Some standards recommend that entrance matting be a minimum of 2.1 metres in the traffic direction, to remove as much dirt and moisture from foot and wheeled traffic as possible. Whilst industry experts suggest that 6 metres (or 8 to 10 foot falls) is optimal. Either way, it isn’t always possible to achieve this inside every building with restrictions on space, which is why it is a good idea to combine indoor and outdoor entrance matting.
Starting your entrance mat outside the building allows you to achieve your optimal entrance matting length with minimal interference or space required inside. We call this a zonal approach to entrance matting.
Our zonal approach divides a building’s entrance into 3 zones:
- Zone 1 – Exterior Entrance immediately outside the building
- Zone 2 – Primary Entrance Immediately inside the building
- Zone 3 – Clean-Off Zone – Reception and circulation areas
Breaking an entrance up into zones is a much more cost effective and efficient solution to entrance matting as each zone requires the entrance mat to do a slightly different job. You don’t always need the full length of your mat to be highly abrasive, only a section needs to be. Here’s a breakdown of each zone’s function:
- Zone 1 is all about scraping and removing the initial “surface” dirt, mud and moisture, and therefore requires a slightly tougher bristle than an in internal carpet insert.
- Zone 2 requires a slightly softer bristle, removing any left-over dirt and moisture, collecting it at the entrance for cleaning later.
- Zone 3 cleans and dries the soles of shoes or wheels before they finally reach the internal floor coverings.
The complete system (Zones 1-3) is guaranteed to remove dirt and moisture efficiently and effectively helping you to keep your cleaning and maintenance costs to a minimum and ultimately protect your internal floor coverings.
The CS range of Pedisystems Entrance matting systems incorporates internal and external entrance matting solutions. All our aluminium rail systems are suitable for use inside or outside a building with various carpet and tread inserts to suit each applications.
Roadchef Stafford Services have recently taken advantage of our Zonal approach to entrance matting. Starting with an 11mm deep Pedimat Ultra in Zone 2 (which incorporates deep channels to provide high dirt containment) they then installed CS’ Zone 3 Clean-Off Carpet tiles, Tetras™, to create a total entrance matting system of 6.2 metres long.
The combination of the deep Pedimat Ultra and the 100% absorption area of the Tetras carpet tiles, provide Roadchef Stafford Services with a complete solution that will eliminate hazards to visitors by trapping water, dirt and debris at the entrance.
To find out more about the Zonal approach and how our products can help you please get in touch.
