Synthetic rubber flooring is not cheap, but is very hard wearing. It was originally developed for commercial purposes as a durable floor covering, but is now available for domestic use. Warm to stand on.
Comfortable and quiet to walk over, rubber flooring is available in a variety of coloured and shaped tiles or room lengths. The tiles are not usually sealed, but some have a protective layer of wax. This layer should be removed with white spirit.
It is a resilient surface covering, easy to cut and suitable for areas where complicated cuts have to be made.
Once you have decided on the tile, note its length and width and measure the room carefully. Measure its length and divide it by the length of one tile. Round up the number of tiles to the next whole number. Now measure the width of the room and divide that by the width of the tile, round up the number of tiles to the nearest whole number. Multiply the two whole numbers together. This will give the number of tiles required to tile the room. Try our Floor Tile Calculator page to give you a rough guide to the number required.
It is always wise to buy a few extra tiles to keep as spares in case of accidental damage in the future.
Use the adhesive recommended by the manufacturer, as some require flooring adhesive, contact adhesive or self-adhesive techniques. Follow the instructions carefully and take care to lay the first tile correctly, as its position will determine the position of all the other tiles in the room.
Use a batten nailed to the floor to give a straight edge to guide the positioning of the tiles. Use a spirit level to check the horizontal level and a straight edge to continually check the position of the tiles on the floor. Continue across the room and work towards the door. Then remove the battens and cut the border tiles and fix in a similar way.
Use an adjustable shape-tracing template to help with fitting around difficult shapes.
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