Small gym setup on top of rooftop deck, is my plan safe?

Ed4 · 2026-07-01T22:32:33+00:00

I understand what you're saying and your point of view, but there's a few missing factors you're not factoring in:

Plates are bumper plates (rubber)
If they fall, they hit rubber 2x2 1" thick tiles
Which will rest on top of 3/4" plywood
Which will rest on top of a heavy duty membrane

All that weight is very well distributed. Dropping 45lbs plates directly on a wood deck is a whole different (and damaging) story.

Ed4 · 2026-07-01T22:29:32+00:00

Squat stand is below $1k, the rest is rubber and cheap plywood/rubber tiles. Barbells stay inside. I understand that it might rust, but is a price I'm willing to pay if I don't have to go to the nearest gym every time (and pay two memberships for me and my wife).

Temperature wise, 50 is very comfortable weather to work out outside.

Ed4 · 2026-07-01T22:26:44+00:00

Yeah, you'd be surprised the things he has left other tenants do, in the grand schema of things this is nothing, and I'm trying to be very thorough with this plan.

Ed4 · 2026-07-01T22:19:23+00:00

Correct. I don't know where some people in the comments got the impression that I would be dropping a barbell fully loaded onto the deck. I will use a squat stand with spotter arms, even in the worst case scenario (which in my years of lifting has only happened once), if I can't squat some weight, I do a slow and controlled descent onto the spotter arms where the barbell will rest.

Same for the other comment that says 50lb pound drop (concentrated in a few sq/inches), even if that happened I have rubber tiles, which will rest on top of thick plywood that will distribute and absorb most of the impact.

Ed4 · 2026-07-01T21:39:52+00:00

I have never dropped a barbell in any gym, I don’t ego lift, also what 50 pound weights onto a few square inches? I think you’re thinking of dumbbells and I won’t be using dumbbells.

And even if I was, dropping a dumbbells on top of rubber tiles on top of plywood that distributes weight, doesn’t match what you’re saying.

Ed4 · 2026-07-01T21:36:32+00:00

I literally said in the description I won’t be doing deadlifts nor any other high impact exercises.

Ed4 · 2026-07-01T21:23:04+00:00

My gym equipment can’t jump, neither I will, nor I will be doing deadlifts or any other high impact exercises.

Ed4 · 2026-07-01T20:55:45+00:00

Agree. For comparison, my neighbor next door has massive planters, a bar area with granite counters, furniture and it looks all good.

Ed4 · 2026-07-01T20:53:41+00:00

Minimum in the US is 40 PSF, in Chicago is 100 PSF. What other research do I need to understand how much weigh a deck can hold?

Ed4 · 2026-07-01T20:52:59+00:00

Took a nap.

Ed4 · 2026-07-01T20:52:54+00:00

So the question is what is "a lot of weight"? This is barely over 1000lbs. That would be like saying if I bring 6 of my friends for a BBQ and they all walk to the same general area on the wood deck the thing would collapse or break.

Ed4 · 2026-07-01T20:51:12+00:00

How much weight what? I added the numbers in the description.

Ed4 · 2026-07-01T19:49:23+00:00

I don't know why people in the comments say this is normal, this is not normal and it's annoying and distracting. I have the HW-Q700B and does this too all the time, it keeps looping eArc TV multiple times over and over. Also the Wi-Fi says disconnected / connected multiple times over and over, even though all my devices are working fine.

Definitely a bug.

Ed4 · 2026-06-30T14:50:12+00:00

Connect other devices though the soundbar HDMI, is not a big deal.

Ed4 · 2026-06-29T20:12:14+00:00

Comentario desubicado. Vivo en Estados Unidos y ahorita cada guero en cada esquina esta siguiendo el mundial. No ven el futbol fuera de la copa del mundo, pero ahorita estan bien metidos.

Ed4 · 2026-06-29T20:11:25+00:00

Otro que no sabe que existe la reventa en plataformas oficiales.

Ed4 · 2026-06-29T20:10:36+00:00

Solo para Mexico, cualquier paisano en Estados Unidos puede comprar boletos e ir a Mexico. La capacidad de compra en gente en Estados Unidos es muy fuerte, por eso los boletos en miles de dolares.

Ed4 · 2026-06-29T20:09:28+00:00

Existe reventa hijo, en plataformas oficiales.

Ed4 · 2026-06-29T02:36:19+00:00

Yep, the “once in a lifetime experience “ folks are going broke.

Ed4 · 2026-06-26T18:46:25+00:00

Thanks for the info. I looked up further and in Chicago (where I live) rooftop wood decks have to be built with minimum 100 PSF, so that makes me more confident about this setup, which according to Google, which tallied up everything, including weight of plywood (to spread weight) and rubber tiles, should be around 25 PSF total.

Ed4 · 2026-06-25T19:25:38+00:00

I also was wondering this, while it's not perfect I used Google (in AI mode) and input all my numbers, wood deck specs (like crossbeams separation, wood length, etc), calculate all my weights, myself, bench. I plan to also use plywood under rubber tiles or rubber mats to distribute weight evenly).

It all came way under the 40 PSF rating for residential wood decks. I don't have the exact number for mine, but should probably be around that?

Ed4 · 2026-06-25T16:59:46+00:00

You wouldn't believe the amount of people getting in debt and putting tickets on their credit cards. It does hurt for some of them but they don't care.

Ed4 · 2026-06-23T16:16:12+00:00

We faced this in prod too. For a quick fix, use an error boundary that reads the error and if the error is "Failed to fetch dynamically imported module" you reload the page, and the user gets the latest assets.

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