Family Tent Help

[KittySlayer]

Smaller. If it is larger and sticks out beyond the edges of the tent it collects the water that runs down the walls of your tent and funnels it underneath the tent.

A bit smaller...if you buy a Eureka tent, Eureka makes a ground cover called a foot print...it's just a shade smaller than the bottom of the tent. If you buy a Coleman with a bathtub bottom in it, you usually don't need a ground cloth as the bathtub floors are allegedly waterproof. Having a ground cover makes the tent last longer and you can make your own out of thick clear roll plastic for a couple bucks.

Excellent explanation. This is what I have been doing for years.

Another hint for prolonging the life of your tent floor is a small mat at the entrance. This helps keep dirt, mud and grass out. It also gives you a dry place to put on/take off your shoes when getting in and out of the tent. The rule is NO shoes inside the tent but that is unrealistic when you have kids. A small piece of carpet, a mat (cut piece of yoga mat), piece of thick plastic from the same roll as the tarp...

 

[Bonkers4Bacon]

Another hint for prolonging the life of your tent floor is a small mat at the entrance. This helps keep dirt, mud and grass out. It also gives you a dry place to put on/take off your shoes when getting in and out of the tent. The rule is NO shoes inside the tent but that is unrealistic when you have kids. A small piece of carpet, a mat (cut piece of yoga mat), piece of thick plastic from the same roll as the tarp...

^ this. And a lot of tents now have vestibules or some sort of overhang over the door, which you will probably want. Allows you to keep anything wet or dirty out.