It does look nice but two things spring to mind.

A) it's probably a bit more difficult to keep clean than a painted floor.

B) unless your floor is perfectly flat some of the edges of the tiles may stick up a bit?

Best advice is to try and find someone who's actually laid and has been using this system for a while.

My Mate Chris has that stuff on his workshop floor and likes it. You do have to watch out for thermal expansion though so don't lay it tight beween walls otherwise it can buckle/bulge as it expands. Chris cut it in around the machines. I did think about it myself but then went for Flooring grade Chipboard over felt underlay over concrete. Chipboard is then floorpainted. Lathe sits on steel pads through holes in the chipboard and is bolted through to the concrete. The mill and everything else sits on top.

regards Martin

Hello Carl,

I installed some dense foam interlocking tlies which are about 1/2 inch thick, Axminster sold them at the time ~15 years ago..They form a central strip up between benches.

Today there are used in kindergarttens in bright colours—mine are matt black with swarf highlights, but they are comfortable and warm to stand on for long periods. They provide a degree of cushioning for things that fall off the workbench. I have been very pleased with them. They do provide useful crevices for the small object Gremlins to hide and conceal things, but then so does a jungle of swarf.

Regards

Brian

Vic,

That sounds like Altro flooring. It has carborundum embedded in it to make it non slip. It's used behind pub bars etc.

I used it for my workshop floor. Managed to get a big enough offcut from Ebay for a very good price. Only problem is it's light blue but most of it's now covered by machines and rubber mats so it's not too bad

It's best glued down if possible to stop it creeping which is what I did.

John

Edited By John Baguley on 08/06/2015 19:03:47

If you can still find it, the 3' wide belts from a colliery are superb for floors, never wear out and forgiving when fragile parts are dropped.
One guy (who shall remain nameless) got a load of new stuff from work and laboriously cut it into 12" squares which he used for his kitchen floor, they waxed up nicely.

Edited By john carruthers on 09/06/2015 08:44:18

Bear in mind that these comments are based on a working workshop floor under heavy use. Chips coming off my lathe are very hot and there are large amounts of them.

I started off with conveyor belting scrounged from a local quarry, used but because it's used it has a saucer shape to it and in one run it's not bad but putting two together means the edges often lift causing trip hazards. I just had single runs. Wears well, nothing sticks to it very hard but very heavy if you want to lift to clean.

At one point I tried the foam mats, they lasted a day. Chips just burn their way thru them or part way and leve sharp edges exposed.

Then went onto the rolls of rubber matting 3mm thick, this comes in either checker plate pattern or buttons. I chose buttons as I thought it would be easier to sweep. When new it was fine and very pleased with it but over a three year period it gradually swelled and bubbled up then started to split and it was a serious trip hazard.

Having said that this is 3 years in a very busy full time shop which would equate to 10 years ? in a home shop.

I was ready to replace it with the same or 5mm if I could find it when I discovered the horse mats made from rubber crumb. Bought one to try in front of the lathe which is the worst wear area in the shop. Came off Ebay and in my case 10' x 4'

Been down a year now and wearing well. Last week was a very busy week, flat out with breakdowns all week and not much time to clear up so today attacked the floor.

This was it earlier today and I have raked all the birds nests up and this has been trodded in for just over a week.

Part way thru the clean with a stiff nylon bristled brush and it cleaning up well. A lot of these chips are bright blue but being a crumb finish they don't leave marks. These are about 10mm thick but can be easily handled and when the workshop gets extended later this year I propose to floor the whole shop in these mats.

Edited By V8Eng on 10/06/2015 00:00:16

When I built my new workshop about 12 years ago the friend who helped me friend who helped said we should simply use the green water proof chipboard tongue and groove under flooring used in modern houses. The better brand from the local builders merchant. No floor paint, just used as is. Now more sandy than green with some minor scarring and odd stain but still holding up well under pretty much daily use. Swarf will embed if sharp and you stand on it just so but generally not a problem. Possibly one or two pieces to dig out on the weekly muck out. Probably 40 % machine time, 40% bench work, welding et al and rest in the office space. Machines stand direct on it just fine. Fairly hefty stuff too Pratt & Whitney Model B 12 x 30 & Smart & Brown 1024 lathes, Bridgeport mill, Pollard 15AY drill and Elliot 10M shaper. Offcuts and over orders made lovely shelves and nice bench tops for blind brothers piano fixing shop.

Just don't put a pry bar directly on it, fortunately I found that out when moving the P&W up the step on a ramp made of the stuff.

Had to be the green stuff. The alternative sandy or brownish version available at the same time was hopeless and mega dusty when worked with.

Clive.

Same as John mines a full time shop tried most economic means.

The only downsides to concrete floor and standing on them are the cold coming through and the dropsies. Its by far the best to shovel and sweep up.

Tried two variants of foam matting, didn't last an hour before ripping up and throwing out.

Large carpet type and bristle door mats and the like but swarf burns in to.

Same with raised wood platforms, swarf embeds in to and a bitch to get out. It even embeds in to that waterproof chip board, rather annoying under your feet.

Have also kept an eye on the thinner horsey matting but tend to come in sizes that's very uneconomical if laying like you would a carpet cut round machines.

For cheapness I bought the 3mm ribbed matting 3 yrs ago, very rarely does hot chips stick in, the only downsides are sweeping up down the length of ribs then flicking across then finding bit awkward for the shovel. Very tempted to go for it again but thicker 4mm to 5mm. Originally intended to use it upside down for better sweeping up, tried it with coolant on and was a little slippy.
The 3mm in summer tends to expand and with coolants it bubbles. Upon contraction it often cracks but did last almost two years as at last year, still down serious trip hazard. Best money ever spent and to boot saves many a tool and verniers when knocked off on to floor, might go red next time make it feel warmer.

The PVC matting in various styles wouldn't work but is cheap.

Just received latest catalogue from Coopers of Stortford showing their floor tiling, reduced and at very good prices. Reason I have reported these items, originally intended for use over garden beds and lawns, is that when they were introduced a couple of years ago, I fitted my workshop concrete floor with them.

What a difference they have made, no swarf transmitted to the house, warmer than all other coverings tried, being perforated allows all bits and pieces to fall through ready for the vac cleaner to suck all rubbish away, and being interlocking can be lifted individually to pick up dropped nuts, screws and small tooling.

This product as well as being cost effective, is brilliant in use, at a price of 20 12" square tiles for £14.97.

I have no connection with Cooper except form being a satisfied customer.