Which product are you looking at? A rubber floor is one of the most expensive floors on the market. They START at $5/sf and go up from there. The 'cheap' ones ($5-$7/sf) can be thin and stink to high heaven. If anyone in the family has breathing issues (asthma, emphysema, COPD, latex/rubber allergies) they won't be able to use it. The off-gassing of rubber is continuous for years.

The higher end products $12+ per square foot are much better. They are much easier to live with. Most require a 'commercial installer' to deal with. Most residential installers have no idea how to deal with rubber. And I mean NO IDEA = ruined floor.

I think I'm going with Ecore Athletics. They seem to supply all the major gyms. The quote I received was about $10 psf for materials alone plus another $2,000 for installation. The installer only does rubber floors and was recommended by the manufacturer - Ecore.

Yes. The website states "Ecore Athletics". They have multiple products (Everlast, Performanc, Elevate, Turf). Which one of them was in the quote?

The quote I received was for the Performance Rally - https://www.ecoreathletic.com/Products/Performance/Rally

Have you used this product before?

My issue with rubber is respiratory. I have asthma AND am allergic to latex (aka. rubber). The two go hand in hand most of the time. As a former healthcare worker, my allergy to latex/rubber was established after 5 years. Avoidance is the only known cure for it. Any 'indoor' exposure to rubberized products (like yours) puts me in the hospital.

If it 'smells' like rubber then it is air borne. Airborne rubber is damaging to anyone who has respiratory ailments. Anyone with a rubber allergy or sensitivity (which then LEADS to full allergy...but you won't know until the day you need intubation) will not be able to enter the house let alone the basement.

If you or ANYONE you know has ANY sensitivity to latex (red skin when using latex gloves or condoms, etc) or has asthma, COPD, emphysema or is recovering from a severe respiratory disease (ahem...COVID-19) then you might want to figure out something else.

Personally I would recommend purchasing a box of tiles or a single roll (yes...expensive I know but it is MUCH LESS expensive than a trip to the hospital with 3 days in ICU). Open the box/roll (yes...I know it can't be returned...see above) to let it 'air out' in your LIVING ROOM. Do this for 1-2 weeks.

If ANYONE complains of the smell = don't do it. If anyone complains of 'chest tightness' = don't do it. If anyone complains of headaches = don't do it. If anyone gets nosebleeds because they are in the same room as the rubber = don't do it.

Post-consumer rubber *sounds great but it isn't all what it is cracked up to be. It means rubber that has been thrown away (such as rubber from car tires...ahem the black stuff in your chosen product) is ground up and vulcanized (high temperatures +/- chemical vulcanizers). The original source/chemical compound of the sheet of rubber is often unknown.

Again, this is a sensitivity and allergy 'thing'. That's why you want to go ahead and put down a couple hundred dollars today so that you spare yourself thousands and thousands of dollars tomorrow (imagine spending $6K on the rubber + $2K on install ($3.25/sf or so) only to realize the stuff makes you or a family member sick.

Cost of removal AND disposal = $1200 ($2/sf).

That's an expensive lesson to be learned.