Case Study: Car Dealership Protects Workshop Floor and Refreshes Showroom with Rubber Matting
The Challenge
Riverside Motor Group's Reading dealership is a mid-sized franchised operation with a twelve-bay workshop and a showroom floor holding approximately twenty vehicles. When operations manager Andrew Barker reviewed maintenance records in early 2023, the workshop floor was identified as a problem that had been growing for several years.
The workshop's concrete floor had been progressively damaged by oil and chemical spills. The original sealed concrete finish had degraded in multiple areas, with oil penetration creating permanent dark staining and surface erosion. Three areas had developed surface cracking where repeated oil soaking and temperature cycling had weakened the surface layer. Two workshop technicians had raised near-miss reports in the previous twelve months.
The showroom problem was different in character but equally visible. The main entrance had a branded entrance mat that was two years old and had compacted to the point where it was no longer catching meaningful quantities of grit and moisture. Customer comments on Google Reviews had noted dirty floors in the showroom — not an impression a car dealership wants to create.
Why Rubber Matting Direct
The challenge in the workshop was finding a matting solution that would tolerate the full range of automotive chemicals — motor oils, brake fluid, transmission fluid, hydraulic fluid, and various solvent-based cleaning products — without itself degrading. Barker's previous experience with standard rubber matting in a workshop environment had not been good: a previous set of mats had swelled and delaminated within eighteen months of installation under oil contact.
Rubber Matting Direct's nitrile rubber matting matched the specification. Nitrile rubber compound resists degradation from the oils and fuels common to automotive workshop environments — unlike standard SBR rubber used in general-purpose matting. A sample was tested in the busiest service bay before committing to the full order. For the showroom, the anthracite colourway of the RMD commercial entrance matting suited the dealership's colour scheme without needing a custom colour specification.
The Solution
The workshop installation was phased over two weeks to avoid disrupting the service schedule. Six bays were taken offline at a time, with matting laid and bays returned to service before the next six were addressed. The nitrile rubber matting was cut to fit the bay footprints, with custom-cut pieces around lift columns and fixed workbench legs. The matting was laid loose in bay areas but adhesive-fixed in technicians' tool and parts areas.
In the showroom, entrance matting was fitted to the existing recessed mat well at the main entrance — a standard 1.8m x 0.9m well that the new matting dropped into without modification. A second mat was cut for the secondary entrance from the customer waiting area, which had not previously had any matting and had been the source of most customer traffic dirt complaints.
The total cost of the workshop and showroom installation was £4,800 including materials. This compared with a quote for concrete sealing and resurfacing of the affected workshop areas alone that had come in at £11,200 — which would have addressed the surface damage but not provided the ongoing chemical protection that the rubber matting delivers.
The Results
At the twelve-month review, the nitrile workshop matting showed no signs of the degradation that had characterised the previous matting. Oil spills from service work were contained on the mat surface rather than penetrating the concrete. The workshop cleaning team reported that end-of-day floor cleaning was both quicker and more effective — oil wiped from the rubber surface rather than requiring the scrubbing that the exposed concrete had needed.
The two near-miss reports that had preceded the installation were not repeated in the subsequent twelve months. In the showroom, customer review sentiment about floor cleanliness improved noticeably — of eleven Google Reviews mentioning showroom presentation in the following twelve months, none mentioned dirty floors, contrasting with four reviews containing this observation the previous year.
"The workshop floor was costing us money every time someone spilled oil and we couldn't clean it out of the concrete. The mats have stopped that. The showroom entrance is doing what it's supposed to do — you can't see mud being tracked in the way you could before. Both jobs needed doing and they've both worked."— Andrew Barker, Operations Manager, Riverside Motor Group
Product Details
| Location | Product | Area |
|---|---|---|
| Workshop | Nitrile Oil-Resistant Rubber Matting Roll (9mm) | 220m² |
| Showroom Entrance | Heavy Duty Commercial Barrier Entrance Matting (12mm) | 65m² |
Could This Work for Your Dealership?
Nitrile oil-resistant rubber matting and commercial entrance matting are both available from stock for automotive retail applications. The workshop matting is available in roll format cut to your bay dimensions, in a range of thicknesses from 6mm to 12mm depending on your chemical exposure levels and traffic type.
Rubber Matting Direct can advise on the appropriate specification for workshop environments. Samples of both products available on request. Trade accounts available for motor group operators and automotive fit-out contractors.
Frequently Asked Questions
What type of rubber matting is oil-resistant for automotive workshops?
Nitrile rubber (NBR) is the standard oil-resistant compound for automotive workshop use. Nitrile resists degradation from petrol, diesel, hydraulic fluid, brake fluid, and motor oils. Standard SBR rubber will swell and break down under sustained oil contact.
Is rubber matting suitable for car showroom floors?
Yes. Heavy duty commercial entrance matting prevents customer footwear from tracking moisture, grit, and road salt onto polished showroom floors. Rubber-backed entrance matting is suitable for polished concrete, epoxy, and tile showroom floors.
How do you clean oil from rubber workshop matting?
Use a degreaser diluted according to manufacturer instructions. Allow to dwell briefly, agitate with a stiff brush, then rinse or pressure-wash. Regular cleaning extends mat life significantly.
Can rubber matting be used in car lift areas?
Yes, provided the matting is cut to fit around the lift columns and is not positioned directly under the lift pad positions. Matting is typically installed in the working areas around lifts.
How thick should rubber matting be for a commercial automotive workshop?
For typical commercial automotive workshop use, 6-9mm nitrile rubber matting is standard. For areas with heavy trolley traffic, solid rubber tiles (12mm+) may be more appropriate.