Even though I live in the largest state in the country, I am still thousands of miles from the nearest pole studio. So, after gaining inspiration from the International Pole Convention and PoleMoves Movement Arts Studio, I decided to build my own. Here's how I did it, without spending a small fortune.
Before I built my pole space I had one pole up in my living room...it was a pain because I had to take it down each time to avoid damaging the carpet or ceiling. I soon began to envision half of my garage as my pole haven. My garage is tall enough to allow me to use all of my pole extensions and its spacious and apart from the house. The cold cement floor isn't to comforting though.
I definitely wanted mats in my space but I'm a cheap engineer, so I figured I'd try my hand at making my own. Carpet padding works great as the main component of a mat. You can also usually get it really cheap. At a home improvement stores like Lowes, it runs around $100 to $130 per 30 sq yard roll, but you can usually find new carpet padding for sale or for free on websites like Craig's List. I purchased two rolls of ~1/2" thick padding for $100 from a local contractor. For the top of the mat I used gym equipment mats, but also considered carpet/gym puzzle flooring and fabric.
Once I decided on the dimensions I wanted and the best location for my poles (keeping in mind that the garage door still has to open), I started rolling out and cutting padding with a sharp box cutter. The padding comes is rolls 6ft wide so some splicing together of pieces may be in order if you have different dimensions to cover. To get a mat thickness of around 3" I stacked five layers of carpet padding and topped it off with the gym equipment mats. I taped the mats together with black duct tape...although I strongly considered pink. I was a little concerned that the tape wouldn't stick well enough and would peel, leaving sticky residue, but it has held up very well. I also wondered if I would need to adhere the different layers of carpet padding together but I didn't and they've stayed together well (with minor modifications occasionally). I would suggest, however, that if you use multiple pieces of padding in each layer (i.e. cut up pieces to make up specific dimensions), then tape those pieces together using duct tape to keep them from drifting apart.
Once I got my mat together I cut holes for my poles using measurements made when I determined the best place for the poles. I once again used a sharp box cutter (I went through several blades throughout the project) and a measuring tape to make about 3" x 3" holes through all of the mat components in two places. Next I slid the x-pole bases under the mat until they each poked out of their respective holes.
In order to avoid having to decide on pole placement based on location of roof studs, I used wide pieces of wood to distribute the compression load of the pole across several support members. These go right in between the roof and the top dome of the x-pole. After leveling the poles and tightening them up, I just had to hang some pictures of hot pole guys and amazing pros, plug in the speakers, and get a Scentsy going for a sweet smell! In all I spent about $230 (not including the poles) and absolutely love how everything turned out!
