Is Rubber Flooring Safe For My Home

Jim Williams
5/15/2013
Posted in:
Buying Guides

Your choice of flooring material will affect everyone inhabiting a space for decades. Whether you choose bamboo, hardwood, carpet, or rubber flooring, you probably want to know how the material affects the air you breathe, carbon footprint, and overall safety, right?

Let's explore rubber flooring, a popular application for garages, gyms, playrooms, and even outdoor spaces:

Is rubber flooring safe for your home? In one word – yes! Rubber flooring is a great option for homes with young children, pets, elderly, and other groups of people (and animals) that require extra care. 

Rubber sheet or tile flooring is made in two ways. One, it's recycled primarily from used car and truck tires, or, two, it's formed from extracted sap from the rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis.

One downfall of recycled rubber is it's emission of low volatile organic compounds (VOCs), however the off-gassing can easily be removed with ventilation.  However, you'll see below that this type of flooring's quailities pass the safety test with flying colors:

 

Rubber Flooring Yes No
Antimicrobial X  
Anti-fungal X  
Slip-resistant X  
Waterproof X  
Soft X  
Sound-proof X  
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)   X (very little if any)

 

Rubber flooring is soft, slip-resistant, AND does not promote the growth of mold or mildew. Considering all these facts, it is easy to see what rubber flooring is one of the most durable and safe flooring options available.

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