I have just had new beige carpet installed in my home office. The pile is
much deeper than the carpet that was replaced, so much so that my chair
does not roll on it.

I know I can buy a plastic chair mat but I think they look tacky. So I now
have a sheet of 9mm MDF on the floor. Now the chair rolls perhaps a little
too easily, but hey the color is just about the same as the carpet.

Since the MDF is just about as tacky as the plastic would be, I got to
thinking that perhaps there is a good wood solution to this problem.

Has anyone built such a chair mat? Do you have any suggestions for something
that looks good, is durable and has rolling resistance a bit greater than
the MDF surface?

Cheers,

Larry

Larry,
Just use the MDF for a while. The surface will abraid and will get
that "Fuzzy" look. Then it will not be as easy to roll on it.
Good Luck

Paul

"Larry Spitz" wrote in message
...
I have just had new beige carpet installed in my home office. The pile is
much deeper than the carpet that was replaced, so much so that my chair
does not roll on it.

I know I can buy a plastic chair mat but I think they look tacky. So I now
have a sheet of 9mm MDF on the floor. Now the chair rolls perhaps a little
too easily, but hey the color is just about the same as the carpet.

Since the MDF is just about as tacky as the plastic would be, I got to
thinking that perhaps there is a good wood solution to this problem.

Has anyone built such a chair mat? Do you have any suggestions for
something
that looks good, is durable and has rolling resistance a bit greater than
the MDF surface?

Cheers,

Larry

Easiest way would be to glue a plastic mat to the MDF :-)

A more serious idea - very labor intensive, but this is rec.woodworking
- is to get a decent piece of wood and use a router to make a coin
pattern. Nothing excessive, no more than 1/16" of an inch height difference.
Something that would look like this -
http://www.hotgarageflooring.com/ima...r_high_res.jpg

A chessboard pattern might be a little less work.

A different idea is to address the wheels. If you can find wooden
casters, you'd have a lot more friction. Or wrap some sort of rubber
around the wheels (provided the design allows for this)


Larry Spitz wrote:
I have just had new beige carpet installed in my home office. The pile is
much deeper than the carpet that was replaced, so much so that my chair
does not roll on it.

I know I can buy a plastic chair mat but I think they look tacky. So I now
have a sheet of 9mm MDF on the floor. Now the chair rolls perhaps a little
too easily, but hey the color is just about the same as the carpet.

Since the MDF is just about as tacky as the plastic would be, I got to
thinking that perhaps there is a good wood solution to this problem.

Has anyone built such a chair mat? Do you have any suggestions for something
that looks good, is durable and has rolling resistance a bit greater than
the MDF surface?

Cheers,

Larry

A more serious idea - very labor intensive, but this is rec.woodworking

.... so I googled chair mat, and found a couple wood offerings on the
first half of the first results page. Brookstone has bamboo ones, and
there are others he
http://www.bestpriceseating.com/bewochmaintw.html
Or just get a 4x8 sheet of nice oak-veneer ply, and finish it like you
would a wood floor.
I'm not sure how to increase rolling resistance, other than possibly a
clear rubber or soft plastic mat on top of the wood one, which should
slow things down a little.
If it were me, I'd probably suck it up and get a tacky plastic one -
there are so many available (google) that there should be some that
might be less tacky?
Andy

On Fri, 18 May 2007 10:39:58 +1200, Larry Spitz
wrote:

I have just had new beige carpet installed in my home office. The pile is
much deeper than the carpet that was replaced, so much so that my chair
does not roll on it.

I know I can buy a plastic chair mat but I think they look tacky. So I now
have a sheet of 9mm MDF on the floor. Now the chair rolls perhaps a little
too easily, but hey the color is just about the same as the carpet.

Since the MDF is just about as tacky as the plastic would be, I got to
thinking that perhaps there is a good wood solution to this problem.

Has anyone built such a chair mat? Do you have any suggestions for something
that looks good, is durable and has rolling resistance a bit greater than
the MDF surface?

Built a floor mat, 4' x 8' 1/4" Oak plywood with some trim and bracing
under. If I were to do it again 1/2" plywood.

Mark

Fri, May 18, 2007, 10:39am (EDT+16) (Larry*Spitz)
doth wonder:
I have just had new beige carpet installed in my home office. The pile
is much deeper than the carpet that was replaced, so much so that my
chair does not roll on it. snip

Shoulda got a wood floor put in. Get bigger rollers fo your chair.
Get a diferent chair. Just put down a chunk of decent plywood - if that
bothers you, don't look down.



JOAT
What is life without challenge and a constant stream of new
humiliations?
- Peter Egan

Larry Spitz wrote:

Has anyone built such a chair mat? Do you have any suggestions for
something that looks good, is durable and has rolling resistance a bit
greater than the MDF surface?

I've never built anything like this, but an idea struck me. Maybe
a good way to get a durable surface is to use some of type of
laminate or engineered flooring material secured to the top of the
MDF. As for figuring out what provides the rolling resistance
you're looking for, take off one of the casters from the chair or
buy a spare one from a hardware store, then take that with you to
a place that has flooring and try rolling the caster on the flooring
samples.

I seem to recall both Sams Club and Costco carry a limited selection
of laminate flooring. I mention this because a single box of flooring
from one of those stores is likely to be fairly inexpensive. You
might also try asking a flooring store if they have any scraps they
want to get rid of or sell for cheap.

--

If you want to reply via email, change the obvious words to numbers and
remove ".invalid".

Larry Spitz wrote in
:

I have just had new beige carpet installed in my home office. The pile
is much deeper than the carpet that was replaced, so much so that my
chair does not roll on it.

I know I can buy a plastic chair mat but I think they look tacky. So I
now have a sheet of 9mm MDF on the floor. Now the chair rolls perhaps
a little too easily, but hey the color is just about the same as the
carpet.

Since the MDF is just about as tacky as the plastic would be, I got to
thinking that perhaps there is a good wood solution to this problem.

Has anyone built such a chair mat? Do you have any suggestions for
something that looks good, is durable and has rolling resistance a bit
greater than the MDF surface?

Cheers,

Larry


I did two for my dad in Baltic Birch. Stained them with a dark stain, to
sort of go with his old desk, then three or four coats of oil poly.

Still looked pretty sad. He's happy with it, though.

Were I to do it again, I'd get some engineered or prefinished flooring, and
lay it on the 1/2 ply, and trim it out right. But it would still be too
thick, most likely.

Patriarch

Andy wrote in news:1179466971.227474.119670
@l77g2000hsb.googlegroups.com:

A more serious idea - very labor intensive, but this is rec.woodworking

... so I googled chair mat, and found a couple wood offerings on the
first half of the first results page. Brookstone has bamboo ones, and
there are others he
http://www.bestpriceseating.com/bewochmaintw.html
Or just get a 4x8 sheet of nice oak-veneer ply, and finish it like you
would a wood floor.

I'd pass on veneered oak. Veneer is maybe 1/64" at most...

Patriarch

Larry Spitz wrote:

Do you have any suggestions for
something that looks good, is durable and has rolling resistance a bit
greater than the MDF surface?

Thanks for all of the suggestions. My chair already has casters that are the
best I can find for deep pile carpeting, so there is no point in changing
casters or chairs.

I think I am going to try out the suggestion of laminate flooring. Neither
Sam's Club nor Costco have stores in New Zealand, but it's not hard to
find. (Unfortunately Baltic Birch is impossible to find in NZ.)

Cheers,

Larry

Larry Spitz wrote:

Larry Spitz wrote:

Do you have any suggestions for
something that looks good, is durable and has rolling resistance a bit
greater than the MDF surface?

Thanks for all of the suggestions. My chair already has casters that are the
best I can find for deep pile carpeting, so there is no point in changing
casters or chairs.

I think I am going to try out the suggestion of laminate flooring. Neither
Sam's Club nor Costco have stores in New Zealand, but it's not hard to
find. (Unfortunately Baltic Birch is impossible to find in NZ.)

Take your mdf, spread some good glue that sets clear on it, sprinkle
liberally with sand, beach sand will do. Seal with poly. Et voila,
matching beige resistant finish. Easy to patch if it wears too.

Peter
Kiwi in exile in Dundee, Scotland
--
Add my middle initial to email me. It has become attached to a country
www.the-brights.net