Rubber Flooring in Kitchen

[DeformedTree]

Does anyone have rubber flooring in a kitchen.  Note, I'm not talking about mats, or interlocking stuff like in shops.  I'm talking about proper adhesively bonded rubber (not vinyl, etc).  Just like you see on stair treads (extremely common in commercial locations).  I've worked in buildings with it in rooms and various spaces.  The stuff with the round (coin/circular) bumps to it. 

Far as in kitchens there is much less out there on it. Some report loving it, other report hating it.  I think it's much more common outside the US for such applications.

My thought is it's water resistance unlike wood.  Also softer to stand on, though I'm not sure if the round bump style would be good or bad verses smooth style.

Tile is awful in a kitchen, hard as heck, cracks when stuff drops on it.  Wood is well, wood and thus not great with moisture, spills, can get dented easy.  Vinyl is cheap, ugly and in general holds up terribly.  Real linoleum is slowly making a comeback, but still limited options.

I suspect some of the mix in reports is in part almost everything out there is more of blog repeating copy as part of promotion for a vendor, along with actual people having different reviews based on different manufactures products, confusion (may not have rubber, but a vinyl product), different expectations.

So anyone here have actual rubber flooring in their kitchen?

 

[Gregor]

No rubber but something that's quite near of being

... water resistance unlike wood.  Also softer to stand on ...

I have sealed click cork in my kitchen (well... the whole room, as it's an open kitchen). Only thing where I diverted from the manual is that I sealed the seams (where the sheets connect) with transparent rubber cement (Fixo gum).

No issues with it, and whenever I kill some part of it I can pick it up from one side (the rubber cement stays flexible so I can still unclick the individual sheets) and replace the damaged part with some of the leftovers (that I stored for that case). Gives a slight difference in color to the old but as they all slightly differ it isn't a that big of an issue to me, also after a while the sun has done its job and the difference vanishes.

After 10 years in it still holds up nicely, wasn't overly expensive and quick to put in.
And it looks way better than rubber  [wink]

PS: try to walk barefoot over the stuff you plan to stand on in the morning, before putting it in.

 

[Max Fracas]

I worked in a multistory building in Germany that had rubber flooring (with the round dots) in the hallways.  I worked there for 15 years and thought the rubber flooring was fantastic.  Year after year it held up to people walking in with wet feet (with sand and salt mixed in during the winter).  One year the organization on one floor took out the rubber and put in carpet.  Not a good decision.  Lasted a couple of years before it was badly stained and had to be replaced.  Only downside, IIRC, is that the rubber flooring was expensive.  But given that it still looked good after 15 years, I’d say it was a good value. 

 

[DeformedTree]

I worked in a multistory building in Germany that had rubber flooring (with the round dots) in the hallways.  I worked there for 15 years and thought the rubber flooring was fantastic.  Year after year it held up to people walking in with wet feet (with sand and salt mixed in during the winter).  One year the organization on one floor took out the rubber and put in carpet.  Not a good decision.  Lasted a couple of years before it was badly stained and had to be replaced.  Only downside, IIRC, is that the rubber flooring was expensive.  But given that it still looked good after 15 years, I’d say it was a good value.

Right, and this is why using it on the stairs, door entry, it is a no brainer, I'm debating going into the kitchen. Some research implies  oils/grease/etc in kitchens can be an issue.  Very different environment.

I'm a bit worried on cleaning it, but of course that comes down to how people approach cleaning and what they are trying to achive.  A lot of comments I have seen come down to it works great in commercial space, not well in kitchens.

It's very expensive, that's why I'm not planning to use it in other spots that it would be good for, but due to cost I just don't see me using it.  Kitchen is small enough that the price is manageable.

 

[DeformedTree]

No rubber but something that's quite near of being

... water resistance unlike wood.  Also softer to stand on ...

I have sealed click cork in my kitchen (well... the whole room, as it's an open kitchen). Only thing where I diverted from the manual is that I sealed the seams (where the sheets connect) with transparent rubber cement (Fixo gum).

No issues with it, and whenever I kill some part of it I can pick it up from one side (the rubber cement stays flexible so I can still unclick the individual sheets) and replace the damaged part with some of the leftovers (that I stored for that case). Gives a slight difference in color to the old but as they all slightly differ it isn't a that big of an issue to me, also after a while the sun has done its job and the difference vanishes.

After 10 years in it still holds up nicely, wasn't overly expensive and quick to put in.
And it looks way better than rubber  [wink]

PS: try to walk barefoot over the stuff you plan to stand on in the morning, before putting it in.

We have some cork floors at work. I hate them. Looks awful from the start and has held up terribly.  Not something I'm interested in.

Yes, I do plan to buy some flooring and try it out first.  I'm not committed to the rubber at this time, it just comes up in my head from time to time.  It's trying to find a real issue/problem to it that might be why it's not too common other than just not being something people think of.  For sure it has the issue that if you look up "rubber flooring"  you don't get rubber flooring but get the shop mats and interlocking floor stuff, which does look terrible.