Garage floors are nearly always made from concrete, a hard and durable surface that’s perfect for normal use. However, while hard, concrete has low impact strength, making it relatively easy to crack and damage with weights.

The bottom line is you need to protect your garage floor with garage gym flooring suitable for the types of work you intend to perform. The floor must absorb impacts and sufficiently prevent damage to the concrete subfloor.

Your garage gym flooring options

Your main options are foam tiles, rubber tiles and rubber matting. All three options should be paired with a high-performance rubber underlay.

Most garage gyms use foam or rubber tiles because it’s easier to replace one tile than a whole rubber mat floor. The decision of rubber vs foam comes down to what activities you intend to perform and what level of protection you want.

EVA foam tiles

Ideal thickness: 10mm to 20mm (add 10mm for underlay)

Foam tiles are made from EVA foam, also known as expanded rubber. It is squishier than EPDM rubber and absorbs shock brilliantly, although it is less substantial than EPDM and is prone to breaking down with very heavy work.

EVA foam tiles are a good choice for garage gym flooring if you mainly use machines. You can also pair EVA foam with more substantial EPDM rubber crash mats.

EPDM rubber tiles

Ideal thickness: 10mm to 15mm (add 5mm for underlay)

EPDM rubber tiles are heavier and more substantial than EVA foam tiles, suited for heavy work like free weight zones and benches. EPDM rubber is used in commercial gyms, so it is more than suitable for a garage gym floor.

EPDM rubber tiles are perfect when you want an all in one garage gym floor that doesn’t need extra mats or protection.

Rubber matting

Ideal thickness: 3mm to 6mm (add 5mm for underlay)

Rubber matting is seamless and is the cheapest option for covering a large gym floor. The thickness is less than tiles (3mm to 6mm) but when paired with a shock-absorbing underlay it offers good protection for all kinds of gym work.

If you go down the rubber matting route, use crash mats made from EPDM rubber (18mm or so) to protect the matting in heavy workout zones.

Need advice? We’re here to help

Feel free to contact us for help choosing the right garage gym flooring.