Personal recommendations on what to put under a computer chair?

TUVOK

I have converted my small bedroom to an office.
I am about to decide on what floor covering to have, re-carpet, laminate etc? but need info on what members have found good when using a computer chair on what ever floor covering they have.
Thanks for any/all replies.

T

theonlywayisup

Assuming it is one with wheels - you will need a surface that it can move freely on to get best use.  That doesn't mean you have to remove a covering already there.  You can buy office chair 'mats' which sit on top of whatever you have now and allow ease of movement for the chair.   

Something like this https://www.viking-direct.co.uk/en/office-furniture-seating-c-104/office-accessories-c-10401/chair-mats-c-10401014

FreeBear

Carpet can make it difficult to move a chair around. If it is a deep pile, dropping stuff can be fun - Small items get lost in the pile...

Laminate & vinyl - Easy to clean, not so easy to loose small "stuff" when dropped, but can be cold under foot. Noise is also transmitted through floors more noticeably with laminates. A decent underlay can help on that score though.

My preference would be laminate - Doesn't have to be expensive. Take the skirting boards off, lay the laminate, then reattach the skirting boards. That avoids having to use scotia (a.k.a. beading) around the edge of the room.

neilmcl

I wouldn't go for carpet, unless you're also going to get a mat of some sort for the chair. You'll soon wear a big circle on the carpet where your chair moves about as well as flatten the underlay below it. You could put some carpet tiles on top to protect the carpet but it kind of defeats the point getting carpet in the first place. I'd go for a hard wearing laminate.

Ajmason42

When we pulled the carpet up in our office the backing and underlay was just dust so we went for engineered wood and belt and braces a chair mat from amazon have to say it's the best thing we've done  

DD265

We've got carpet, and use mats from IKEA under the chair wheels, I think they're about £20 a pop so similar to what TheOnlyWayIsUp posted, but less choice.

TUVOK

It would seem to be laminate is the best for flooring, with a chair mat to protect on top.

Carrot007

I would always go for carpet. But not deep pile. However the runners on the chair need to be the correct type (yes there are different types for different surfaces).

twopenny

I've got carpet and did in my last office. Both with good underlay.

As Carrot says it's the wheels that make the difference. Perhaps you could try it in other rooms to see how it goes before making an expensive decision.

Another thing to consider is if you are in a flat and have laminate/wood those wheels roaming about will be very annoying to the person beneath and to some extent possibily the person above.

knightstyle

Laminate is first choice but if you must have carpet look at something like Flotex which I have used in heavily used offices and hallways.

Apintplease

Even with laminate, Id get a chair carpet

When I moved from my last house, once the room was completely empty, there was a very noticeable area where my chair had been, and that laminate wasn't cheap