I just found what I feel is the perfect product for flooring my Ice Runner Expedition, or any flip over or hub house for that matter.
Cheer Mats!! Yes, Cheer Leader Practice Mats.
They are closed-cell foam with extremely durable carpet laminated to the foam. The carpet is made of recycled bottles and does not absorb water, Water just brushes right off. The mats come in thickness of 1 3/8 inch to 2 inches. They lift you off the ice and insulate your shelter. They are thick enough that melting surface ice from your heater never reaches your dry fishing area.
I covered the entire area of open ice in my shelter with one piece (5ft x 7Ft area). These mats roll up for transport. The plus side is they are pretty lightweight. My 5x7 matt is under 20 pounds. The downside is they are a bit bulky when rolled up but fit perfectly in my sled
I then Cut 12 inch holes in the matt where I wanted my 10 inch ice holes to be. When I get to my fishing spot I unroll the matt, start drilling my holes through the opening cut in the matt (But only about an Inch Deep), pull the matt aside and shake off the ice shavings, then finish drilling my holes with the matt removed. I then put the mat back over the holes and flip my house onto it. I now have a perfectly insulated and dry floor that covers all the exposed ice inside my shelter.
On the first trip out I found that on clear ice the floor wanted to slide around a little. I fixed this problem on the next strip. At home, I drilled a 1/2 inch hole in each corner of the mat, about 2 inches in from the sides of the mat. Then I just used 4 T-handle ice shelter anchors in those holes and screwed the matt to the ice. It worked perfectly. Now my floor is SOLID, insulated, and dry.
I bought the Katz Koverzs clear lexon hole covers to place over the holes in the foam when I'm fishing. These covers have little tabs on their undersides. When placed over the holes cut in the mats these tabs keep the covers from getting dislodged or kicked around in the shelter.
The mats come in a variety of colors. Some manufactures have what they call "Short Rolls" which are basically remnants from the manufacturing process of bigger mats. These end pieces can be purchased at discounted prices. I paid $160 for a 6 ft x 10Ft piece. It was enough to cover my floor and line the bottom of my sled. For me, it was cheaper, lighter, easier to load, and faster to deploy than any of the other ideas I have seen out there.
On a side note, the carpet has no "pile" to it and my lures and jigs don't get stuck in it hardly ever, and when they do, they just pop right out
I will post pictures of my completed floor when I have them.
