The overwhelmingly most important feature that a thermal mat must have is breathability. We cannot emphasize this enough because the breathability of the thermal mat greatly affects how the surface beneath the mat behaves.
If the mat does not breathe, the material underneath it starts to "stew," and the thermal mat may stick to the balcony floor or terrace decking. A non-breathable mat does not allow moisture to pass through but traps it underneath. When this happens, paint may come off the floor when the mat is removed, for example, for cleaning. In the worst case, moisture can accumulate in the terrace decking, and we all know what that leads to...
When the mat breathes, such problems do not occur. A breathable thermal mat dries on the floor even if it has become soaking wet! The patented Dry Step thermal mat is, as its name suggests, an example of such a mat.
We tested the mat by leaving it on the terrace throughout the winter. Tens of centimeters of snow fell on it, but the mat still functioned exactly the same in the summer as before.
So always ask before choosing a mat for your terrace or balcony whether the mat breathes. It is the most important feature that a thermal mat must have.
