When I've pushed my computer chair back a bit (on shallow carpet), then try to roll it forwards, the wheels have a problem rotating (not the wheels themselves, but the mechanism by which they turn to go in a different direction).
I used to have the standard ones on it, like these:
I use a carpet chair mat.
What an ugly workaround.
No, it is transparent. Saves wear to the carpet. Look them up.
I used to use the chair mat as well. They usually last 12 to 18 months before they develop cracks and fail. I built a replacement using a box of laminated T&G flooring from costco which has lasted much longer.
I get a few years out of mine. They may crack a bit but still be usable. I see some sold with lifetime guarantee but they are very pricey.
Unfortunately I cannot see your pictures, but the best results will be big wheels or at the very least a castor that has two wheels so the weight does not make them sink to far into the carpet, but of course there is carpet as often found in offices, which are hard and with small pile, and there are the thicker ones with underlay as found in homes, and the latter can pose big issues. If its a metal chair you really do need to look at the way the legs attach to the centre, and make sure there are five. The forces can easily be enough on some chairs to break a weld. Brian
Must have been a cheap one. The one at work has lasted for years.
I suspect that both the amount of carpet wear or chair mat life also depends upon the weight of the chair's occupant and the number and width of wheels. Some adults are barely more than 100 lbs. Some are >250 lbs. In my case, (125 lbs) using a cheap Office Depot chair with 5 legs and 1 1/2" wide wheels, there's no detectable wear at all on a cheap, machine woven synthetic fabric area rug resting on a low priced rug pad after more than 5 years of use for probably 6 hrs/day. No need for me to bother with a chair mat.
Ditto to hardboard, also look for offset dual wheels.
Probably the underlay causing the problem.
I think I've found the reason it's doing it and didn't used to. There's something up with the (recently replaced) piston for adjusting the height, it tends to creep up when not in use. So I end up sitting on it too high, and levering the whole thing forwards and digging the front wheels into the carpet, instead of rolling it forwards.
And now I can't find my bloody mole grips to take it apart. Oh well, time to buy a 5th pair.
I did, and transparent is not equal to invisible. Might be ok in an office, but not my living room.
At no place of work I've been in have they had those, just chairs on carpet. They don't wear the carpet any faster than foot traffic.
Do you remember the old 4 wheel chairs? Very unstable.
Mind you, I once knocked over my office chair, causing the other three people in the room to think I'd lost my temper. The back of my shoe had got under one of the legs, so when I stood up and walked off, it lifted the chair up and sent it flying.
Anyone ever tried to sit in this instrument of torture? What on earth were they thinking designing this s*it? No cushion or anything! Mind you, they force kids to sit on these plastic crap al day in lessons. No wonder people develop bad backs: "provides passive ergonomic support" - yeah right!
Don't you trip over it? Don't you ever roll off the end?
Computer is in my den
I tried a mat and found that it tended to slip over the carpet so I usually ended up with at least one wheel not on the mat.
The usual problem that I find with chair wheels on a carpet is that the carpet and/or the underlay below it very quickly rumples up and stretches, so you get baggy patches where the chair "lives".
In our present house, my study has a hard surface (imitation woodgrain to look like a hardwood floor) and after a couple of years' use of my chair with wheels, the slight sheen has worn off in a dull ring where the wheels are.
Thinking of transparent chair mats, does anyone remember those long strips of textured clear plastic sheeting, with sharp plastic spikes on the underside which stuck into the pile of a carpet. My grandparents had them on the hall, landing, staircase and the main walkway through the living room, to protect the carpets from wear and tear. They looked
*very* naff. :-(
Why move the chair? Think dentist chair. Everything moves to the patient.
Indeed, most workplace office carpets have short, stiff weaves, while home carpeting has longer more flexible weaves. That makes a huge difference in the life of the plastic chair mats.
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required