Best Way to Cut Rubber Flooring – Ask the Home Flooring Pros

February 22, 2023, by: Rob Parsell

Welcome to another installment of Ask the Home Flooring Pros. This week we’re going to give you step-by-step instructions on how to cut rubber flooring quickly and easily so that you can install your flooring without a fuss. We outline the best tools to use, the simplest technique, and how to cut and trim your rubber flooring to fit perfectly.

Be sure to check out our Rubber flooring section, where you can find more information on rubber floor installation, prices, and our cleaning and maintenance guides.

DIY rubber floor installation isn’t difficult when you have the right tools and carefully follow a few simple techniques.

The best tools for cutting rubber flooring are:

• Tape measure
• Utility knife
• Fresh blades
• 4’ or 6’ carpenter’s T-square
• 4’ or 6’ straight edge
• Gloves and knee pads for safety and comfort (optional)

HOW TO CUT RUBBER FLOORING: THE TECHNIQUE

Let’s get the cutting technique down first, and then we’ll apply it.

1. Make sure you have a sharp blade in the knife
2. Measure the roll, and use the utility knife to make a 1/8” nick in the rubber where you want the full cut to be
3. Lay your square across the flooring, so that the edge of it lines up with the nick or nicks you made
4. Apply firm downward pressure on the square, or ask a helper to do it, to prevent it from moving and diverting your cut
5. Rather than trying to cut through the flooring in one attempt, score it several times along the guide using moderate pressure until the material is completely cut through

Pro Tip: When cutting flooring, place it on thick cardboard or scrap plywood to protect the flooring beneath.

CUTTING AND TRIMMING TO FIT

Use the square to trim the start of the roll to make it square (90-degree angle), if needed.

• To cut rubber flooring to length, measure the length needed, roll out the flooring, and use the cutting technique explained above. If you’re concerned that the wall the piece ends at is not square, cut the piece an inch or two longer than necessary, and trim it to fit with the following techniques.
• To trim off excess flooring along a straight wall, firmly place the straight edge along the wall, and cut along the wall side.
• To trim corners where there is both excess length and width, use the knife to mark the corner where the walls meet. Lift the flooring, and cut from the mark to the corner of the flooring. The cut doesn’t have to be exact. Then, use the technique just described to trim along a straight wall to trim off excess length and width.

RELATED POSTS:

Best Rubber Flooring for Basements

Want to know more about your rubber flooring options? Read our buyers guide to residential rubber flooring.

Do you have a question for the Home Flooring Pros? Drop us a line.

About the Author:

Rob Parsell

Rob joined the Home Flooring Pros team in 2014 and is a freelance writer, specializing in flooring, remodeling and HVAC systems (read more).

“I’m the son of an interior designer and picked up an eye for design as a result. I started hanging wallpaper and painting at 14 and learned enough on the job to be the general contractor on two homes we built for our family and did much of the finish plumbing, electrical, painting, and trim work myself.”