Complete Buyer's Guide to Mats and Stair Treads

A mat does three jobs at once. It keeps soil out of the building, it keeps people upright, and it protects the floor underneath. Get the size or the type wrong and it does none of them well. This guide covers how much matting an entrance actually needs, which mat suits which space, and how to tell when a mat has stopped earning its keep.

Quick Navigation

• 1. How Much Matting Your Entrance Actually Needs
• 2. Main Types of Mats & Where They're Used
• 3. Best Mats by Space or Application
• 4. Horse Stall Mats & Equine Flooring
• 5. Stair Treads & Slip-Resistant Stair Solutions
• 6. Three Things to Check Before You Buy
• 7. Care, Cleaning & Replacement
• 8. Buying Mats vs. Renting Them
• 9. Frequently Asked Questions

1. How Much Matting Your Entrance Actually Needs

The most common mistake in commercial matting is a mat that is simply too small. A 3 by 5 mat inside a busy door looks like coverage. In practice a visitor clears it in two strides, and everything still stuck to their shoes goes straight onto your floor.

Field research from ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, puts a number on it: a person needs six to eight footsteps on matting before most of the soil comes off their shoes. For an average adult stride, that works out to roughly 12 to 15 feet of continuous matting from the door inward.

Weather changes the math. ISSA data shows about 12 times more dirt enters a building during wet weather than in dry conditions. The same water that carries that dirt in is what makes a hard floor slick, and the National Floor Safety Institute identifies building entrances as a leading location for slip-and-fall claims.

1.1 The Three-Zone Entrance

Twelve to fifteen feet rarely means one long mat. It usually means three shorter ones, each doing a different job as a person walks in. Splitting the run this way also makes cleaning easier, since you can lift and service one zone at a time.

• Outside the door: A scraper mat with an aggressive surface to knock off mud, grit, sand, and snow before anyone reaches the threshold.
• In the vestibule: A scraper-wiper that keeps working on coarse soil while starting to pull water off the shoe.
• Inside the lobby: A wiper mat that absorbs the remaining moisture and fine soil before shoes reach finished flooring.

If your building has no vestibule, combine the first two zones into one longer exterior mat and give the interior wiper as much length as the lobby allows. Our entrance mats and runners cover all three zones, and the bi-level Waterhog mats handle the middle and interior positions in a single construction.

2. Main Types of Mats & Where They're Used

2.1 Entrance Mats & Carpeted Lobby Mats

Entrance mats are the first line of defense against dirt, moisture, and debris. In offices, schools, medical buildings, and retail stores, carpeted entrance mats keep floors clean while giving the entry a finished, professional look.

Mats Inc. offers a full range of entrance mats and runners, including Waterhog styles that scrape dirt, hold moisture, and reduce slip hazards in busy entryways.

2.2 Custom Logo Mats

Custom logo mats do two jobs at once. They put your brand at the door and still trap the dirt and moisture a working entrance mat has to handle. They suit lobbies, reception desks, and any customer-facing entry.

Explore our assortment of logo floor mats, including carpet logo mats, rubber logo mats, and high-definition printed options for detailed artwork.

2.3 Anti-Fatigue Mats

Anti-fatigue mats are built for people who stand in one place for hours: cashiers, production lines, assembly stations, and shipping areas. The cushioning encourages small shifts in posture, which keeps blood moving and reduces leg, back, and joint strain across a shift.

Browse our anti-fatigue mats and runners for industrial, commercial, and retail environments.

2.4 Wet Area, Pool & Locker Room Mats

Wet area mats are made for constant water: pools, spas, locker rooms, showers, and changing areas. Open grid and perforated designs let water fall through to the deck instead of pooling on the surface people walk on, and they dry out between uses rather than staying damp.

See our wet area mats for pool decks, locker rooms, and other permanently wet environments.

2.5 Kitchen & Restaurant Mats

Commercial kitchen mats have to clear several bars at once: grease resistance, slip resistance, drainage, and comfort underfoot. Grease is the deciding factor, since it degrades the wrong rubber compound and turns a slip-resistant surface slick.

View our kitchen and restaurant mats for back-of-house areas, dish pits, cook lines, bars, and prep stations.

2.6 Rubber Runners & Industrial Aisle Mats

Rubber runners are long, narrow mats for walkways, assembly lines, machine aisles, and production corridors. They protect the slab, improve footing, and add cushioning along routes crews walk dozens of times a day.

For long aisles, corridors, and warehouse walkways, explore our rubber runner mats.

2.7 Eco-Friendly & Recycled Mats

Many organizations now specify matting made from recycled rubber or recycled plastic bottles, either to meet a sustainability policy or to support a green building certification. Recycled content does not mean reduced performance in this category.

View our collection of green and eco-friendly mats, including recycled rubber and fiber options for entrances, gyms, and industrial spaces.

2.8 Temporary Road Mats & Ground Protection

Temporary road mats and ground protection mats serve construction sites, utility work, oilfield access, and outdoor events. They spread the weight of vehicles and equipment across a wider area, which keeps turf and soil intact and keeps crews moving after rain.

Learn more about our temporary road mats for construction, utility, and industrial projects.

2.9 Gym & Weight Room Flooring

Gym flooring absorbs dropped weight, protects the concrete slab underneath, dampens noise between floors, and stays put under loaded racks. It shows up in commercial gyms, school weight rooms, training centers, and home setups.

For lifting platforms, free weight zones, and fitness spaces, see our gym and weight room flooring.

3. Best Mats by Space or Application

3.1 Office Lobbies & Corporate Buildings

Office entries balance appearance against performance, and the entrance is usually the first thing a client sees. Follow the three-zone layout above, then add runners down main corridors and elevator lobbies where traffic funnels.

Start with our entrance mats and runners and Waterhog mats, and consider a logo mat for the interior position where it gets seen.

3.2 Restaurants, Bars & Food Service

Food service needs mats that handle grease, spills, and constant foot traffic while keeping staff comfortable through a long shift. Cook lines, dish rooms, bar wells, and handwashing stations each stay wet in a slightly different way.

Start with kitchen mats for drainage and comfort, and add anti-slip tapes and coatings on ramps, walk-in thresholds, and steps where a mat will not lie flat.

3.3 Warehouses, Manufacturing & Industrial Facilities

Industrial spaces demand durability, traction, and often oil or chemical resistance. Confirm what fluids hit the floor before choosing a compound, because the wrong rubber breaks down fast around solvents and cutting oils.

• Anti-fatigue mats at standing workstations, inspection lines, and packing tables
• Rubber runners along traffic aisles and machine access paths
• Anti-slip tape and coatings on ramps, steps, and elevated platforms

Explore industrial anti-fatigue mats and rubber runners for these applications.

3.4 Schools, Gyms & Athletic Facilities

Schools face the hardest version of the entrance problem. Hundreds of students arrive within a few minutes of each other, often in wet weather, through doors that stay propped open. Length of matting matters more here than anywhere else in the building.

For impact and noise control in athletic settings, see our gym flooring, and pair it with entrance mats at main entries and student access doors.

4. Horse Stall Mats & Equine Flooring

Stall mats sit between a horse and a hard, cold, uneven surface for most of the animal's day. A proper mat cushions hooves and joints, keeps urine out of the subfloor, and turns mucking out from a chore against dirt into a quick pass over a flat surface.

Mats Inc. offers heavy-duty horse stall mats built for barns, stalls, wash racks, grooming areas, and aisle ways. They stand up to hoof traffic, urine, manure, and daily cleaning.

4.1 What Stall Mats Do for the Animal and the Barn

• Comfort for horses: Thick, resilient rubber absorbs impact and reduces strain on joints, ligaments, and hooves during long standing hours.
• Cleaner stalls: A tight-fitting mat stops urine soaking into the subfloor, which is what drives ammonia smell and respiratory irritation.
• Less bedding: A cushioned, level surface lets many barns run shallower bedding and strip stalls less often.
• Footing and drainage: Textured surfaces and tight seams give secure footing and send moisture where you want it.

4.2 Where to Use Stall Mats & Rubber Pavers

Common equine and agricultural applications include:

• Horse stalls and foaling stalls
• Barn aisles and cross-tie areas
• Wash bays and grooming bays
• Tack rooms and feed rooms
• Walkways from barn to paddock

For outdoor paths, barn entries, and surrounding walkways, combine stall mats with rubber pavers to give both horses and handlers secure footing on ground that turns to mud.

4.3 Fitting Matters as Much as the Mat

Gaps at the wall are where stall mats fail. Urine and bedding work into the seam, the edge lifts, and a horse eventually catches a hoof on it. Measure the stall, cut mats to fit wall to wall, and butt the seams tight rather than leaving a working gap.

5. Stair Treads & Slip-Resistant Stair Solutions

Stairs concentrate risk. A slip on a flat floor usually ends in a stumble, while the same slip on a stairwell can end in a fall down a full flight. That is why treads are standard in schools, hospitals, plants, multifamily buildings, and office stair towers.

Mats Inc. carries a broad selection of stair treads, risers, landing tiles, and adhesives in rubber and vinyl, including options with abrasive or ribbed nosings.

5.1 The Nosing Is the Part That Matters

Most stair falls happen on the descent, when the ball of the foot lands on the front edge of the tread. That leading edge, the nosing, takes nearly all the wear and does nearly all the gripping. A worn, rounded, or chipped nosing is the single clearest sign a stairwell needs attention.

A tread with a reinforced or abrasive nosing protects that edge and holds traction where it counts. If you are only replacing part of a stairwell, start with the flights that carry the most traffic.

5.2 Rubber vs. Vinyl Stair Treads

• Rubber stair treads: The choice for heavy-traffic commercial and industrial stairs where slip resistance and durability come first. Rubber handles grit, weather at exterior stairs, and constant use.
• Vinyl stair treads: Suited to light and medium traffic, or where a specific color and finish has to match adjacent flooring.

5.3 Treads, Risers, Landings & Adhesive

A stairwell is a system. Treads cover the step, risers cover the vertical face and keep the assembly looking finished, and landing tiles carry the same surface across the flat sections between flights.

Adhesive is not an accessory here. A tread lifting at the nosing is worse than no tread at all, so match the adhesive to the substrate and let it cure fully before the stairwell reopens.

6. Three Things to Check Before You Buy

6.1 What Is Actually Hitting the Floor

Water, grease, mud, and cutting oil each defeat a different mat. Grease calls for a compound built to resist it, which is what separates a kitchen mat from a general-purpose rubber mat. Standing water calls for drainage, so a wet area mat beats an absorbent one.

Grit and mud are a scraping problem rather than an absorption one, which is where an aggressive exterior surface earns its place. Answer this question first, because it rules out most of the catalog before you look at anything else.

6.2 How the Traffic Arrives

Foot traffic, cart traffic, and pallet jack traffic wear a mat in completely different patterns. Wheels track the same line every trip and cut a groove into a soft surface, so rolling loads need a firmer mat and a beveled edge that will not catch a wheel.

Timing counts too. A building where 400 people arrive in ten minutes needs more matting than one with the same daily count spread across the day, because the mat never gets a chance to recover.

6.3 Who Is Standing Still and for How Long

Anywhere a person holds one position for more than about two hours is an anti-fatigue mat location. Registers, prep tables, inspection benches, and assembly stations all qualify. Walking routes do not, and cushioning in an aisle just gets in the way of carts.

7. Care, Cleaning & Replacement

7.1 Daily & Weekly Cleaning

• Vacuum or sweep loose dirt and debris from carpet and rubber mats before it grinds into the surface.
• Mop rubber and vinyl surfaces with a neutral pH cleaner. Harsh chemicals shorten the life of the backing.
• Lift, hose off, and fully dry wet area and kitchen mats on a set schedule, and clean the floor underneath while they are up.

7.2 When to Replace

• Edges are curled or cracked, which turns the mat itself into a trip hazard.
• The surface is crushed flat or worn smooth and no longer holds dirt or moisture.
• The backing has hardened or broken down and the mat slides underfoot.
• The mat stays damp between uses, which means it is saturated rather than absorbing.

A mat past any of these points is not just doing less work. A curled edge, a slick worn surface, or a mat that creeps across the floor is a hazard in its own right, sitting exactly where your traffic is heaviest.

8. Buying Mats vs. Renting Them

Many national textile and linen services run mat rental programs on a recurring service contract. Mats Inc. supplies matting you own outright, which means you choose the exact construction, size, and color for each position instead of taking what arrives on the truck.

Ownership also means the mat at your front door stays the mat you specified. Rental stock rotates, so the mat you inspected on day one may not be the mat sitting in your lobby six months later. If you are weighing the two models, we can help you work through which fits your facility.

Mats Inc. has supplied commercial and industrial matting since 1964, to buyers in oil and gas, restaurants, hotels, healthcare, grocery, schools, government, manufacturing, and sports and entertainment. That range is why we can size an entrance and a stall floor in the same conversation.

9. Frequently Asked Questions

Written by Dustin Thompson, Owner & CEO, Mats Inc.