How to protect luxury vinyl floors from a heavy treadmill
Heavy equipment like treadmills concentrate weight on their legs and rollers, which will dent luxury vinyl plank (LVP) floors over time. While thick rubber horse mats or PVC barriers prevent dents and scratches, these materials can discolor the vinyl. This leaves owners stuck between thin mats that fail to distribute the weight and thick rubber mats that stain the floor.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Placing a barrier between the floor and the rubber or PVC mat
- 2Placing polycarbonate or tempered glass mats under the furniture
- 3Putting anti-vibration pads under the wheels
- 4Using high heat mats
- 5Relying on existing commercial tile flooring
- 6Ensuring the floor is not made of combustible material
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I feel like over time, its going to leave dents in the LVP.”source ↗
“Any feedback on protecting the LVP where large pieces of furniture may sit that don't distribute the weight over more space like this cabinet?”source ↗
“We are getting LVP flooring installed.”source ↗
“Our bedroom doubles as a workout area. We have a treadmill, needing about 78"x36" of space.”source ↗
“I assumed we'd put it on something like one of the Tractor Supply horse mats, but now I'm reading about both rubber (the TS mats) or PVC mats can discolor LVP.”source ↗
“My goals: prevent scratches/marks; keep treadmill legs and rollers from putting dents in the LVP.”source ↗
“Are these Amazon mats that are less than a half-centimeter thick going to keep the treadmill from putting dents in the floor?”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3How to protect old wooden floors without ruining them
- 3Why do area rugs keep sliding on luxury vinyl plank flooring?
- 2Do crawling babies actually need knee pads on hard floors?
- 3How to keep floors clean with multiple dogs without spending hours
- 3Waterproof dog boots that protect paws without covering webbing
- 4Is it safe to put a couch over a floor heat vent?