Most car owners see their car as more than just a vehicle. Accordingly, the garage for them is not an ordinary room, but a part of the house. From here comes the desire to equip the garage so as to create comfort for both the owner and his car. Boring garage design is becoming a thing of the past. Instead, modern car enthusiasts prefer the techno style. In it, the rubber covering of the garage floor will be especially appropriate.
Features of the
When equipping a garage, the selection of flooring is important, since the garage floor is subjected to impressive loads: the weight of the car, the influence of rotating wheels, and so on.
An ordinary concrete floor has a whole list of disadvantages: it crumbles, gets dusty, and cracks. To get rid of such problems, you should take a closer look at modern materials that are of high quality.
The material for covering the garage floor must meet the following requirements:
- waterproofness;
- fire safety;
- long service life;
- resistance to mechanical damage and aggressive chemical compounds.
Each item has a rubber cover. Its advantages:
- long service term (at least 15 years);
- resistance to various environmental factors;
- strength;
- wear resistance.
Also, the advantages of this coating include waterproofness, provided by a water-repellent property, sound insulation, safety, versatility (suitable for both open areas and closed spaces), ease of maintenance and keeping the floor clean. At the same time, in order to cover the covering, the help of specialists is completely unnecessary - you can do everything yourself.
The prefabricated cover must necessarily contain a nut. Acrylic paint is suitable for painting such a product.
Varieties
There are such types of rubber floor:
- rolled floor. The rolls are 1.25 meters wide;
- self-leveling coating;
- carpet on a backing with rubber dusting;
- sector floor.
Composition and manufacturing methods
Garage floor made of rubber is a styrene-isoprene synthetic rubber that has been thermovulcanized. In most cases, the material for the production of flooring is crumb rubber, which is characterized by increased wear resistance and low cost. This material is the best choice if you are going to equip a garage floor.
The size of the crumb rubber fraction used in the production of this coating is 1.5-5 millimeters. This material is obtained by recycling car tires. Rubber granules provide cushioning properties.
The medium by which the small rubber pieces are connected is polyurethane glue. In certain situations, synthetic EPDM rubber is used as an additional filler. To add color to the coating, mineral pigments are added.
How to choose?
When choosing a cover, it is necessary to take into account the type of vehicle, as well as the possible presence of a heating system in the garage. For arranging the garage floor, a five-millimeter thick canvas is enough. Today, sector and roll type of rubber coatings are produced.
Sectoral
Sector floor is a tile with a thickness of 0.4-4 centimeters. It is characterized by resistance to abrasion, freezing, resistance to static, dynamic loads, vibration and aggressive chemical compounds. Damage to this tile is incredibly difficult, and is great for setting up a garage.
The color palette of this floor tile is quite diverse. At the moment, the most popular are bright colors. Manufacturers care not only about the strength characteristics of the coating, but also about its appearance.
It is recommended to seek professional assistance for installation. If we compare a sector floor with a roll floor, then the first compares favorably with the list of its advantages.
To begin with, it's worth saying that the damaged sector floor is easy enough to restore: just replace the damaged segment. As for the rolled floor, it will have to be changed in a strip.
To lay the sector covering, there is no need to use adhesive compounds, since it contains specialized fasteners. The maximum possible segment thickness is four centimeters.
Roll
Worn car tires serve as materials for the production of roll floor. Due to the fact that they are made of high-quality rubber, the floor from such a material is characterized by resistance to abrasion and the influence of chemicals, as well as elasticity.
The roll coating is characterized by high strength and increased operational values, which is due to the material used in its manufacture and a special production method. Most often it is used when equipping garages.
Also, the rolled floor is characterized by ease of installation and maintenance.
Installation
A concrete screed is used as a base for laying the flooring. It is not necessary that it has a perfectly flat surface. The screed must be cured for at least 28 days before laying the flooring.
The cement base on which the rubber flooring is to be laid should have a slight slope towards the garage door in order to allow water drainage.
Before you start laying a tile or roll floor, you need to prepare the following tools:
- construction tape;
- a brush or broom to remove debris;
- electric drill with mixer attachment;
- knife for cutting rolled material;
- brushes for applying adhesives;
- spatula for smoothing the roll coating;
- rags;
- containers in which the primer will be mixed.
In the event that only minor loads are applied to the floor, instead of gluing the material to the floor, the edges of the canvases are fixed. The modules are equipped with docking projections. Having connected the modules, the seams are sealed with a sealant. In case of damage to the coating, the damaged fragment is replaced, while the main part of the floor is not opened. The operational life of such a floor covering is at least ten years.
Laying modular rubber flooring does not require scrupulous preliminary processing of the floor. This will help you cut costs and save time.
Installation of slabs is carried out directly on the subfloor, without prior leveling.
The cost of the sectoral floor itself cannot be called low (about 1200 rubles per square meter), however, if we take into account its advantages, the absence of installation costs and a long service life, such a garage covering is cheap.
Before laying the rolled floor, prepare the base. The subfloor is cleaned and primed with a special mixture, which consists of polyurethane glue with turpentine. Primer costs are about 300 grams per square meter. The rolls are placed on the surface of the concrete base, after which they are left to lie for a number of days.
When laying the rolled floor, it is necessary to use polyurethane adhesive. Gluing begins after the disappearance of the "waves" and the complete straightening of the canvas. With glue, they process the entire surface of the floor or exclusively at the joints. As a rule, the thickness of such a coating is 6 millimeters.
The service life of this floor is at least 10 years
Another type of rubber floor is self-leveling. Before you start installing such a coating, you should buy a specialized mixture. It contains:
- modifiers;
- epoxy or polyurethane glue;
- different-sized rubber crumb;
- coloring pigment.
The addition of coloring pigment to the bulk coating mixture is carried out during the production process or during self-mixing of the working mixture. As for modifiers, they are necessary to improve certain quality properties of the material.
All work is carried out according to the attached instructions. Fully self-leveling floor dries up in a maximum of a day.
In the course of work, you will need the following devices and tools:
- beacons;
- construction mixer;
- roller, roller or squeegee;
- putty knife;
- a basin or a bucket for preparing a mixture;
- measuring capacity.
First, you need to prepare the subfloor, namely, to level it, remove dust and prime it with polyurethane glue. After that, place temporary beacons on it. Having done all this, prepare a working mixture of glue and crumbs in a ratio of 1: 7. Having done this, the liquid composition must be evenly distributed on the base in accordance with the instructions.
It is recommended to lay this coating at a temperature of +15 degrees. The moisture content of the concrete base should not exceed 4 percent.
If the humidity still exceeds this indicator, then waterproofing should be laid under the self-leveling coating.
Laying the mixture is carried out, starting from the far garage wall and gradually moving towards the gate. The required layer thickness should not exceed one centimeter. This can be controlled by means of beacons or a squeegee.
During work, the material should be leveled with a spatula. In the case of a huge garage area, the working composition is applied with a specialized spraying device.
To apply the coating, you can also resort to the spray method, which makes it possible to process inclined, horizontal and vertical surfaces. For example, a layer of rubber is applied to the underside of garage walls to provide protection from dirt and damage. The bases are coated with elastic waterproofing spraying.
The operational life of the self-leveling floor is the same as that of a conventional coating - about ten years (if technological requirements are observed).
The self-leveling floor is characterized by a considerable price, however, the ease of installation and a long service life fully compensate for it. It is commonly used in places such as car boxes and sports fields. For a garage, such a coating is just perfect. You can use it with confidence in your room.
Rubber coatings on the building materials market are presented in an extensive range at a low cost.
How to properly lay the sector rubber floor in the garage, see below.