Arkmats and heat

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Surbie

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Anyone else finding their mats expanding in the heat?

Mine were lovely and flat when I fitted them, and I was so pleased they interlock. Then the heat kicked in.

I've taken of the interlocking edging on the back 3 so they lie flat, but the front ones still balloon in odd places. Poor horse must feel like he's walking on a waterbed. :D

I'm loathe to cut them as normal weather/winter should make them shrink back. Plus I'm a bit inept with the stanley knife...:o
 
Mine have expanded (very slightly) with wear rather than heat. In your place I would wait for the cooler weather then trim them, but I don't think it is likely to be the weather
 
I have found that once expanded they never truly go back. I am not a scientist but think the heat softens them so when the horse stands on them they expand. Hence when the cool weather comes back they stay expanded as the expansion was not due to the heat per-se.
 
JillA said:
Mine have expanded (very slightly) with wear rather than heat. In your place I would wait for the cooler weather then trim them, but I don't think it is likely to be the weather
Click to expand...

I have found the same thing. However I missed these instructions on their website:

'HOW TO FIT AN EVA STABLE MAT
The fitting method is largely the same with 1 extremely important exception.

EVA mats will expand with the weight of an animal so you must NOT fit these mats tight to all of the walls. You need to leave a 1cm gap around at least 2 sides so that as the weight of the animal is dispersed over the mat so that when the mat expands it has a space to expand into. If you do not leave this gap you will find that the mats push against each other and lift and curl.'

I didn't leave any gaps!
 
Oh that's brilliant! Thank you for posting that Haniki.

And to Red-1 & JillA - am glad to be wrong and for it not to be the heat. The back ones are fine, possibly because they have bedding on them to also disperse weight.

I didn't leave any gaps either and was so impressed I got them flat and tight. Out with the stanley knife & metal ruler it is then. :)
 
Dip the knife blade in something like washing-up liquid and it will slide through the mat easily. Also works very well when cutting rubber.
 
Yes mine have done exactly this and I’m sure it’s down to the heat. They have done it twice, both times in heatwaves. I have them down in 4 stables and have second hand equimats in the fifth stable, and that’s the only stable where the mats haven’t warped
 
It’s happened to my Eva mats in all 3 stables - mats have been down 3 years but with the heat and horses coming in during the day, they’ve expanded slightly. I’m waiting for weather to finally break and will refit. We did allow for the expansion advised but I guess it’s been very warm!
 
Mine have done the same , they were new this spring and I did leave a gap. I'm just trimming as I can't see how they would return back to their original state. I'm still very pleased with them. No scraped hocks since I put them down.
 
Beausmate said:
Dip the knife blade in something like washing-up liquid and it will slide through the mat easily. Also works very well when cutting rubber.
Click to expand...

Top tip, thanks for that. Will try it out tomorrow.

Ceriann said:
It’s happened to my Eva mats in all 3 stables - mats have been down 3 years but with the heat and horses coming in during the day, they’ve expanded slightly. I’m waiting for weather to finally break and will refit. We did allow for the expansion advised but I guess it’s been very warm!
Click to expand...

Did you find that they ever went back to where they were previously?

I really like the mats, they are light to lift and clean and they have cut down enormously on the bedding I would use.
 
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