I'd like to know who signed off on using pavers/tile in supermarkets, especially with the huge grout lines.
Don't you think they'd want a flat surface so that customers have a nice relaxing experience and might want to hang out longer?
I can't wait to get out any areas with pavers (typically the produce department and sometimes the bakery) to get away from the clunk clunk clunk of the shopping cart wheels.
If they think that they make people slow down in those departments, it doesn't work for me.
(You did it again, Stormin- the message you were replying to vanished because of your top posting and sig delimeter, and the original never made it to my server. Reply at bottom where it belongs.)
They use clay tile for three main reasons- style, easy upkeep, and reduced slip'n'fall accidents. The 12" commercial vinyl? tile that most stores had for last 40-some years, with normal commercial wax on top, is very slippery when wet. In produce section, a single dropped grape can put a customer on their ass. In wet/winter weather, low person on employee totem pole spends pretty much their entire shift pushing the mop bucket around. The clay tile has a matte surface, and only needs a deep cleaning/sealing every few months. You can wet-mop all day, and it is safe to walk on in seconds.
I finally got around to this project. I thought I'd post the results, in case anyone cares...
I could not find an inner tube with the right diameter. I bought one from a local auto parts store, but it was way too small. I am not strong enough to stretch it over the wheels.
Next, I went to the local hardware store looking for padded tape, weather stripping, rubber strips, etc. I ended up buying a roll of runner garage door sealer and a roll of Gorilla tape. The garage door sealer is what gets nailed to the bottom of garage doors to form a seal.
The Gorilla tape is fairly thick, so I first tried wrapping the wheels with just that. One wrapping cut the noise by 30-40%. Not bad. I put on
2 more wraps (3 total), which reduced the noise by about 50-60%. Not quiet, but much better. And this was with an empty bin. They are much quieter when full. The heavier they are the quieter they roll.
One the second bin, I cut a length of the garage door sealer and taped it to the wheels with the Gorilla tape. This was at least as effective as the Gorilla tape alone. But the rubber strip was too wide (almost
3"), so I took it off, cut it down to about 1.5" and retaped it.
One the last bin, I applied the rubber sealer and an extra wrap or Gorilla tape. This combination cuts the noise by about 60-70%.
After playing with it a bit, I realized that the noise is not just from the wheels bouncing along on the pavers. There is a lot of noise from the axle and bearings. So even if I had low pressure air tires, there would still be some noise.
Anyway, this solution is fairly cheap and reasonably quick and it does a passable job.
Actually I'm surprised to not see this 'helpful' reply from HomeMoanersHub. Those screwballs are notorious for dragging up old, old, old posts and replying to them.
replying to Prof Wonmug, tapbeer wrote: You certainly gave this problem a lot of attention! I like the idea of wrapping it in rubber sealer but concerned that the tape might come loose in a few months especially after several rains. Thanks for sharing your solutions though!
Mine are noisy, too, so I've considered getting a couple of small inner tubes, cutting a slit around the inner circumference, then stretching them over the hard plastic wheels of the bin(s) to create a rubber tire, of sorts. Then again, mine aren't any worse than the neighbors, so I haven't done anything.
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