Stable Matting..

So, the time has come to remove the carpets from my Disco. I don't really fancy a bare floor and I've used rubber paint before - these make it a bit too "agricultural" for me. I've searched and there are loads of references to stable matting but no comments on which type. Had a google and there seems to be varing thickness from 5mm to 32mm and it seems to come in 6x4 sheets which is obviously not big enough for a Disco.

So my questions are;
If you have used stable matting - what type?
Did it fit up into the footwells\transmission tunnel\boot floor OK?
Did you stick it down? If so what with and did the floor need any prep?
If not, what was the solution?

I'm still toying with just giving the carpet a vax after drying it out and putting it back in (without the sound proofing - that went ages ago!) but also want something that I can fit, forget and clean down easily enough and not worry about water ingress.

Any [helpful] advise would be good! Thanks....

at least you can lift the carpet to dry it out, if you go and stick some matting down it will still get wet under it

lag it with waxoyl and get 2 sheets of stable matting,there may be some fire damaged matting in the yard going cheap ...ill ask later....

whats wrong with a bare metal floor? :scratching_chin:

disco147 said:

whats wrong with a bare metal floor? :scratching_chin:

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Nothing, just not something I want....

I'm betting that somebody breaking a D1 will let you have the soundproofing matting for a few quid. As for stable matting, it can be quite inflexible, so see it first if you go down that road

dyte said:

at least you can lift the carpet to dry it out, if you go and stick some matting down it will still get wet under it

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thats what I'm worried about... However, its stuck down all over then in theory the water won't be able to get under it - a few stretagic holes in the floor should mean any water will just drain out - hopefully...

The Ferkin BoB said:

lag it with waxoyl and get 2 sheets of stable matting,there may be some fire damaged matting in the yard going cheap ...ill ask later....

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Thanks!! I'm starting to think I need to go look at some before jumping in.

blackhadder said:

I'm betting that somebody breaking a D1 will let you have the soundproofing matting for a few quid. As for stable matting, it can be quite inflexible, so see it first if you go down that road

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I'm not interested in the soundproofing anymore - recepie for disaster with that stuff down!

And being inflexable is what i'm worried about. But, if its only 5mm thinck it can't be that bad?

Proper stable matting is a lot more than 5mm thick. As has been said, its very inflexible. It is also very heavy. I've used old rubber conveyor belt from a quarry as stable matting before. That is about 10mm thick, so thinner than the proper stuff, but its still very inflexible and heavy.

I've used 10mm stable matting in my series. Made cardboard templates for the footwells for a tight fit, cut to shape and kicked it in, no adhesive required and it comes out when I need to get the floor up - about twice a week!

Hope_5 said:

thats what I'm worried about... However, its stuck down all over then in theory the water won't be able to get under it - a few stretagic holes in the floor should mean any water will just drain out - hopefully...

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nah it will still get wet IMHO also the carpet takes two mins to remove should you decide to fill the boot full of crap,wood,trips to the dump

ScratchyDom said:

I've used 10mm stable matting in my series. Made cardboard templates for the footwells for a tight fit, cut to shape and kicked it in, no adhesive required and it comes out when I need to get the floor up - about twice a week!

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Hmm.. I was hoping for a more fit and forget solution... I'd rather not have to keep on taking it out. If I chop the carpet about, I'm hoping there may be an easy way of getting that in and out rather than having to undo the seats all the time...

dyte said:

nah it will still get wet IMHO also the carpet takes two mins to remove should you decide to fill the boot full of crap,wood,trips to the dump

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LOL - thats exactly what happens plus P&P crappy muddy water!

If the carpets really that easy to fit and remove (guess what job I have on over the next few days ) then the vax and refit might be best...

Hope_5 said:

Hmm.. I was hoping for a more fit and forget solution... I'd rather not have to keep on taking it out. If I chop the carpet about, I'm hoping there may be an easy way of getting that in and out rather than having to undo the seats all the time...

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My floor comes up so often so I can tinker with the transfer box linkage, gearbox, etc etc. If it wasn't for that it'd never come up! Looks quite smart too...

Well, smartish...

Much better to fix the leaks imo..
I have cut my standard matting into sections, making it much easier to remove the wet bits (if needed).

Buy a set of rubber mats tailored for the car, and dont worry about the carpets. Can then kust take them out and hose down. Stable matting is far from cheap (had two stables to do) and is very heavy and inflexible as has already been said, avoid!

JonnyP said:

Much better to fix the leaks imo..
I have cut my standard matting into sections, making it much easier to remove the wet bits (if needed).

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No sunroofs - so no leaks from there and the windscreen seems to holding OK. The main water ingress sems to be off roading so does not happen too frequently - saying that - it did happen a few weeks ago so needs to be looked into ASAP.

I'm now thinking about cutting the carpet into sections to allow easy removal as well....

m500dpp said:

.....Stable matting is far from cheap (had two stables to do) and is very heavy and inflexible as has already been said, avoid!

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Thanks for the advise ...

Really, I think you're better off with soundproof matting, carpet, good rubber mats and no leaks. Oh, and decent door seals. Hmmmm, maybe a bit much for a Landy