horse stall mat over concrete

[Steve R]

I may just be lucky but I've just got 1 layer of stall mats in my garage and have not gotten any cracks yet. Have been lifting in there for a few years now. Last working set of deadlifts was 485. Given what other folks are saying though I may be lifting on a ticking time bomb. Of course lifting in the garage is different from in the driveway...

I used a single stall mat for some time and it protected the concrete floor of my garage. What it didn't do was protect me from worry that I might someday damage the floor. Now that I have a normal platform I don't worry. If my platform had just one layer of 3/4 plywood instead of two I might worry a little bit. I think this covers all the bases unless there is some other material available with different properties than stall mat or plywood.

[mpalios]

As a supplement to Rip’s description in the book: How to Build a Weightlifting Platform | The Art of Manliness

This is such a stupid question...I'm sorry I'm writing it, but I'm still asking. In the link on Art of Manliness, in the step "Screw the particle board together", does this mean you screw the particle board also into the concrete? Are the screws long enough that they penetrate the concrete floor? Or are the screws not long enough to go through the concrete? If they are long enough, but you don't want them to go through to the concrete, how do you know when to stop?

[Smyth]

No I don't think it was weird. It wasn't anger but frustration, at least at first. I am/was asking a very specific question to the community in general about the protection levels of different levels and layers of protection with specific test results. This is a specific question that is NOT - I REPEAT NOT - addressed adequately "in the book" for my needs - sorry we minions can't all conform the same. While I appreciate Rip's knowledge, what he answered with was "only my way is right". As I said I admire what he's designed but it will NOT work for me. I'm looking for ideas to allow me to build my own platform that WILL work for me. But what I got instead is the ongoing "my way or the highway" bullshit answer. I'm sorry, I'm not a mindless minion who blindly follows everything. I like the program, but there's no one right solution for everyone, and for my case it's platform. Also, I don't know where the fuck the idea I'm lifting in my driveway came from, I never said that at all, it's all in my one car garage.

This is the last I'll write on this thread about this, as I can see I'm getting nowhere. The attitude in the responses alone are pushing me very close to leaving the SS program altogether and likely be better off and healthier for it. Steven Z, thank you for your reply, it gives me a bit more confidence in going forward.

I think it was me who started with the driveway question. Building my platform now. When I’ve gotten the classic Rip response in the past, and believe me I have, I viewed it as a right of passage. I got over it by drinking Buffalo Trace in sets of five.

[AndrewLewis]

This is such a stupid question...I'm sorry I'm writing it, but I'm still asking. In the link on Art of Manliness, in the step "Screw the particle board together", does this mean you screw the particle board also into the concrete? Are the screws long enough that they penetrate the concrete floor? Or are the screws not long enough to go through the concrete? If they are long enough, but you don't want them to go through to the concrete, how do you know when to stop?

That's not a stupid question. The answer is no - you just screw into the boards, not the concrete. Screws are not hard enough to cut into cement. You have to buy a ceramic drill bit to drill a pilot hole and then use either cement anchors or cement bolts to attach the work piece to the cement.

Most people build their platforms so they not attached the ground except by gravity.

Or are the screws not long enough to go through the concrete? If they are long enough, but you don't want them to go through to the concrete, how do you know when to stop?

If you buy two sheets of 3/4" sheet goods (plywood, particle board, etc), you should buy 1 1/4" screws. That's how you know they won't go all of the way through. You drive them flush to the top piece and the floor will still be 1/4" away from the tip of the screw.

[Sam Beckham]

This is such a stupid question...I'm sorry I'm writing it, but I'm still asking. In the link on Art of Manliness, in the step "Screw the particle board together", does this mean you screw the particle board also into the concrete? Are the screws long enough that they penetrate the concrete floor? Or are the screws not long enough to go through the concrete? If they are long enough, but you don't want them to go through to the concrete, how do you know when to stop?

The 1-1/4 screws are just holding the sheets of plywood/particleboard together, they aren't long enough to go all the way through 2 layers of 3/4" wood. The longer lag bolts mentioned are the same, they just get installed through 2" frame of the rack and secure it to the platform. There's probably no reason to anchor the whole thing to the floor but you could do that easy enough with some tapcons (not normal wood screws).

[AndrewLewis]

It looks like he actually specifies buying 1 1/4" screws in the materials list.

[michaelmccoig]

[The attitude in the responses alone are pushing me very close to leaving the SS program altogether and likely be better off and healthier for it.]



What ever you do, don't leave the SS Program!! I left once, Rip sent his operatives to my home and they forced me back into the SS Program. They don't allow you to leave.

[mpalios]

Thanks, Andrew and Sam, for the reply. A couple of hours after I posted this question, I thought about adding the width of the boards and comparing to the screw length. I was in the car and forgot about it when I got home.

Again, thanks.

[jfsully]

This is such a stupid question...I'm sorry I'm writing it, but I'm still asking. In the link on Art of Manliness, in the step "Screw the particle board together", does this mean you screw the particle board also into the concrete? Are the screws long enough that they penetrate the concrete floor? Or are the screws not long enough to go through the concrete? If they are long enough, but you don't want them to go through to the concrete, how do you know when to stop?

I think I made a platform based on a combo of instructions in the blue book, AOM, and an Alan Thrall video. I have 2 layers of OSB and a top layer of 4x8 sanded plywood centered between two strips of horse stall mat. The plywood is all screwed together. Use washers on the screws to secure the horse mat to the plywood, it will keep the screws from just going down through the mat.

I screwed my squat rack into the plywood. It sits on my garage floor, nothing is secured to the concrete below. The whole thing is heavy enough that I don't feel that's necessary, and I don't want to deal with making and later patching holes in my garage floor.

When I got the whole 8x8 platform screwed together, it was pretty heavy and I thought I would have to disassemble it to move it. But after about a year, I reorganized the space in my garage, and was able to slide it around myself. Imaging that. Just by sitting under my squat rack while I trained 3x/week, it got lighter. Must be magic!

My next project is to level the thing. I think my right foot is about 1/2" lower than my left when I squat.

[Arkansan]

What if you used one layer of plywood instead of two? Would that be good enough for a garage floor?