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Reader Question:

I have a cake decorating business and I need a soft, I suppose rubber type, floor.  Right now, I have the puzzle piece rubber mats, but some do not fit together properly and stuff gets down in the cracks.

I was at an expo in 2008 and a couple of the booths had a rubber flooring that looked like a wooden floor.  It was so pretty.  One gal was supposed to find out where they had gotten it, but she never contacted me later and I don’t know what I did with her phone number.

Do you have anything like this?  I’d like it to be pretty thick, I have some feet problems (heel & arch), so I need something with some cushion.  I do spend a lot of time on my feet. Please write to me and let me know if you can help me, or what you might recommend for my cake room.

Answer:

This response is provided by Mark from Rubber Flooring, Inc.

What I can tell you is that interlocking tiles are manufactured in a variety of ways.  There are some that are waterjet cut for extreme precision.  These kinds of tiles will often appear virtually seamless and will have a very tight fit so that nothing can get down in the cracks.  They also tend to be a little more expensive.

There are other kinds of tiles as well that are molded and others that are punched out of sheets.  These usually do not fit as tightly together.  We have all 3 kinds on our site so I definitely understand your frustration with the tiles that don’t fit together as well.

As far as ones that look like wood flooring, I know of two options as of right now, foam mats with a wood like veneer.  We are actually going to add these too our site but have not done so yet.  You can find them here:

http://www.alessco.com/products/

The other kind I have seen is a more expensive two layer rubber and urethane overcoat system.  An example of that can be found here:

http://www.mondousa.com/mondousa_v02/index.cfm?action=advance&impostalingua=en

Also just a tip, there are options out there that are pretty thick but extra thickness does not always mean more cushion to be honest.  Many times with rubber flooring, extra thickness just means more durability which is important to say commercial gyms.  To compare cushion between brands effectively, I would recommend asking for the specifications of each brand and looking at compression ratio tests.  The more it compresses, the more cushion it has normally.  Also I would ask for samples.  Feeling the product in your hands is often the best way to check it out.  If you want, we can send you some samples of ours as well free of charge if you let me know your mailing address. I am also attaching our rubber flooring spec sheet so you can see an example of that as well.

One last Idea, have you thought about going to a harder surface in the kitchen like tile or even vinyl and then used kitchen mats over the top of that where you walk or stand?  That might be a decent solution and many times kitchen mats have more cushion and anti fatigue capabilities than many rubber flooring products.