how we transformed our basement to a home gym for less than $1,000

how we transformed our basement to a home gym for less than $1,000. We have an entire basement but figured if we have an entire basement, why not use it? First thing we got was a bench rack for $50 from Facebook Marketplace. And if you ever build a gym, you know that the most expensive part is the free weights. We were able to get 400 pounds of free weights for 250 from Marketplace, which is a really good price because most weights, even when they're thrifted, are so for a dollar a pound. And we also were able to get this bar from Marketplace for 40. And what's a gym without mirrors? Obviously, I would love the large big ones, but that can't fit in the car. So we got these small mirrors for 20 bucks. I left like a handyman and decided to try to put together the bench rack while Ashton wasn't home. I almost broke the boiler and the mirrors, but I got it done. Fun fact, Ashton actually had a PR this day and never could do this weight again in his life. Mind you, we built this gym literally two years ago and he has still not done that to hit that PR. Next, we got flooring, which meant we had to take everything out the gym that we just put in there. Durable flooring cost $80 and we had some extra leftovers that we sold. They got over 2,000 square feet of this rubber flooring and he only got 200 of it, but that's one of the reasons he got such a good deal on it. The flooring was so heavy. I tried to pick one up by myself and I said, nope. This task that Ashton for ever to do was actually kind of difficult, especially to cut the pieces to go around like all the objects in the basement. Ashton kept rolling out the mat all the way, but then had to chase it down every time because it kept almost hitting the boiler. This boiler was going through it while we're trying to make this gym. Ashton used these mending plates to keep them together and he used the mallet to like seal them in. Name something more satisfying than seeing this rubber flooring go from like dirty to clean. I'll wait. Yo, Ashton made it look so easy though, when I actually tried to do it, it was so hard to push that thing. I would consider this pretty semi-professional thrifter, so this gym isn't the most aesthetically pleasing, but it definitely got the job done for the price. So the total of this portion was 440 and stay tuned for the next part where we add a lot more equipment in.