the rubber mats. The plywood spreads out the force (pressure) over a larger area, whilst the rubber dampens impact.

    Since you have a concrete floor, you can probably just go straight to the rubber mats without damaging the concrete. Just as Rip said though, different materials and their combinations provide a different feel when standing on them.

  9. #9
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    Sep 2018
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    133

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    Quote Originally Posted by mpalios View Post
    Thanks for this reply. I appreciate it a lot. I'll clarify a couple of points...

    1) Cool is not an issue. I'm in Tampa FL
    2) the moisture in the garage does come from the dryer exhaust AND when a wet car comes into the garage, and that water evaporates (even when the dryer doesn't get turned on). So, buy default, the floor gets wet/damp.
    3) The garage is concrete, and was painted. I do not thing there are any cracks, but I'd have to check.
    4) there's a ceiling in the garage, yes. It's barely up to 8 ft.
    5) I have thought for 4 years how to correct the dryer vent...I've asked our GC when we renovated our home 2 years ago. He didn't even have a solution. The flex hose, for a few reasons, is not viable. The GC confirmed as well.
    6) I don't know about insulation. The garage doors face east. I am pretty sure it is the roof/ceiling that is the main culprit with heat coming in. I think it is, literally, plywood. It's is a flat, low ceiling. Maybe could put some insulation up there but not sure. Ventilation is also non-existent.....

    But I certainly can reask him, and ask about the venting.
    I'm in Miami. My platform sits outside, uncovered, on patio pavers. It is 3 layers of plywood with a layer of horse mat. I used pressure treated lumber and put a coat of Thompson's on it. It gets rained on all the time, and then it dries. It's fine. My bar is chrome, sits on the rack and gets rained on. It gets rusty, and I clean it with lime-away and oil every two months. Some of the chrome has chipped off on the sleeves and there is some permanent rust. It's also fine.

    Iron weights do not do well outside and increase the rust on the sleeves, so I am using mostly weights with a rubber coating. I think it is the rain that really makes them rusty, so it might be fine in a garage. My rack has some surface rust on the inside. I have a rogue bench, and the coating (I think it's the same on racks) holds up really well.

    Get the platform built, figure out your dryer situation in between sets. Also, get a large fan. Good luck!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
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    599

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    If your dryer vent is anything like mine, the amount of moisture and particulates that come out of it impressive. You may not do as much laundry as my family does, but if our dryer vented inside it would coat the walls with lint and mildew in short order, so you must have a decent lint trap on it. I would guess that if you can vent it outside, and ditch the lint trap, your garage would be much more habitable, your dryer would work better, and you would not have to clean the lint trap ever again. Win-win.

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