Whether you have just moved into your new home with the help of an Estate Agents Cheltenham business found at links like meandyouestateagents.co.uk or a company, solid wood floors are attractive and hardwearing. In order to protect your floor at the entrance you need a mat to trap dirt, but this presents a problem. On wood floors, mats – even ones with a non-slip backing – seldom stay put.
Not only is a loose mat inconvenient it can be positively dangerous. Falls are the most common form of accident in the home and they can be caused by a poorly secured mat.
Recessing Mats
So what can you do to ensure the mat stays in place? You could fix it with double-sided tape but that risks damaging your solid wood flooring, so a better option is to have a recess in which the mat can sit snugly and not move around.
The traditional way of recessing a mat is to frame it using moulding, but over time this can become scuffed and chipped and end up looking scruffy. A neater, tidier way which offers a clean, modern look is to recess the mat into the floor itself.
Fitting Technique
The best time to fit a recessed mat is when laying the floor. Many people ask is it easy to lay solid wood floors? The answer is yes if you approach the job in a methodical manner and prepare well beforehand, and adding a mat is no different.
The idea is to have the mat held in place so it can’t slide around, but so that it can still be lifted out for cleaning. The best way to do this is using coir matting which can be bought from the roll. By undercutting the edges of the floor around the mat slightly, the edges of it can be tucked under to hold it securely in place.
Coir mats compress over time, so it’s best to start with the surface of the mat a few millimetres above the wood floor. If you need to adjust the height of the mat later you can always place a piece of plywood underneath. Once the mat is worked out it can be used as a template to cut a new one which will fit in the same recess.
Recessed in this way a mat provides a safe entry to your home and will help protect your wood floor.