Grassmats Ltd.

Suppliers of high quality grass mats and ground protection products. Whether you're homeowner looking to improve your garden, or an event organiser who needs our expertise we can help. View our website for grass mats and more!

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Why you should have Horse Stable Mats

A horse stable is a serious investment but the advantages that they bring are more than worth the cost.

Any decent stable requires some form of flooring, beyond earth or concrete. But the best type of flooring to use is often a topic of debate. In this article, we will discuss some of the advantages of using Rubber Stable Mats, as opposed to other surfaces.

Why flooring choice is important

The ideal flooring will have the following qualities:

Easy on the horse’s legs (this is particularly important if the horse spends a long time in the stable)

Dry

Easy to clean

Odourless

Non-slip surfacing

Low maintenance

Easy to clean

Although there are many options available, it should be made clear that a good floor is extremely important to your horse’s well-being. Unfortunately, no material is perfect; regardless of which you choose, it will not meet all of your expectations of an ‘ideal’ flooring solution.

To us, flooring which caters to a horse’s is health is by far the best choice for any stable. There are several factors to consider first. Fatigue and stress can be strongly affected by the material of the floor; a softer material has more ‘give’, protecting the horse’s legs, and is generally preferred over harder floor.

A non-slip surface is also important to assist the horse in lying down and getting back up again. Any floor which can become slippy, or does not have good grip on the surface should be avoided. This will also protect you, whenever you need to enter the stable.

Another consideration is the floor’s retention of odours or urine as this could lead to damage of the respiratory system. High concentrations of ammonia in the air or environment can cause damage to the lining of the throat and lungs. Any floor with good drainage – or a properly installed and tested drainage system beneath the material – should help to prevent this situation.

Beyond these factors, a ‘good’ floor will also allow you to perform maintenance with little to no effort. The surface should be easy to clean; both for appearance and to maintain your horse’s health (by cleaning away waste). Another important factor to consider is the longevity of the material; you do not want to have to regularly replace the flooring, as this will take time and become costly. The material you choose should not deform when weight is placed upon it for long periods of time, and it should not lose its anti-slip or drainage qualities.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to tell how long a material will last as your usage can vary greatly to someone else’s. We would strongly recommend that you talk to a variety of horse/stable owners and try to make an informed decision on which material best suits your needs.

Why Rubber Mats are good

Rubber Stable Mats are a great way to achieve many of the qualities of ‘good’ stable flooring. Their thickness, and the composition of the material, is soft enough to be easy on the horse’s legs and the weight of the horse does not deform the surface. The cobbled tops give the surface anti-slip properties whilst ridged bottom surfaces provide excellent drainage. The mats will also provide extra warmth and will remain easy to clean and maintain.

Stable Mats should not be confused with other rubber flooring surfaces! Rubber Stable Mats are purpose-built using pure high quality rubber, whereas other rubber flooring mats are made using composite materials. Rubber Stable Mats are long-lasting, and easy to install.

To view our entire range of stable/equestrian mats, click here. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact our friendly team for advice, or visit our website for more information!

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Home Gym Flooring

Do you have a home gym? Is your flooring up to standard? Read on to find out!

In our fast-paced modern world, exercising at home is becoming more and more popular for its convenience and value for money. It is so much easier and, in some cases, more effective to maintain a consistent workout regime in the home than it is to travel to the gym after a long day at work.

But while many of us have good quality equipment set up and routines to follow at home, one thing that we often forget to consider is the kind of flooring that we use. How many gyms have you been to with carpets on the floor? Luckily, it’s not too difficult – or expensive – to get professional grade gym flooring that will make home workouts easier, safer, and cleaner!

Whether you have a fully dedicated gym room in your house or just a small workout space, we have all the information you need in this article.

Why proper flooring is important

Gym flooring is designed specifically to provide a sturdy surface on which to perform exercises and store heavy equipment. Generally, if you only plan to perform light exercises or use a few pieces of equipment, a standard gym floor will suffice. But, if you intend to store many pieces of large and heavy equipment on the surface, you will need a stronger, more ‘heavy duty’ floor. The difference here will normally come in the thickness of the material; a thicker floor will be able to withstand more weight for longer periods of time. Without the correct material, there is a real risk of damaging your home’s floor; a special purpose solution will perform better whilst looking tidier and neater.

Another key benefit of proper surfacing is vastly improved safety features. Gym flooring will normally have a smooth but ‘grippy’ surface to help reduce the chance of slipping, and to prevent equipment from moving during use. The thickness of the material also provides excellent force absorption properties, which can protect against damage if weights were dropped, or if someone were to fall over. These features are vital in the home environment, particularly when children or other family members have access to the room you keep your equipment in.

The final advantage of dedicated gym flooring is cleanliness and improved hygiene. Proper gym flooring keeps perspiration away from carpets and housing floors, and are generally much easier to clean than any other surface. This is important to keep bad smells out of your exercise room and home.

How to get gym flooring

Once you have figured out what you are going to be using the flooring for, you will need to decide how you are going to install it. Heavier duty gym flooring will usually be sold in large mat form; this Heavy Duty Gym Mat comes in at 1.8m x 1.2m. These mats are very easy to install; their heavy weight and ribbed bottom surface mean that they do not require adhesive or any special materials. They also come in Interlocking form, if a smaller area of mat is required.

For lighter use, the flooring will usually come in tile form. Each tile interlocks with the next, making them easy to install in your room. These mats are 1/2m squared, and have a bobbled bottom surface to ensure they are kept in place. These are wonderful if the gym surfacing is only temporary (e.g. if you are not using equipment) as they are easy to store away.

We hope this article has provided you with some useful information about the benefits of proper gym flooring, and that maybe soon you will have some in your own home! After all, the flooring that you use is the foundation of your gym and your exercise routine; it’s important to get it right!

Click here to visit our website and find out more!

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Grass Mats as a Safety Surface?

No school is truly complete without an exciting set of playground equipment for children to play on; whether it’s a climbing frame, a slide, or a set of swings, nothing beats the joy of getting active at break time. But this expensive equipment is worthless without proper safety surfacing to protect against injuries caused by falls.

Common surfaces such as wet pour or rubber mulch, although very safe, can become quite expensive when used to cover large areas of ground. And, with tighter budgets, it can be difficult to achieve the playground of your dreams.

Fortunately, there are alternatives out there that will reduce the cost of your playground without compromising the safety of your children. Although it may be surprising, Rubber Grass Mats are one of these alternatives, and in some cases could actually be a better fit for your playground. This article will explain all you need to know.

Why Grass Mats are a good alternative

Rubber Grass Mats are normally used to stabilise boggy ground or protect grass from heavy foot traffic. But their soft and stable texture gives them excellent impact absorption properties making them ideal for use around playground equipment.

One of the biggest benefits of grass mats, as opposed to wet pour, is that it can be easily installed on to grass without ruining the turf. This is perfect if you want a play area or a long Trim Trail on your school field; the grass grows back through the mat, giving the best protection and a great natural look.

Installing grass mats could not be easier; simply use cable ties to fix the mats together and U-Pins to secure them to the ground. This is excellent if you want to add extra protection to existing play areas or other danger zones without the expense of bringing workers to your school.

The Critical Fall Height

Critical Fall Height is a measure which tells us the how far someone could fall on to a surface without expecting there to be life-threatening head trauma. This is extremely important to be aware of in a playground environment. People often misunderstand the meaning of Critical Fall Heights. Manufacturers or suppliers commonly quote a fall height of 3m but what does this really mean?

When tested in accordance with BS EN 1177:2008 a Head Injury Criterion (HIC) value of 1000 cannot be exceeded from a test height of 3m. With a grass mat which is 1500mm x 1000mm and 23mm thick, a HIC value of 550 was recorded from a test height of 3m.

This means that if you fell on to a grass mat from 3m you would record a HIC of 550; figures suggest that there is a 45% chance of moderate injury. This is compared to falling 3m with a HIC of 1000, where figures suggest you would be 90% likely to sustain a moderate injury.

Essentially, this means that as long as there is no chance a child could fall on to the surface from more than 3m, grass mats are well below the maximum HIC for a fall.

We hope that this article has informed you about the advantages of grass mats as a safety surfacing, and we hope that one day you will consider it as an alternative. If you would like to find out more, feel free to contact us and speak to a member of our team, or click here to view the product page for our grass mats.

Feel free to check out our website too, click here for all of your grass mats and ground protection needs!