Outside of using a standing desk full time, office chairs are among the most essential office furniture that you could have in your home office. Couple this with the many expensive flooring options available now, and you would rightly be concerned about the impact of your office chair on your floor materials.
In this article, I will address some of those concerns and introduce you to the easiest solution; office chair mats. Their benefits, how to buy them and what they are made for.
The use of office chair mats at a glance
There are three main reasons most people decide to buy an office chair mat for their home office or workspace. These are as follows.
Protects your floor in many ways
The chairs move around the office most of the time and this is something that your home office floor can’t sustain. Irrespective of the material used to build the floor, this movement of chairs is going to deteriorate the floor over time. But office chair mats are something that will make your floor immune to scratches, and other forms of damage.
Even if you have rolling desk chairs, the force required to move them is reduced significantly on office chair mats. The weight of an individual is evenly distributed on the floor which results in less pressure per unit area. Such a condition will simply protect the floor from damage in the long run.
Eases your movement with chairs and promotes stability
Several reports suggest that quite a bit of effort is needed when you try to move a chair while sitting on it. This effort is highly dependent on the condition of the wheels and the quality of the floor. Such efforts cause pain in your lower back due to the extreme force you are applying. A good quality office chair mat will decrease your efforts to move a chair by almost 80%.
Highly smooth and shiny floor surfaces in the office cause chairs to slide even when you don’t want to. That makes it difficult for you to reach something on your desk by stretching a bit. Extreme movements like that might trigger movement and promote instability. The surface of office chair mats will promote stability and prevent unwanted sliding of your home office chairs.
Decreases static electricity
This is something that doesn’t matter for a large number of firms. It might be a bit of an issue based on the type of work you are doing in the office.
In case your office operates highly complicated electronic appliances for precise work, static electricity might cause trouble. Static electricity is the accumulation of charges on the floor due to friction between the chair and the floor. With perfect chair mats, you will reduce friction drastically and keep static electricity under control.
With so many uses, you must have got your answer for what are office chair mats for. And you can easily find the office chair mat that suits your office.
You are here to know about what office chair mats are for. Since we have already talked about their uses, it is time to discuss the impacts of chairs on the floor. Having an idea about the ways chairs might affect the floor will help you understand the role of office chair mats even more precisely.
- Chair on office chair mat
Most office chair mats are be pretty cost effective too. The one above is from Elite Office Furniture, comes in a variety of colours and is only $77.
Will your office chair ruin carpet?
The simplest answer to this question is yes and no. Longer answer; the ability of the office chair to ruin the carpet depends on the quality of the wheels and the carpet. Although heavy-duty carpets are quite resistant to damage from the chair.
But you should know that carpets are designed for multiple purposes not only to sustain the pressure of chairs. Even if you are lightweight, you may put about 100 psi pressure through the chair on the carpet. So, we can conclude that the use of a chair is not good for your carpet in the long run.
Will your office chair scratch a wooden floor?
Talking of the wood floor, they are highly susceptible to scratches, especially from desk legs and moving chairs. The problem is with the pressure that chairs put on the floor and the type of wheel used. The majority of office chairs come with plastic wheels which is not a good thing for wooden floors.
Even if you order special wheels, the long-term impact can hardly be avoided. Another problem you might face is when your office has smooth shiny wood on the floor. In that case, you will find it difficult to keep the chairs stable.
- Scratched wooden floor
Will the office chair damage vinyl flooring?
Vinyl floors are considered durable by a large number of people. But the answer to this question is Yes in a broad sense. The increased traffic and pressure on certain regions of the floor for a long time is something that vinyl floors can’t withstand.
Rolling chairs can damage the vinyl floors either by scuffing, scratching, or denting. Most of the vinyl floors have a protective layer on the top. But this layer is easily eroded if there is heavy traffic and more pressure is applied to the floor (as in the case of using office chairs).
Will an office chair scratch my laminate floor?
A laminate floor is among the best options that people might think of when it comes to durability. Usually, these floors last longer than other types like wood, vinyl, etc.
One thing that you need to remember about laminate floors is that they are scratch-resistant, not scratch-proof. The constant movement of roller chairs can damage these floors by scratching.
Final words
We hope you must have got your answer of what are office chair mats for. Almost every floor type is susceptible to damage. Even the office chair mats don’t last for a lifetime.
But replacing an office chair mat over time is significantly cheaper as compared to replacing or maintaining the entire floor area. These mats act as the best solution and give you enough freedom regarding the type of flooring materials you want in the office.