Rubber tiles in suburban areas can be used, for example, to decorate areas in front of swimming pools, steps of wings or even garden paths. The advantages of this material, the owners of private houses and cottages include, among other things, ease of installation. Laying of rubber tiles in a suburban area can be done including with your own hands.
How to choose a material
Modern industry produces a rubber coating of this type in a variety of colors. Therefore, if you wish, it will be easy for the owner of the house to choose such a material that perfectly matches the shade with other elements of landscape design.
Also, when choosing a rubber tile, of course, you should pay attention to its thickness. Such material can be laid on the surface:
In all these cases, it is supposed to use tiles with a minimum thickness of 1 cm. If the material is supposed to be mounted directly on the ground, this indicator should not be less than 3 cm.
Basic installation steps
Rubber tiles are laid in suburban areas, usually using the following technology:
if necessary, remove the old tile;
depending on what surface the material is installed on, carry out preparatory work;
if necessary, perform priming work;
take measurements and make markings.
At the final stage, they begin to actually lay the tiles themselves.
Preparatory Activities
Hard coatings - concrete, metal, wood - before installing the tiles carefully cleaned from dirt and dust. Next, the substrate for the tile is primed. The tool is selected depending on the base material. On sale today there are both universal primers, and designed specifically for application to concrete, metal or wood. A sufficiently reliable composition of this type, if desired, can be made independently. The method of mixing it will be discussed later in the article.
If the tile is supposed to be laid directly on the ground, weeds are carefully removed at the place of its installation, with a selection of all the roots. Further, the land is well leveled using a building level. They do exactly the same in the case when it is supposed to lay a rubber tile on the sand.
Before installation, the material itself is carefully inspected for defects. Low-quality tiles are laid aside.
Measurements and marking
On oval or round platforms, laying rubber tiles relies from the center to the edges. To find the middle of the trimmed area:
pegs are installed on its corners;
with the help of a construction square, the angles are aligned;
pegs are connected diagonally with a cord;
the place of their intersection is marked.
On rectangular platforms, this material can begin to be mounted from the edges.
Facing Rules
Recommendations when laying rubber tiles should be observed such:
Use for the installation of such material relies solely on glue intended for rubber tiles. Most often, polyurethane compounds are used for this purpose. At the end of installation, a curb is mandatory installed around the perimeter of the finished site. This element will give the coating extra strength.
When laying tiles, among other things, they carefully monitor that there are no protrusions and indentations on the surface being trimmed. Otherwise, on the rubber coating later in the spring or during the rain, long-drying puddles will begin to form.
Laying tiles relies only on well-dried concrete or wood. This material simply will not stick to a wet solid base. And consequently, the work of sticking it in after some time will need to be carried out again.
Technology for laying rubber tiles on the ground: backfilling
When installing the material in a similar way, a leveling shock-absorbing cushion is first arranged under it. Each of its layers is laid with geotextiles with a density of 180 g / m 2 .
Tile installation work is being carried out in this case as follows:
on the area being trimmed, they remove the soil to a depth of 25 cm;
remove plant roots, debris, foreign objects from the foundation pit;
they lay the foundation pit with geotextiles, overlapping the canvas;
crushed stone of fine fraction is put on geotextile;
they cover the gravel with geotextiles with an overlap on the edges of the pit;
pour a layer of sand and ram it with water.
Crushed stone and sand during the arrangement of the base under the rubber tile is laid in layers with a thickness of at least 10 cm. These materials in the future, among other things, will also play the role of drainage.
Tile installation
After the pillow is ready, you can start laying the actual rubber tiles on the ground. On round platforms, as already mentioned, this material begins to be mounted from the center. Here, the first four tiles are set square. Then move to the edges of the site along the diagonals. Tiles in order to avoid their displacement, when laying on the ground, fasten to each other with special plastic bushings.
Hard Mounting: Tools and Materials
In addition to the rubber tiles and polyurethane glue itself, for laying in this case you will need:
White Spirit;
notched trowel;
roller;
fine toothed hacksaw;
rubber mallet;
a piece of chalk.
White spirit will be required to prepare the primer. A hacksaw is needed for cutting material if necessary. Instead, a tool for tiles not too thick can use a sharp knife.
Padding
This procedure before laying rubber tiles on a concrete base, metal or wood is usually carried out using a roller. The primer for pretreatment can be used, as already mentioned, purchased or made independently. In the latter case, the composition is made from:
These ingredients are mixed in a 1: 1 ratio. The consumption of such a mixture for concrete in the future will, for example, be 300 g / m 2 . Purchased primers are used to treat the substrate in accordance with the instructions from the manufacturer.
In most cases, the surface before laying the tiles is smeared in one layer. But before installing this material near a pond or pool, it is nevertheless necessary to apply two layers of primer to the base site. This will extend the subsequent service life of the coating.
Modern industrial compounds of this type dry out usually within 1 hour. The same goes for a self-made primer.
Laying tiles on a solid foundation: technology
After the site is fully prepared, you can proceed with the actual installation of the material. Rubber tiles are laid on concrete, wood or metal, usually as follows:
a thin layer of polyurethane adhesive is applied to the base;
glue is leveled with a notched trowel;
glue is additionally applied to the back of the tile and is also leveled;
the tile is laid on the base, leveled and pressed tightly.
The polyurethane adhesive dries quickly enough. Therefore, it should be applied simultaneously to a site for laying no more than 4-5 rubber elements. After the tile is pressed to the surface of the base, it must be tapped with a mallet to remove air bubbles.
Unlike usual, rubber tile differs, as you know, in some degree of elasticity. To fix such elements on the base as securely as possible, they should, among other things, lay some kind of cargo. The press should only be removed after the glue has completely dried.
If, during installation, the fixing compound protrudes outside the tile, it must be removed immediately. It will be extremely difficult to wipe the polyurethane stains from the material after they have dried. And therefore, the tiled area will look messy.
The final stage
The seams between the rubber tiles during their installation leave, as already mentioned, not too wide. However, subsequently on the finished surface such gaps can still be clearly visible. In order to give the finish a more solid and solid appearance, the seams after laying the rubber tiles should be covered with fine bright sand. After this work is completed, a border is set around the perimeter of the site.
When can I start walking on the site
The installation instructions for rubber tiles discussed above must be followed exactly. In this case, the surface will be as strong and durable as possible.
Within a few hours after installation, the rubber tile on the finished base will hold firmly enough. However, it will be possible to walk on the lined platform no earlier than two days after the installation of the material. Otherwise, the coating elements can be shifted, which will negatively affect the appearance of the surface.
Useful advice
The above methods of laying rubber tiles allow you to get a beautiful, even and reliable coating. However, subject to all the required technologies, beginners usually perform installation of such material rather slowly. To speed up the work when installing tiles for applying glue, you can use a regular paint roller instead of a spatula . It will most likely be more convenient for a novice to grease them with a fixing compound to the finished area and the rubber elements themselves. Accordingly, when using such a tool, the process of gluing tiles will accelerate.