What a gym floor has to do
Sport England's design guidance for fitness and exercise spaces sets the brief. The floor structure must resist high dead loads from equipment and high live loads from users, accidental point impacts such as dropped free weights, and vibration from machines. The guidance note is dated 2008, so check Sport England's current pages.
Free weights areas
The floor structure and finish in a free weights area must be resilient and able to absorb shocks safely, so dropped weights do not cause substantial damage to the structure or finishes. The finish should recover from impacts without permanent deformation.
Friction, static and slip
The finish needs enough friction to stop equipment creeping during use. Finishes need to be slip, stain and static resistant, resist deformation through compression, and any electrostatic charge must be earthed without risk of shock to users.
Loads on the structure
Sport England says the floor structure must resist high dead loads from equipment and high live loads from users, including accidental point impact from dropped free weights and harmonic vibration from users on machines. Sport England says reference to BS 6399: Part 1 is essential, so ask the installer or your engineer to confirm the structure under your gym can take the load.
Layout and colour
Sport England recommends a floor finish that contrasts in colour with the equipment, so equipment is less of a trip hazard, and a differently coloured walkway to help visually impaired users. Fitness gym zones are often emphasised by changes in floor finish or colour.
Noise and vibration
Acoustic isolation may be an issue where vibration or impact can be structurally transmitted from the fitness gym into other areas. If your gym is on an upper floor or next to other rooms, tell the installer at the first visit.
Carpet in gyms
Sport England says carpet has been commonly used in UK fitness gym equipment areas with a harder finish in the walkways, but is rarely used in mainland Europe, and that its use should be carefully considered. Sport England lists oil and grease leaking from exercise equipment among the exposures.
Rubber tiles and rolls
The thickness and format figures below come from Rubberco, a rubber flooring vendor, and are marketing claims.
| Use | Vendor guidance |
|---|---|
| Standard multi-sport hall | 6mm to 8mm commercial SBR rubber is typical |
| Olympic lifting platform | 15mm minimum |
| Dedicated powerlifting | 20mm to 25mm |
| Primary playing courts | Rolls rather than tiles, with no joints in playing areas |
How to read the vendor's page
The vendor's own page is inconsistent in places, for example giving slip resistance in two different scales and two different wet-area slip targets. Use it as a list of questions for the equipment maker and the specifier, and you will not take its figures as a specification.
Tiles or rolls
The vendor prefers rolls for primary playing areas and says to use chemical welding on joints if tiles are chosen. Ask for the joint method and the thickness in the quote.
Stretch areas
Sport England says the stretch area should be supplied with vinyl-covered padded floor matting. If you plan a stretch or mobility zone, tell the installer so the matting is priced with the rest of the floor.
Cardio zones
Sport England notes that some cardiovascular equipment can cause impact vibration relative to the floor, so the installer needs to know what machines you will use and where you will put them.
Vendor prices
Rubberco gives supply prices, excluding VAT, of £12 to £20 per square metre for 6mm sports hall rolls, £15 to £28 for 8mm to 10mm fitness suite tiles and £25 to £45 for 15mm to 20mm heavy-duty free-weights tiles, with installation adding £5 to £15 per square metre. The figures are vendor claims and its own table is inconsistent in places, so you should ask for written quotes.
Materials Sport England describes for sports floors
Sport England's 2007 floors note describes the main materials used for sports floor surfaces. The note is written for sports halls, so treat it as background for a gym, not as a specification.
Timber
The note says timber is one of the most widely used materials in sports floors, available as area elastic systems with hardwood strips, veneers on engineered softwood boards, or composite tiles on resilient pads. The note says timber is durable but not naturally water-resistant, so a floor over a subfloor must be protected from moisture by a damp-proof membrane, and a perimeter expansion gap must allow for movement as humidity changes.
Sheet materials
Vinyl, linoleum, rubber and composites are widely used and are usually in sheet form with a foam backing, which gives a point elastic or mixed elastic floor. The note says foam backing can add softness for barefoot activity, but such floors can limit activities such as roller skating that need a stiff surface, and that all resilient sheet floors should be laid in accordance with BS 8203: 2001.
Wet-poured polymeric surfaces
The note describes polymeric materials mixed on site to form a continuous surface without joints, with a final surface that can range from 1mm to 4mm thick. The note says a 4mm surface may suit spiked shoes.
Play-test before you decide
The note advises not to decide on a sports floor product without play-testing it first, and suggests a user group to help. If you run a club or a studio, you can ask the installer for a sample area.
The cause of failures
The note adds that some authorities claim water penetration to be the most common cause of all sports floor failures. Ask the installer how moisture from below is handled.
BS EN 14904 for sports halls
Sport England's floors note describes BS EN 14904: 2006 as the standard for indoor surfaces for multi-sports use. The note groups floors into four categories: point elastic (type P), mixed elastic (M), area elastic (A) and combined elastic (C).
Does it apply to a gym
Sport England's example of a suitable multi-sport floor is an area elastic floor complying with BS EN 14904, or a specific governing body standard for the sports to be accommodated. A gym is not a sports hall, so ask whether the standard applies to your project at all.
Your brief to the installer
List the heaviest weight you expect to be dropped, the machines and where they will stand, and the activities in each zone. The installer can only match a thickness and a format to the brief you give, and the brief also lets you compare quotes like for like.
Questions to ask the installer
- What will be dropped, and from what height? The floor must absorb it without permanent deformation.
- What thickness and format is proposed, and is that from the equipment maker's guidance or a vendor's?
- How are seams and edges handled, and are the finish and joints cleaned with the products the manufacturer allows?
- What subfloor flatness and moisture does the product need? The guide to preparing a subfloor covers moisture tests.
Gym and sports flooring in Wales
10 Welsh businesses list gym and sports flooring work, and the directory shows it Wales-wide and by region: South East Wales (6).
Related guides
Some gym floors are commercial-grade safety floors, which the commercial flooring guide covers. The seven-step fitter check gives the other checks to run before you book.
What this page does not cover
Sport England's gym guidance is from 2008 and its floors note from 2007, so figures in them may have been superseded. Thickness and format come from one vendor. The page gives no shock-absorption class values, no sprung-floor specification and no prices. A qualified flooring specifier should confirm thickness and class against the equipment and the activity.