What a college weight room needs
A college weight room serves many athletes and runs heavy programs. Plates and bars hit the floor often. The floor must protect the subfloor, the equipment and the joints of the athletes. Most rooms also have cardio and stretching areas, and some connect to locker rooms.
Olympic platform areas
Our Quick Ship guide puts 1/2″ Pre-Cut Mega rubber under the Olympic platforms in a college recreation center. The 1/2″ Mega Rubber Rolls page says these rolls are made for serious weightlifters, including Olympic lifters and powerlifters. It also says they have been used in Olympic training facilities, to protect subfloors from dropped weights. In Quick Ship stock, the 1/2″ Pre-Cut Mega rolls come in 4′ x 15′, 4′ x 25′ and 4′ x 50′ lengths.
For the most severe drops, our Rubber Rolls Buying Guide points to the 3/4″ Olympian Rubber Rolls. It says they give the equipment and the subfloor the best protection.
The free-weight floor
Our Quick Ship guide names college weight rooms as a use for 3/8″ Pre-Cut Heavy Duty rolls. It describes this thickness for floors where 45-pound plates hit the ground. The 3/8″ Heavy Duty Rubber Rolls page says these rolls are ideal for commercial weight rooms. Our Rubber Rolls Buying Guide calls 3/8″ the sweet spot for most commercial gyms.
Send the room plan with the lifting, cardio and locker room areas. We can quote each area.
Cardio, stretching and locker rooms
The same college layout uses 8mm rubber in the cardio and stretching areas. The 8mm Strong Rubber Rolls page calls 8mm our most popular thickness, between the 1/4″ residential rolls and the 3/8″ commercial rolls. The same 8mm Strong Rubber Rolls page lists locker room flooring where spike protection might be necessary. The 1/2″ Mega rolls are also used where people walk in metal spikes or ice skate blades, such as dugouts and areas around ice rinks.
Install for heavy daily use
- Glue-down: most commercial gym owners glue rolls down, so the floor does not move and the edges do not curl.
- Over concrete: our rolls guide recommends glue-down over a concrete subfloor, to stop the floor from shifting.
- Seams: use seam sealer, so liquids do not get through the seams to the subfloor.
- Cleaning: vacuum regularly and damp mop with a pH-neutral cleaner.
- New-rubber smell: mop the new floor with mild soap and water a few times to reduce the smell faster.