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In Design: Rubber Flooring

Posted by Amanda Clarke, September 6, 2007 at 1:14 PM

Tile, linoleum, hardwood, and laminate—these are the options that immediately come to mind for kitchen flooring. But what about rubber?

Rubber flooring already has a presence in residential kitchens in the UK and Australia, but in the States, the material is probably most familiar in a public or commercial context: on stairs and in gyms, bank vestibules and bus aisles. Rubber is used in those instances for its durability, slip-resistance, and ease of care, all of which are key characteristics for kitchen flooring. Also, because it is less rigid than other options, rubber flooring is more shock absorbent, a benefit to your feet and, perhaps, the occasional dropped drinking glass.

Rubber floors are also relatively inexpensive and uncomplicated to install. While other materials crack, gap, and loosen when installed on sub-flooring that is anything but perfectly even and level, rubber, with its flexibility, is much more forgiving. In many cases, it is necessary to do little more than remove the existing flooring—no leveling or floating required. Then it is just a matter of cutting the rubber tiles (rubber flooring comes in rolls or tiles, but tile is generally better suited to use on a residential scale) to fit and sticking them in place with an adhesive. And though manufacturers' instructions stipulate that the whole floor should be rolled over with a massively heavy professional roller after installation, in order to ensure adhesion, in my experience, thoroughly rubbing the tiles into place and then rolling the corners and seams with a wooden wallpaper-seam roller has been sufficient.

But what about appearance? Available in a broad range of colors and surface textures, from smooth, warm browns to geometrically patterned primary colors, rubber floors can be integrated into just about any type of kitchen decor.

Practical, functional, and attractive, rubber flooring deserves wider appreciation. Check out rubberfloors.com and norarubber.com for more information.

About the author: Amanda Clarke is a recovering restaurant pastry chef with a background in architecture. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she writes, tests, and develops recipes and works on freelance food-styling gigs between walkings and feedings of her two dogs and husband.

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Tags: flooring, In Design, kitchen design