Rubber Flooring - High durability, low care & maintenance

The benefits of rubber flooring

Rubber flooring's popularity draws from its three inherent characteristics: high durability, low care and maintenance and its unique resilience. It is for these reasons that they have become firm favorites for use in many institutions (such as schools and colleges), facilities offering health care, offices and even retail outlets.

Most rubber flooring is also available in a number of colors and designs, which is making it more and more appealing for residential use in bars, wash rooms and home offices and gyms .

The Benefits of Rubber Flooring

Rubber floors, truth be known, are more expensive because of their practicality and versatility. However you can rest easy knowing that they last for ever forever, so the initial financial outlay is worth it. Other great selling points that you should consider include:

1. There will be no warping, contracting or expanding seasonally like you would experience with wooden floors.

2. The rubber muffles sounds.

3. Rubber floors provide a high anti-slip surface to walk on.

4. The material can support heavy weights without losing its shape.

5. Rubber floors can be recycled

6. You get complete color homogeny

7. Cleaning is easy - all that is needed is a damp mop and a mild detergent.

Rubber Flooring Installation Tips

The first step when installing rubber flooring is to prepare the sub-floor.

• Concrete: Needs to be cleaned and be debris free - this includes any old adhesives, paint and excess dust. If the concrete is newly laid it will have to cure for at least a month before you can think about laying rubber on top of it. You may want to check the moisture content, because certain adhesives have certain moisture tolerance levels. A calcium chloride test kit can be used to determine the moisture content.
• Wood: Needs to be cleaned and made smooth. The moisture content should also be checked with a "Delhmorst Wood Moisture Tester" - it should not exceed ten percent otherwise you are going to have adhesion problems.

In both cases measure the room temperature - most adhesives work optimally between 10°C and 40°C. If the area has central heating it should be turned off otherwise the glue will dry faster than you can work.

Glue Down Rubber Tiles: The best way to get a clean near seamless finish is to put the tile you are fitting on top of one that has already been set. Slide the tile in to the space it is going to fill until it falls into place and then press it up against the edge of the already fitted tile. Wipe any excess glue away ASAP. When a row is completed it needs to be rolled in both directions to produce a uniform surface. All traffic then needs to be diverted for the next twelve hours so the floor can set.

Interlocking Rubber Tiles: These require no type of adhesive. Most products come with "marks" or "arrows" to aid installation - make sure you have read the directions and have these symbols pointing the right way. Some cutting may be required to fit the tiles to the wall though. In both instances a sealer is applied to finish the floor.

 

 

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