In the world of health and fitness, the treadmill ranks as one of the best equipment to have at home. Why? They eliminate the tedium of going to the gym for a workout.
In addition to this, they offer all the advantages and result of exercising right inside your house.
So, if you feel like you’re wasting too much fuel driving to the gym every day or would like to have your protein shake handy every time you work out, do consider buying a home treadmill.
But as treadmills are bulky and noisy, keeping them in your house can be difficult. This is more so for those who live in a flat and have their home on a second floor. Even if you manage to get the gigantic machine upstairs, where do you keep it without placing the storey in danger of breaking?
Again, you have to worry about the noise and how it’ll affect the neighbours. Therefore, is it possible to successfully keep the treadmill on the second floor? Let’s find out.
Can You Safely Use Your Treadmill Upstairs?
Whether or not a treadmill can be used upstairs is hinged on various factors. However, any well-built structure should have enough capacity to hold the weight of a treadmill. No matter what, the floor should be able to withstand any pressure coming from the machine, either with or without a person on it.
Most residential treadmills weigh between 250 and 350 lbs. With the extra weight of a 300-lb individual on top of the 350lb treadmill, the total weight becomes 650lb. This weight isn’t anything an up-to-code building shouldn’t be able to handle.
Can Your Floor Withstand So Much Weight?
Different houses are built in different ways. Therefore, the construction of your building determines how much weight it can take. Any home that is built in a standard way should support at least 50 lbs. per square foot. What this implies is that in a 50 square feet room, 2,500 pounds is the maximum weight the structure can carry. As such, your house should probably be able to hold the 650lbs weight of your treadmill and you on it.
Are You Still Concerned About Treadmill Weight?
Try These Possible Solutions
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Solution 1: Position Against a Load Bearing Wall
One thing that can help keep your mind at rest if your treadmill weight still bothers you is to place the treadmill directly on top of a floor joist. This is for extra weight-bearing capacity. Better yet, you could set it down on the load-bearing wall, especially if you’re putting your treadmill on the second floor.
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Solution 2: Buy a Less Weighty Treadmill
Perhaps putting a less weighty treadmill on your second floor will help alleviate your worry. However, do not forget that the odds of even the biggest treadmill breaking your floor is very low. Since lighter models tend to be easy to manage and set up, you may find owning them less worrying.
Apart from this, it is not healthy to be anxious every time you’re using you’re the treadmill. Truly, falling through the floor is a scary prospect. But, using these two tips should do the trick of putting your mind at rest
Problems and Solutions to Using Treadmill on Second Floor
While you probably don’t have to worry about your treadmill’s weight breaking through the floor, there are other worrying issues concerning treadmills on the second floorthat’ll require your attention. If you’re living in a flat, then there’s a considerable chance that the noise and vibrations that your machine produces are disturbing someone else.
Generally, the noises and sounds that we hear are transmitted to us through the air, though the air conducts sound waves poorly. In contrast, solid objects have a way of sending sound faster and more forcefully than air would typically do. Because of this, your treadmill may sound okay to the person working on it while blowing another person’s ear off in some other room. In addition to the noise, treadmills tend to produce a lot of vibrations. This adds to the average noise level that the machine produces and increases it more. This is what makes the machine sound almost deafening to those around. If you live upstairs, the people staying below tend to be at the receiving end of all this annoying noise.
These are the Solutions:
- Solution 1: Test Your Home’s Sound Projection
How does sound travel in your house? You need to test this, and to do so, stand on your tiptoes upstairs while dropping your heels to the floor. Ask a friend to help out and let him or her be listening on the floor below. If they can hear the sound of your heels dropping to the floor, the treadmill’s noise will likely be unbearably loud for people downstairs.
- Solution 2: use a carpet
Some accessories that can help to slightly mute out sound in your house are carpets and anti-vibration treadmill mats. In addition to reducing noise, rugs and these carpets help to protect the floor from any damage. It is also good to place your treadmill in a corner to minimize noise and vibrations
Using Your Treadmill in a Flat
Like you already know, using your treadmill in an up floor, whether in a family home or a flat comes with many issues. Perhaps you can talk with your family members and make sure you’re all on the same page as far as your treadmill is concerned. But this is not always possible with neighbours if you’re staying in a flat.
If you happen to have features like wood framing and wall void in your house, that’s double trouble. This is because these things only make the sound in the house louder. Meanwhile, any treadmill that runs at 50 decibels will produce 100 decibels of noise for the neighbours below you. One hundred decibels is equal to the annoyingly loud screech of a passing train. You don’t want your neighbours marching up the stair and banging on your door to complain about how your treadmill is too loud, do you? If no, what is the way out?
Solutions for Using a Treadmill in Your flat
- Solution 1: Move to A First Floor
The only way to completely get around disturbing anyone in your flat is to move to the first floor. This also eliminates the stress of carrying the treadmill to the second or a higher level. If this is not possible, try using mats for treadmills or gypcrete soundproofing to reduce vibrations.
- Solution 2: Opt For a Flat With Gym
Another option is to opt for a flat that comes with a gym. Though this option is costly, at least there won’t be any worry about disturbing neighbours. However, merely purchasing a home treadmill is a much cheaper option.
- Solution 3: Have a Chat with the Neighbour Below
Talk to the person below your flat and let him or her know that you’ll be working out with your treadmill. Suggest that they come to inform you if the sound ever starts to inconvenience them.
Also, inquire about what the best time they want you to use the machine is. This way you’re comfortable, and they’re comfortable as well. They’ll also feel more inclined to approach you if the disturbance starts to get too much rather than reporting you.
Also, try to fix your session to be during periods when they’re not at home. All these steps should help you maintain that cordial relationship between you and your neighbours and still be able to use your treadmill at the same time.
How Can You Get Your Treadmill Upstairs?
When you purchase a treadmill, the farthest most companies will go to is your doorstep. They will likely not provide any assistance in transporting the machine even to the main floor. Now, how can you transfer your treadmill to the second floor?
You can pay extra delivery charges to have your treadmill on the second floor. But that’s not all. You’ll also need to rent a dolly for carting your equipment up the stairs. Keep in mind that a heavyweight treadmill that has already been assembled may not be able to pass through your stairs. This is because the stairs may be too narrow for it.
In Conclusion
Once you succeed in getting your treadmill on the second floor, you would have solved 50% per cent of the problem that comes with using a treadmill upstairs. Make sure to use our tips for tackling any noise issues or treadmill weight concern.
While the possibility of the machine’s weight crashing through the floor is low, this possibility is not eliminated. Some houses are built in a substandard way, and the floor may give from the pressure of the machine. But this is hardly ever the case. Take full advantage of all the solutions provided here and using your treadmill on the second floor will be a possible feat.