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Flooring

Definitive guide: How to lay rubber floor tiles

By clyde ⋅ March 11, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Combination synthetic and natural rubber flooring is not inexpensive, but is extremely hard wearing. It was originally designed as a durable floor covering for commercial purposes such as airport halls, museums and exhibition centres, but is now widely available for domestic use.

Warm and quiet to walk over, rubber flooring is now obtainable in a variety of coloured and shaped tiles or room length rolls. The tiles are not usually sealed, but some have a protective layer of wax. This coating can be removed with white spirit once laid.
Rubber 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.

It is always sensible to purchase several extra tiles to store as spares in the case of accidental damage later on.

Use the adhesive recommended by the manufacturer or supplier, as some require flooring adhesive, contact adhesive or self-adhesive methods. Follow the instructions vigilantly and take care to lay the first tile correctly, as its location will determine the position of all the other tiles on the floor.

Use a strip of wood 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. Progress 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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Discussion

3 comments for “Definitive guide: How to lay rubber floor tiles”

  1. Is there a US Distributor for the rubber flooring you showcase?

    Posted by Heather Applegate | May 7, 2009, 6:10 am

  2. where can you buy those in the US? Thanks

    Posted by britta menges | September 22, 2009, 3:59 am

  3. Really, do you have a US distributor.

    Thank You

    Posted by Guerdy Jadotte | January 29, 2010, 5:20 am

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