Hi - I’m wondering if anyone has tried using a coating on the puzzle-type stall mats to keep urine from seeping through the seams. I retrofitted an existing building into a stall barn and wasn’t able to put in drains for all the stalls. It just seems like a rubberized coating - like the roll-on bedliner might actually work. Has anybody tried doing something like this? Share your experience! Thanks.
Have you had a problem? I installed mats over concrete in a retrofit barn several years ago (just well fitted 4’x6’ mats, not puzzle mats). Bedded on shavings and later pellets and never felt like I needed drains or to seal. No odor. And the mats didn’t shift.
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Have had them for about 20 years and never a problem. The seams are very snug (rubber mallet to install) and if you have absorbent bedding (thus no puddles), it’s simply not a problem. Also, a tiny bit of the bedding will eventually settle in the seams.
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We installed rubber mats and used gorilla glue to seal the seams. It works great.
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We used the Flexi Seal spray stuff, though the tape might work better. Honestly we never checked to see if it was really working.
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makes no difference in the size of the mats, we have the 4ft by 6ft mats that weigh over one hundred pounds each… no matter how they are arranged the horse who occupies the stall will pee at the junction of the greatest number of mats
With that we have experienced little to no seepage under the mats when bedded properly
Half of our stalls have drains in the center with the thought that we would pull the mats from the stall every now and then to hose/disinfect the stall… has not happened in thirty years
Every now and then I will adjust a mat to reduce a gap that has come about and all is dry under the matting
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Just came here to say that I had to read this three times before realizing it says “seal”, not “steal”. Hey, stall mats are expensive so you gotta do what you gotta do, right?
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We used black Vettec Adhere on the seams in some stalls and a rubber or silicone caulk from Lowes, not sure which, on in as an experiment. Has been 8 years and the seams are still sealed in all the stalls. No sure how that would hold up without bedding over it, but may be worth a shot.
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We used some sort of roofing black tape of some sort and it held up very well.
I bet you that black gorilla tape would work well. That stuff is crazy strong.
The stalls at our barn went in almost 20 years ago with regular 4x6 mats. The base is bank run gravel packed down with a compactor. We’ve never had much of a problem with seepage. BO has been using sawdust from a local sawmill for years. Cheaper and easier than shavings. The odor of ammonia usually is because the pee spot hasn’t been cleaned up - stalls are often picked by “amateurs” who volunteer to help with chores. (There is a large therapeutic lesson program.)
The problem with not bedding the holding stalls is that someone is going to pee and/or poop while they are standing there. There is always at least one who stands in the aisleway or walks into a stall and pees. You have to put something on the pee to absorb it before you clean it up. The poop isn’t as big an issue as long as you have nice well-formed balls. You will probably have to invest some effort to keep the mats clean if you aren’t going to bed them.
The other thing to consider is what, if anything, you use to coat the mats or tape them. One is whether it will hold up to wear and tear by hooves, many of which will be shod. The other is toxicity or allergic-type reactions.
My horse lives outside (since 2001) and the only time he is in a stall is for his grain after I ride. That he will tolerate. The BO brought him in overnight a few months ago to get a cut on his pastern out of the mud. He went nuts. Screaming, pounding on the door, circling, pawing, mixing hay in with bedding. He was out of his mind when we let him loose in the indoor. No feet on the ground for several minutes. The cut was healing well with careful treatment so we put him back out.
What are the tradeoffs? It will work if you don’t have a nutcase who hates to be stalled, or who isn’t comfortable in a strange place, or poops in water buckets, or poops or pees when he comes in. Do you leave the mats bare and clean them after each horse? Or do you bed and strip them after each occupant?
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