mom2agang Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 I have a large school area 325sqft. I have 12 kids and need something that's going to hold up.I don't want carpet. Tile is too cold and hardwood flooring just doesn't seem like it will hold up. Is rubber flooring pricey? Will it hold up with the kids? And is it easy to clean? Is there things to watch out for with rubber flooring? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 (edited) With 12 kids, the first thing I'd do is make sure none are allergic to latex. My son is, and when the dentist used a latex-free dental dam in his mouth, he had a severe reaction. It turns out the dam had rubber in it, and that natural rubber is obtained from latex. When I looked into putting rubber floors in my kitchen a few years ago, I could not find anyone who knew a thing about it, IRL or on various forums, except for manufacturers. It is not a good flooring for kitchens because fats and oils spilled on it can disintegrate it, that's all I recall. If you don't get a response here, you can try posting your question at That Home Site ( http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/ ) in the flooring forum. If you search "rubber" in the flooring forum, the first thread that will pop up is "FAQ: Introduction to Resilient Flooring", and that covers rubber flooring. The home decorating forum has a ton of people who participate, and may be a better place to ask about flooring types that are good for high traffic areas. For information from a manufacturer, if you look in the left column below, you'll find all sorts of interesting information, including maintenance: http://www.rubberflooringdirect.com/ If you decide not to get a rubber floor, you may want to look into cork and linoleum (which is not the same as vinyl). These floors come in sheets and in click-together planks. I did extensive research on both, and discovered that the public buildings that have had the same beautiful cork floors for 100 years have the thicker sheet cork installed, and they have to be maintained by reapplying the finish every so often (yearly, IIRC). Linoleum is also used in high traffic commercial establishments: http://www.forbo-flooring.us/Commercial-Flooring/ . I don't know if there is a difference between commercial sheet linoleum and residential. A lot of commercial flooring (like in the grocery store and Walmart) is vinyl composition tile. http://www.armstrong.com/commflooringna/products/vct Hardwood flooring will hold up, depending on the hardness of the wood and the finish. The abrasion resistance of the finish is important -- several years ago, there was a lot of advice on internet sites about getting a gym floor finish, but IIRC there was an even harder finish available, but my memory doesn't extend to what it is. You can get samples of various types of flooring and test it. My father tested flooring with an ice pick and a hammer. If it scratched or dented, he rejected it. To his surprise, he ended up buying Pergo (which was originally not under consideration), but he discovered that the different lines of Pergo varied widely in quality and appearance. Again, the finish of a floor makes a lot of difference in how durable it is. You can have the hardest wood on the planet, but if the finish is easily scratched, your floors may look awful even thought the wood beneath is unscathed. Edited February 26, 2012 by RoughCollie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyB in TN Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 I have flooring in my work out room that's made from recycled tires! It comes in lots of colors, we have the black speckled. There are big squares of it you can buy and lay it yourself but we had it laser cut and installed, I have no idea why. You can mop it with bleach, scrub it, drop heavy weights on it...no problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyB in TN Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 I just read RoughCollie's post above and I love the idea of cork. I love bamboo, too, for a kitchen. Cork is awesome and nice for your knees if you stand a lot. If I could, I would replace my whole house with bamboo and cork. I can't, by the way, but I wish I could. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wormbuy Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 We have rubber (recycled tires, I think, like previous poster) flooring in our workout room. It has a slight odor that I do not like. We have had it for almost 4 years and it still smells when the room is closed up. DH likes to close the doors to keep the cats out, i prefer them open so it can air out - it depends on who was in there last as to what happens with the doors :) It vacuums easy enough, but as far as mopping goes....I have yet to find a mop that doesn't "catch" as it is not smooth. (It is not rough to the touch, but just not smooth as far as mopping goes) Spot cleaning is much easier. I am not sure if it is a good choice for a schoolroom or not. You can choose to adhere it permanently, or just kinda "interlock" it together, so you can pick one up and clean it, if say something really gross gets on it....like a hairball :) Personally, I would not chose it for a schoolroom. I would go with tile or hardwood. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 One thing to look at is off-gassing and any heavy metal potential exposure. I found some concerning things and decided rubber wasn't for us. You might consider marmoleum tiles. It has cork underneath for some cushion but the surface on top for easy cleaning. Cork alone may be fine for cleaning and durability anyway though I wanted something I could steam mop as that's such an easy way to clean and you can't do that with cork. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassoonaroo Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 With 12 kids, the first thing I'd do is make sure none are allergic to latex. :iagree: And while you are at it, look in your crystal ball and make sure that none of your kids will develop a life-threatening latex allergy due to a rubber floor being in your house. And, if you have the high-powered crystal ball, check to make sure none of your friends are allergic to latex either because they'll have a hard time visiting. My dd is allergic to latex and there are so many places she can't go to. The local college has so many latex floors that she cannot even visit there without benadryl in her and a face mask on her. She can't go into our local Sam's Club because they always have lots of balloons showing off the current great offer. There are other options out there. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom4him Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 I have a son that is chemically sensitive as well as I am. I would NEVER go with a rubber flooring because of that. My experience of some of these things is they never of gas. We have oak hardwood through out most of our home and I love it. My dh laid it and we have a zero voc oil finish on most of it. I will say if you are VERY picky it might not be the way to go. I don't get upset if gets a scuff or such. It is call character. :D When we redo our kitchen I would like to put in a product called Marmolium http://www.forbo-flooring.us/Residential-Flooring/ It is spendy though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest golflover060 Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 I've seen many childcare centers use rubber flooring. Keep in mind that inexpensive rubber floors have a strong odor because they are cured by using caustic solvents such as sulfur. Higher quality rubber floors are cured with organic peroxides to help reduce this odor. But, you may want to look at Modularity Tiles. They are a two piece vinyl tile that you can mix and match to create an endless number of patterns and combinations. It doesn't go cold and it's super easy to clean: http://www.modularitytiles.com/residential.php I think they would be a great fit for your application needs because they are visually stimulating and hypoallergenic. And, if a tile gets damaged, all you have to do is pull the tile and then replace it. So it's pretty cost effcient. Depending on your needs, you may need to go with the tougher commercial version. Throughout this thread though, I did not see a mention of the sort of subfloor you will be placing your new floor on (for example, is it concrete currently). This will help us figure out the best material you can use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 I have foam flooring in my basement. It looks like wood and is free of latex, BPA, formamides,and phthalates. I can mop it and it is very durable. It was made for gyms. It wasn't that pricey. The name of the company is Soft Tiles. It is for the play area of my basement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AMJ Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I dream of terrazzo. If we ever build a house again I want to go custom and put in terrazzo flooring wherever we have concrete slab beneath. That stuff lasts for decades, centuries, even millennia! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I have a large school area 325sqft. I have 12 kids and need something that's going to hold up.I don't want carpet. Tile is too cold and hardwood flooring just doesn't seem like it will hold up. Is rubber flooring pricey? Will it hold up with the kids? And is it easy to clean? Is there things to watch out for with rubber flooring? Allure from Home Depot. Grip Strip kind. Almost indistinguishable from wood, and looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TranquilMind Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I have a son that is chemically sensitive as well as I am. I would NEVER go with a rubber flooring because of that. My experience of some of these things is they never of gas. We have oak hardwood through out most of our home and I love it. My dh laid it and we have a zero voc oil finish on most of it. I will say if you are VERY picky it might not be the way to go. I don't get upset if gets a scuff or such. It is call character. :D When we redo our kitchen I would like to put in a product called Marmolium http://www.forbo-flooring.us/Residential-Flooring/ It is spendy though. This is true. It does offgas. I installed it in a basement in a house I was selling. Thankfully, we did not live there. It had an odor for quite awhile. We really had to ventilate to get it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Ellie John Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Gym-Flooring.co.uk is specialised in manufacturing and supply of the finest quality flooring solutions. The heavy duty commercial rubber flooring is appropriate and applicable in a range of different settings and environments including shops, hospitals, schools, vehicles etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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