FAQ

4–7 working days in total. That's 1–2 working days for us to pick, pack and hand your order to the carrier, then 3–5 working days in transit. Working days are Monday to Friday, excluding UK bank holidays.

You'll get a tracking number by email as soon as your order leaves the warehouse.

Yes. Free to every UK address, no minimum spend, no surcharge for heavy or palletised items. The price on the product page is the price you pay at checkout.

Yes, and it's still free. Remote postcodes can occasionally take a day or two longer than the standard 3–5 day transit, and the carrier will let you know if that's the case.

For parcel-sized items, no — the carrier will follow their normal process and leave it in a safe place or with a neighbour if you've authorised that.

For racks, cages, benches and plate sets, yes. These go by pallet carrier or two-person delivery team, and someone aged 18 or over needs to be present to receive and sign. The carrier will contact you by phone or text to arrange a slot, so please give us a mobile number you actually answer.

Delivery is to the kerbside or your front door. The team can't carry items upstairs, into a garage, or assemble anything.

Worth planning for: a loaded rack pallet can weigh 150kg or more. Have a second pair of hands and a sack truck ready if you're moving it any distance, and check the vehicle can actually reach your address.

Email us with your order number and we'll chase the carrier. If your order is significantly delayed you can cancel and get a full refund for anything not yet delivered. If a consignment is confirmed lost, we'll send a replacement or refund you in full — your choice.

Full-height racks are usually between 210cm and 235cm tall. You need the rack height plus clearance to actually use it — and clearance is what catches people out, not the rack itself.

Rough guide:

• Squats and bench only — rack height plus about 15cm is enough.
• Pull-ups — you need your standing reach plus roughly 20cm above the bar, or your head hits the ceiling at the top of the rep.
• Standing overhead press — the most demanding. Reckon on about 240cm for a 180cm lifter with the bar locked out.

A typical UK garage is 230–240cm. That fits most racks, but pull-ups can be tight. If you're short on height, look at a short or garage-height rack at 180–200cm.

Measure your ceiling and email us the number with your height — we'll tell you straight whether it works.

A four-post rack typically occupies around 120cm × 150cm. But the usable space you need is larger:

• Around 90cm each side to load and unload plates.
• 60–90cm behind if you're pulling from a bar attachment.
• Room in front to walk a bar out of the uprights.

Exact assembled dimensions are on every product page. Mark it out on the floor with tape before you order — it's the cheapest thing you'll ever do.

Concrete on the ground floor is ideal, and it's what we'd recommend for anything heavy.

Wooden floors upstairs are a different question. Domestic joists are designed for distributed loads, not the concentrated point loads a loaded rack creates — and dropping a bar makes it worse. We're not qualified to tell you whether your specific floor can take it, and we won't guess. If you're planning an upstairs setup with serious weight, talk to a structural engineer or a builder first.

Yes, for anything involving loaded barbells. 15mm rubber matting or horse stall mats protect the floor, cut noise considerably, and stop plates chipping. It's the first thing most people wish they'd bought at the same time as the rack.

It depends on the design, and the product page states which. Four-post racks are usually stable freestanding, especially once weight is stored on the uprights. Two-post and half racks are far more likely to need anchoring, particularly if you're using a pull-up bar or racking heavy.

Where the manufacturer specifies bolting down, do it. It isn't a suggestion.

Everything we sell takes standard Olympic sizing — 50mm plate sleeves and 2.2m bars — unless a product page explicitly says otherwise. If you already own kit and want to check compatibility, email us what you've got.

No — we don't offer an assembly service. Everything arrives flat-packed with the manufacturer's instructions.

A full power rack takes most people 1.5 to 3 hours. Benches and smaller items are 20–40 minutes.

You can do most of it alone, but you'll want a second person for standing the uprights and fitting the top crossmembers. Don't attempt that part solo — it's how racks get dented and people get hurt.

Basic tools are usually included, but they're rarely good ones. Have these ready:

• A socket set or spanners — much faster than the supplied allen key.
• A torque wrench if the instructions specify torque figures, which most racks do.
• A rubber mallet for seating parts.
• A hammer drill and masonry bits if you're bolting into concrete.

Leave every bolt slightly loose until the whole frame is together, then tighten in sequence. Trying to fully tighten as you go is the single most common reason holes stop lining up.

Email support@lampblack.co.uk with your order number, a photo, and the part reference from the instructions. We'll send the replacement part free of charge — you won't need to return the whole item.

Two years from the date of delivery on everything we sell, covering manufacturing defects and failures in normal use — welds, frame integrity, finish failure and faulty components.

This is in addition to your legal rights, not instead of them. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 you can bring a claim about faulty goods for up to six years in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and five years from discovery in Scotland.

No. Your order number is your proof of purchase and we keep the record. Nothing to register, no card to post back.

• Normal wear — knurling wearing smooth, paint marking where plates load, upholstery compressing.
• Surface rust from damp storage, outdoor use, or sweat left on bare steel.
• Damage from incorrect assembly, modification, or bolts not tightened as instructed.
• Loading beyond the stated maximum capacity.
• Commercial or club use, unless the product page says the item is rated for it.
• Accidental damage, including dropping loaded bars outside a designated drop zone.

We send you the replacement part. There's no need to return an entire rack because a J-cup or a pulley has failed. Email us with photographs and we'll identify it from the manufacturer's parts list.

Yes. You have 14 days from delivery to tell us, and a further 14 days to send it back. You don't need to give a reason.

You pay the return postage on change-of-mind returns. We refund within 14 days of the goods reaching us.

It depends on the size:

• Parcel-sized items — accessories, belts, straps, attachments: typically £12–£25.
• Heavy or palletised items — racks, cages, benches, plate sets: typically £90–£150 depending on your postcode.

You can arrange your own carrier, or ask us to book a collection and we'll charge you what it costs us with no markup. We always quote the exact figure before you commit.

This is why it's worth asking us about fit before you order rather than after.

Please keep it until you're certain. Heavy steel can't be shipped safely without it, and returns arriving damaged because they were badly packed may be refunded at a reduced amount.

You can unbox, inspect and test-fit parts — that's the same as handling something in a shop. Full assembly, drilling, anchoring or actually training on it goes beyond inspection and will reduce what we can refund.

Email us within 48 hours with photographs of both the item and the packaging. We'll arrange a replacement or a full refund and handle the carrier claim ourselves. You won't pay anything — not for the return, not for the redelivery.

If you can, check the pallet or boxes before you sign and note any visible damage on the carrier's paperwork.

We issue the refund within 14 days of receiving the goods, and usually much faster. Once we've processed it, your bank or card provider typically takes 3–5 working days to show it in your account — that part is out of our hands.

Refunds always go back to the payment method you originally used. We'll email you when it's been issued.

Yes. Email us as soon as you can. If your order hasn't left the warehouse we'll cancel and refund in full straight away. If it's already gone, treat it as a change-of-mind return once it arrives.