[thumb = left | How to make a floor from rubber crumb] The article is devoted to rubber crumb floors, their features, types, manufacturing technologies and popular manufacturers of the material. Crumb rubber is a waste product from old car tires. By crushing them, raw materials are obtained, which are then used for the production of floor coverings. In finished form, they have the best rubber characteristics - elasticity, resilience and anti-slip properties. You will learn how to make a rubber crumb floor, its types and features by reading this article.
Advantages and disadvantages of crumb rubber coatings
Rubber floor coverings are made up of three main components: crumb rubber, colorant and polyurethane binder.
The products have a sufficient supply of anti-corrosion properties and are perfectly adapted to work outdoors. With proper installation, such coatings last at least 10 years. They are used in the construction of outdoor sports and children's playgrounds, tennis courts, walking paths, blind areas around the house, coverings near pools and in housing construction.
The advantages of crumb rubber coatings include:
- High strength. Due to its composition and advanced manufacturing technology, the rubber coating is difficult to break or tear.
- High aesthetics. Dyes used in the production process of the material make it original and attractive.
- Easy maintenance. Under the pressure of a stream of ordinary water, any dirt is easily knocked out of the porous surface of the rubber coating.
- No need to use any protective films.
- The rubber cover does not deform. After installation, its dimensions remain unchanged.
- Excellent elasticity. In the event of a fall, it softens shocks and provides comfort when running and walking.
- Noise absorption. The crumb rubber coating has sound insulating properties.
- Good chemical resistance. Short-term exposure to solvents, gasoline, oils, dilute alkalis and acids will not damage the rubber coating.
- Excellent electrical insulating properties. They allow the person on the rubber cover not to be afraid of electric shocks.
- Anti-slip effect typical of rubber products.
- Easy repair. Any part of the coating, if damaged, is easy to replace.
- Crumb rubber coatings save natural resources and reduce waste as they are made from recyclable raw materials.
- Rubber coatings do not fade, are resistant to abrasion and temperature fluctuations. They are not afraid of moisture, rot and mold.
- The antistatic properties of the rubber prevent dust from accumulating in the coating.
The disadvantages of crumb rubber floors can be called their high price, which is fully compensated by the durability of the material, and fire hazard - due to the fact that rubber easily ignites, coatings based on it are not recommended for use near sources of fire.
The main types of floor coverings made of crumb rubber
Manufacturing technologies for such coatings are constantly being improved. Today these materials are presented in three types: rubber tiles, roll and seamless coatings. Each of them has its own advantages and purposes.
Roll coating
Due to the fact that the material perfectly withstands temperature changes, roll rubber coating is often used in parks and at various sites. The only condition for this is a perfectly flat surface. This limitation is due to the presence of seams between the canvases. If they do not fit smoothly, the gaps may become clogged with foreign objects and the coating will be damaged.
Rolled rubber flooring is very popular in industrial and warehouse premises with heavy traffic and significant floor loads. You can choose the thickness of the material, on which the degree of its depreciation depends.
Sometimes rolled crumb rubber coatings are used as a backing for seamless self-leveling floors. In these cases, polyurethane is applied to the rubber in several layers, after which it stops responding to surface irregularities. After that, it becomes possible to distribute the load over the coating in any order.
To lay out the surface of the platform with rolled rubber material, you need to clean it of grease and dirt, grease it with polyurethane glue, lay on it pieces of the coating of the required size and roll the joints between them well.
Rubber tile
Rubber crumb tiles are used for making paths in the yard, park, garden, for decorating steps. In addition, it is used for cladding sports fields. A modular tile covering provides protection against injury due to its anti-slip surface and shock-absorbing properties. The porch of a house is often decorated with rubber tiles for safe movement on it in winter.
Thanks to the modular design, the tile covering can always be dismantled and installed in a new location. If repair is required, the damaged tile can be easily replaced without disassembling the entire cladding.
Crumb rubber tiles can have a wide variety of shapes, sizes and thicknesses up to 50 mm. Like roll material, it requires a flat, dry surface free of dirt, grease and dust for laying. If there are irregularities on it, over time, the tile will begin to creep to the sides with the formation of gaps in the cladding.
Installation of rubber tiles can be carried out with polyurethane glue, which is applied to the prepared surface with a roller. Seams between elements should be minimal. In the process of rolling it with a roller, to fix it on the floor, excess glue from the outside of the products must be immediately removed with a sponge or rag.
Seamless floor
With the help of modern technologies, crumb rubber floors can be produced in the form of seamless coatings. For this, the prepared mixture, consisting of a polyurethane binder, rubber crumb and pigment, is laid evenly on a clean prepared area, leveled by rolling with a roller, and then left for 8 hours to harden.
As a result of these procedures, an elastic monolithic coating is obtained. If desired, you can make it multi-colored. A concrete screed or asphalt is used as a basis for a seamless rubber floor.
The coating is distinguished by the ability to withstand heavy loads, durability from 10 years, anti-slip properties and resistance to subzero temperatures in winter.
Seamless rubber coverings are popular for treadmills, playgrounds and sports grounds, for garage and parking floors, warehouses and for decorating areas adjacent to swimming pools.
Rubber compound manufacturers
When choosing ready-made mixtures for self-leveling rubber crumb floors, it is important to know which of the manufacturers produce quality products. The following brands are popular among consumers:
- EcoStep … The coatings made by this company are resistant to weather conditions, retain elasticity for a long time, and have an anti-slip effect.
- Unistep … The coatings of this brand are wear-resistant, durable, have a large selection of colors, and are excellent for floors in public buildings.
- Gangart … This company produces two-layer coatings, which is different from its competitors. The material has good characteristics in terms of shock absorption and anti-skid properties.
Rubber crumb floor installation technology
The device of floors made of rubber roll and tile materials is practically no different from the installation of traditional linoleum and PVC tiles. Therefore, it will be better to consider in more detail the process of laying a monolithic rubber crumb coating.
It is hardly more complicated than a conventional cement screed, but the mass of the rubber coating is 3-5 times less than the weight of sand and cement. This greatly reduces transport costs and labor intensity. In addition, the characteristics of a rubber-polyurethane coating during its operation in the open air are much higher than that of a cement screed.
Monolithic rubber crumb floors are made mechanically and manually. In the first case, the prepared mixture is sprayed onto a hard surface: screed, asphalt, concrete, wood or slate. As a rule, with automatic spraying, a coating thickness of 3-30 mm is sufficient, depending on the purpose for which it is intended. The result of the work is a sealed elastic carpet, evenly fixed on the plane.
Due to the properties of the filler and the granular surface, such a rubber crumb floor covering has excellent adhesion to the sole of a shoe or the tread of a car and has an anti-slip effect. The seamless, continuous structure of the sprayed floor seals difficult junctions and corners without the risk of poor adhesion.
The disadvantage of spraying is the need to use special compressor-based installations for this purpose. They can only be found in organizations that provide similar services. For the device in this way sports grounds, treadmills, covering production areas, they use more rare and complex self-propelled machines that operate in an automatic and programmed mode.
The manual method of laying the pavement is quite suitable for sites with low to medium traffic, as well as for domestic purposes. In this case, one base layer of the mixture is sufficient. Its components are easy to purchase with shipping.
To build a rubber crumb floor with your own hands, you will need a filler recycled from recycled tires, polyurethane glue for monolithic coatings, a solvent and pigment. In addition, you will need a hand mixer, a pair of plastic buckets, a roller or roller to compact the laid mixture, a measuring bucket and a spatula. The device of a seamless coating is recommended to be carried out at an air temperature not lower than + 10 ° С.
The order of work is as follows:
- Prepare the base for laying the rubber coating: putty cracks and potholes on it, remove dust, oil and rust stains from the surface.
- Prime the floor with polyurethane glue, applying it in a thin layer with a trowel until it penetrates deeply into the pores of the substrate.
- Install temporary "beacons" if necessary.
- Prepare a working mixture at the rate of 7 dm3 crumb rubber per liter of glue, add pigment and mix thoroughly.
- The resulting mixture should be laid in a layer not thinner than 10 mm, leveling it with a spatula.
- Laminate the finished surface for roller compaction.
- Provide ventilation in the room to dry the material. After 12 hours, the crumb rubber floor will be ready for use.
Important! When rolling the surface, it is not recommended to press hard on the roller. In this case, the force should not be pressing, but elastic. Otherwise, the coating will turn out to be too hard, and its frost resistance will decrease. How to make a crumb rubber coating - watch the video:
As a conclusion, I would like to express the following wish: if you are worried about the environmental situation in the region of residence or the country as a whole, you should not burn old tires or throw them away in a landfill. After all, if you hand them over for processing, you can get in return excellent material that will help equip school grounds, yards, playgrounds and other places where your children spend most of their time. Good luck!
