Kinda like trying to pin Jell-O to a wall.
That’s exactly how it felt when I tried to use those garden staples last winter. I thought I was being clever, but the ground was either rock solid or a mud pit—no in-between. I ended up with a handful of bent spikes and a mat that looked like it was trying to escape to the neighbor’s yard.
I did mess around with the double-sided tape too, but honestly, it was a total bust. Maybe it works in Arizona, but up here, the first time it rained, the tape just turned into this weird, sticky mess. I had to scrape it off with a putty knife. Not my proudest moment.
The rubber edging thing is interesting, but I’m with you—doesn’t water just sneak under there and freeze? I haven’t tried it, but I keep picturing a little ice rink forming underneath. I guess it’s still better than tripping over cords, but I’m not convinced it’s the magic fix.
I actually tried digging a shallow trench along the edge of the mat, thinking it would help keep it in place. It worked for about a week, until the next thaw, and then the mat just kind of slumped into the trench and froze there. Looked like a sad lasagna noodle. At least it didn’t move, but it wasn’t exactly a professional look.
Has anyone tried those little concrete pavers to weigh down the corners? I thought about it, but then I worried someone would trip over them, or they’d just get buried in snow anyway. There’s gotta be a better way, but I haven’t found it yet. Maybe the real answer is just to embrace the chaos and call it “seasonal walkway art.”
Yeah, I hear you on the garden staples—total waste of time in frozen ground. I tried them one year and just ended up with a bunch of bent metal and a mat that looked like it was waving the white flag. Tape was even worse for me. Once the temps dropped, it basically glued itself to the concrete, but not in a helpful way... more like “now you get to scrape this off for an hour.”
I actually did try using small pavers to hold down the corners last season. It worked okay until we got a big snow dump and then I couldn’t find half of them until spring. Plus, my kid tripped over one, so that was the end of that experiment.
Honestly, I think these mats are just tough to keep in place unless you have a perfectly flat, sheltered walkway. I’ve started just rolling with it—if it shifts a bit, at least it’s still melting ice. Not pretty, but better than nothing.
Tried the mats last winter and honestly, keeping them in place was a pain. Stakes bent, bricks disappeared under the snow, and tape just made a mess. I finally just let the mat shift around a bit. Not ideal, but at least it kept the ice down. For what they cost, I expected less hassle.
That’s pretty consistent with what I’ve seen—keeping those mats stationary is a challenge, especially when the ground’s frozen solid and the snow starts piling up. I’ve noticed that even supposedly “heavy-duty” stakes don’t always hold up if there’s any thaw/freeze cycle. Bricks can help, but like you said, they just get swallowed by the snow after a few storms. The shifting mats aren’t ideal, but at least you didn’t end up with electrical issues from water intrusion, which I’ve heard can happen if the seams get exposed. For the price point, I’d expect a more robust anchoring system. Maybe some sort of integrated edge?
- Had the same issue last winter—those mats slid all over once the ground froze, no matter what I tried.
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Can confirm. Stakes bent or popped out after a couple of freeze-thaw cycles. Didn’t matter if I hammered them in deep or not.“even supposedly ‘heavy-duty’ stakes don’t always hold up if there’s any thaw/freeze cycle.”
- Used paver stones at first, but after two storms they were buried and the mats started curling at the edges. Not great for plowing either—caught one and nearly tore it.
- Never had water intrusion but I did notice some seams starting to gap. Makes me nervous about long-term use, especially with how much these things cost.
- Wouldn’t mind paying more if they actually included a system to lock the edges down—maybe something like a curb or track that sits above the snowline? Seems like an obvious design fix but haven’t seen it yet.
- Honestly, for the hassle, I’m not sure they’re worth it unless you’ve got a perfectly flat drive and mild winters...
