[smithaldo]

Good people of UKB,

I'm trying to find the best solution for matting under an 8ft wide board in a garage.

What do people use for theirs? Im thinking it would need to be covered with some form of plastic to stop it rotting from damp, so a mattress is out, but the mat stuff on ebay looks to be more very hard gym/judo type mats, which would be too stiff I think?

anyway, thoughts appreciated.

Phil

[SA Chris]

Is your garage particularly damp? Is it on the floor or in the air? Id it's in the air then covering with plastic will do as much harm as good, as and damp will condense on the sheet, and it can never be airtight if you intend falling on it.

I've got a stack of old underfelt. The old rubber stuff at the bottom, some of the more modern foam stuff at the top, not used in anger but seems OK. A foam mattress is usually OK, sprung ones are a waste of time.

[a dense loner]

How high is your board? Mine isn't too high maybe 6'6 and 5' wide, I have a couple of pads under mine, sit starts on carpet squares kind of like Chris is suggesting, with pads behind. This works really well

[webbo]

I've got carpet tiles, then carpet. 2 single mattresses which I then put my bouldering mats on.

[Probes]

This stuff is pretty good as a base for garages/cellars, should keep the dampness down also...  then a couple of cheap pads on top?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/100-RUBBER-Gym-Mat-COMMERCIAL-Flooring-10mm-EXTRA-THICK-garage-workshop-mats-/181652394767?var=&hash=item2a4b53930f:m:m9BVn53hBUgC5_EeWgFZSTQ

[smithaldo]

Thanks all for the input.

Sounds like a mixture of carpet tiles, carpet, foam, pads will do just fine then.

Glad I asked instead of jumping straight into some expensive industrial gym mat.

[a dense loner]

If you're going to use the same pads that you use for outside then some sort of plastic/tarp may be a good idea, just for under the pad itself as opposed to using it as a base. Mine don't leave the garage so I don't have this problem.

[smithaldo]

Just a thought, by under felt do you mean carpet underlay?

A  of under felt came up with car carpet stuff that seemed expensive.

Cheers

Phil

[a dense loner]

Just type in carpet squares cheap, they're about £2 sq ft. I've got 10 of em, 2 rows of 5 then 2 pads one behind the other. You can get them from most any carpet diy type place

[SA Chris]

Just a thought, by under felt do you mean carpet underlay?

Yes, I've got a load if the old heavy rubber stuff which we took out, plus loads of offcuts of the newer foamy stuff. We bought the carpets and underlay online, and had loads of offcuts when it got fitted.

[chris j]

I have a load of this on my concrete garage floor - 2ft square interlocking rubber mats:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Interlocking-Fatigue-Flooring-128sqft-Easimat/dp/B003ELNOAK

Makes the room much more liveable and cheap enough to do. Then just a few oldish bouldering mats under the wall itself.

[SA Chris]

Is that £50 for 128 sq ft? I need some of that!

[chris j]

I think it cost me about £100 to floor out a 4.5m x 3.5m space, but it was well worth it for me for the massive difference in comfort in the room over when it was an exposed damp concrete floor. I use the garage as a gym as well so I'm in there pretty much every morning.

[SA Chris]

I have no concept of size, is that a single garage?

We have a double, but the best we could hope is to make enough room to clear half of it. Want to put in a woody, turbotrainer and possibly a weight bench, rest will remain full of surfboards, bikes, pushchairs, trikes.......

[tomtom]

Is that £50 for 128 sq ft? I need some of that!

IIRC this is about 3m by 3m..

[chris j]

I have no concept of size, is that a single garage?

More or less, ours is like 1 1/2 modern garages, we've got not quite a double garage width with workbenches and all sorts of crap down the sides.

If my maths works 128sqft with 2ft edge tiles you would have 16ft by 8 ft which is more or less a single garage. £50's cheaper than when I bought it.

[simes]

I've had the same mattresses under my cellar board for years. It's damp down there, but I've got a cheap tarp from B&Q covering the entire floor with the mattresses on top, and they're fine. I've had them for about ten years. No rot or smells at all.
Cheers.