$40 for an underchair mat for my office

[kally]

that is outrageous. It is a piece of plastic. It is to go on a hardwood floor, so doesn't even have those little nubs. What else can I use instead. This is my challenge.

[danna]

Kally I have seen them for about $25.00 at Costco and Staples (that might be a Canadian Store?)

only thoughts are a piece of linoleum, a piece of carpet or a mat.....

[redfox]

I find them at Goodwill all the time - with a few cracks in them. I'd say a good area kitchen rug with a rubber backing would work. Then it would look decent too.

[Gina]

Just yesterday I made one from a scrap piece of low pile carpet. I had a longish scrap and measured how much I needed to go under the desk, then cut that off with a razor box cutter as cleanly/straight as I could. Then I cut a larger piece on which the chair sits. I pushed them together then well-taped the back with duct tape to keep them together. It's sort of T-shaped. I'll check beneath periodically to make sure the floor isnt being damaged.

I do like how it looks. The color of the carpet piece goes with the floor well enough. The chair wheels do not roll as well, but I will get used to it. It would work better with even shorter pile, but I went with what I had on hand.

[kally]

that is a good idea.
Just yesterday I made one from a scrap piece of low pile carpet. I had a longish scrap and measured how much I needed to go under the desk, then cut that off with a razor box cutter as cleanly/straight as I could. Then I cut a larger piece on which the chair sits. I pushed them together then well-taped the back with duct tape to keep them together. It's sort of T-shaped. I'll check beneath periodically to make sure the floor isnt being damaged.

I do like how it looks. The color of the carpet piece goes with the floor well enough. The chair wheels do not roll as well, but I will get used to it. It would work better with even shorter pile, but I went with what I had on hand.

[Gina]

Thanks, and basically it was free.

If it hadn't been for the other thread about wheels on a wood floor, I never would have thought about it. :)

[Bastelmutti]

Don't do the plastic mats. Even without the nubs, stuff gets trapped underneath & ends up scratching the floor. Mine is already scratched, but I should get a rug anyway to prevent further damage.

[pinkytoe]

We bought a very low pile dense 3 x 5 floor rug at Target for that very purpose and it has held up very well for at least five years now. I think it was around $25 back then.

[Float On]

In my work office I had one of those plastic things that had been here for years - it cracked into pieces in my first 2 years here, then I replaced it with one from Staples and that one lasted about 4 months before it was cracked beyond use. If I was going to buy one for my home office I'd look for a canvas mat - probably hand painted from one of my art friends I meet up with once or twice a year at a show in TN. For my work office I'm considering a piece of vinyl flooring from the extra's bin at Lowe's.

[CathyA]

I'm having a similar problem on my Berber carpet. We've gone through several of those plastic sheets for under the chair, and they don't last long and aren't recyclable. I don't think the chair rollers would do well on another piece of carpet, but maybe a sheet of vinyl flooring. But I wonder if it would break similarly to the plastic chair mat? Wish there was a more environmentally friendly solution.

[Bastelmutti]

Exercise ball chair? :-)