rubber floors

[buildyourown]

I'm looking for a softer insulating floor for my work area. My shop is segregated. I'm looking for something for the side that sees most of the foot time and will never see a floor jack. The cold concrete floor is getting to me and it would be nice to have something like a fatigue mat over the entire 200 sqft area.

Thinking something like this
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Norsk-St...eces-NSMPRT6BLK/204318908#product_description

But I can't find anything on here about people using them in a shop. I'm thinking natural rubber will do better than others with the occasional hot chunk of metal/flux.

 

[CheckeredFlag]

just curious

will you be parking a car on it ?

A number of different companies offer foam / PVC / rubber interlocking tiles which I think would be fine for your work situation, just not sure how they handle / hold up when you drive on them

 

[67carl]

Those seem kinda pricey. As CheckeredFlag asks above, what is going on the floor? A lot of guys here have used horse stall mats from Tractor Supply (I'm also thinking about them). More cost effective. Search the forum for them to read others comments.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/rubber-horse-stall-mat-4-ft-x-6-ft

 

[Shea]

Interlocking polypropylene tile keeps you off the cold concrete and is much less expensive. RaceDeck also has their new Shock Tower flooring that is supposed to be easy on the feet. Check with Justin at Garage Flooring LLC as well. He sells the rubber-like PVC tiles similar to the Norsk that is less expensive.

 

[buildyourown]

The horse mat might work, but that stuff is actually kinda hard to buy in the city. I'd have to take a drive.
No, this will never see a car. There is a bike stand bolted to the floor as well as a vice. The car bay will probably get VCT.

 

[Vegaman_Dan]

Horse stall mats are *very* heavy and usually limited in width. But they do work and are very resistant to damage. However they also don't let your roll things like carts or tool boxes as they will sink in slightly. Pros and cons to that.

Interlocking panels will give you some insulation and definitely be warmer for your feet, and you can set up the patter however you want. The price between the tiles and a stall mat aren't that far apart. Today I think I'd go with the tiles.

 

[MonoxieChild]

I have a chunk of pretty thick rubber horse mat in front of my blast cabinet. And it is alot nicer on the feet then the concrete. I have a 4x4 chunk of it myself. I really havent needed it anywhere else. But on those days where i spend an hour straight cleaning parts, im thankful to have it!

 

[dwm]

McMaster-Carr has "Welding-Safe Wear-Resistant Antifatigue Sponge Mats". 36" wide, can be ordered in lengths up to 75 feet.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-rubber-floor-mats/

 

[Garage Flooring]

The Norsk product as well as Products like TrueLock and Tuff Seal are PVC as opposed to rubber. Rubber is not recommended for vehicular traffic.

 

[CheckeredFlag]

in the current Tractor Supply (Blue Book) catalog, they show mats in these sizes:

12' x 12'
4' x 6' x 3/4"
3' x 4' x 1/2"

they are made by "Royal Mat"

http://www.royalmat.com/home.aspx

FYI

 

[Oldb]

Those seem kinda pricey. As CheckeredFlag asks above, what is going on the floor? A lot of guys here have used horse stall mats from Tractor Supply (I'm also thinking about them). More cost effective. Search the forum for them to read others comments.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/rubber-horse-stall-mat-4-ft-x-6-ft

X2 on the horse stall mats. I park vehicles on them during storage, near impossible to damage. Used them by work benches, comfortable to stand on . Non slip even when soaked with water. Last forever. Have lined service bodies with them. Used them for pickup bed liners, only problem with that is you can't grab something and slide it out of the bed. Seen guys use them to protect concrete when they bring steel tracked tractors into a shop. The only place I would not recommend them would be near welding or cutting where hot metal might drop on them.

B

 

[Oldb]

Nuts, I should have read your question better. I am not sure if the horse mat would catch on fire if a big chunk of red hot metal dropped on it or not, never tried that. But the area under and close to the drop would certainly melt and stink, sort of like branding a tire I guess, if you have ever done that.

B

 

[ducksface]

They do not sink when you run a cart over stall mats from tractor supply. (yes, I know, it has to sink somehow, read my no sink as 'imperceptibly')
I just yesterday rolled a thousand pounds on an hf furniture dolly across many of them.
Rolls like a dream, nice control, dead quiet.

While comfortable to walk on, the temperature differential from bare concrete to 3/4" stall mat is only 1.5 degrees. Sound quality is nice. Dropping stuff is not traumatic. Hot stuff will leave a mark, maybe even a big deep divot. It will fill in nicely with a spliced in chunk or just about anything that will pour to level.
Expect smoke, I doubt you'd get flame for very long and it would be easy to smother.


Or buy better shoes.

 

[Garage Flooring]

If you are just looking for something underfoot, stall mats, anti fatigue mats, etc provide great options. If you are looking for an interlocking flooring product that you can also drive on, NORSK is IMHO your best option. We offer two free full sized sames on our site so you can check it out before you buy it.