Rubber tyres will stain almost every type of floor including bare concrete, painted and vinyl flooring. The stain is a chemical reaction and will not damage the tiles or impact on their durability. The stain is caused by a component used during the manufacturing of car tyres called ‘6PPD’ (phenaline diamine). 6PPD is an anti-oxidant and is added to rubber products to resist environmental attack by ozone and ultraviolet light. It also has other beneficial effects in the moulding of rubber itself. The staining is dark grey / green in appearance and will show within 4 to 5 hours of the tyre sitting on the tile. The stain cannot be removed as it is a chemical reaction between the 6PPD and the surface it is in contact with.

Because the stain in a dark grey / green it is far less obvious in the darker colours and is almost indistinguishable from the colour of our Graphite tiles (which also happens to be the smartest and most popular colour).
If you still want to incorporate brighter colours into your floor, you could try the following:
• Use black or graphite tiles where tyres will sit.
• Use Durbar plates under wheels.

You can cut them with a guillotine, hacksaw or jigsaw.

Cutting Allowance & Wastage
What cutting allowance / wastage factor should I allow – We recommend that you allow a 4% wastage factor for the 500/7 & 500/ESD. To make your calculations 100% correct, measure to the nearest 25 centimeters on the 500/7 & 500/ESD.
For example:
• 500/7 & 500/ESD tiles – Room dimensions 6.1m x 3.7m – Calculate as 6.25m x 3.75m

The grid pattern on the back of our tiles have been designed to ensure absolute dimensional stability so that they fit perfectly without gaps between the joints or in the corners. It is our unique grid pattern that ensures dimensional stability. You would not find the gap at the joint of four tiles.

Plastic will tend to want to curl over time, the ridge pattern on Smart Flooring tiles ensures that the tile will remain flat for the life of the tile. A proven fact based on the physical and chemical properties of plastics. The pockets of air create a cushion that prevents the Smart Flooring from rattling.

The little pockets of air also create a mini vacuum that stops the tile from slipping on the floor, especially if there is any oil, water or grease in the substrate. This is very important for small areas of tiles or where an island of tiles is being installed that is not butting up against retaining walls.

The grid pattern allows our tile to cope better with imperfections in the substrate.

The grid pattern allows the floor to breathe – very important if installing over concrete that hasn’t cured yet or if there is damp in the floor.

In 25 years of Ecotile we have never had a problem, in fact, a number of insurance companies have actually recommended customers who live in areas prone to flooding to use Smart Flooring Ecotile, as water getting under the tiles doesn’t cause a problem and eliminates the need to replace flood damaged floor coverings.

The precision engineered joint is extremely tight but we do not claim that it is 100% waterproof. If large amounts of water are left to sit on the floor it is possible that some will seep through the joint. The most common concern people have is that the water will become stagnant and start to smell but this will not happen. Firstly, the chemicals in PVC act as a natural biocide that prevents the growth of the bacteria that would make the water smell and secondly any moisture under the tiles will evaporate back up through the joint because the temperature above the tiles is almost certain to be higher than that under the tiles.