Tips on Buying a Chair Mat to Protect Office Rug Floor

A chairmat is very important as the caster wheels on bottom of your office chair can wear out and damage the carpet. Eventually the carpeting will get holes and expose the floor below. you want to keep a chair from damaging the carpet. Carpet damage only leads to the expense of buying a new carpet. Chair mats (aka chairmat) / floor mats will keep those casters from hurting the rug.

A typical chair mat is made of a vinyl / plastic material but there are laminate and wood chair mats available as well. There are tons of web sites out there that can show you the correct measurement and shape chair mat you'll need for your office or work stations configuration. I won't get into every single shape and size for each configuration, I will however give you some tips that should get you on your way to purchasing a new chair mat. Some of these tips you might not have thought of.

OK, there are tons of sites out there that can better demonstrate how to choose size and shape. I'd link you to these sites, but the sites are commercial websites and I don't want to get dinged by Squidoo for spam. Do internet search on sizing floor chair mats and you'll see what I mean.

A real easy way, but not always 100% reliable to get the right style mat is to simply look at the area where you chair is when work. What does the area look like? When you sit in your chair and roll around, where is the farthest spot you might logically roll your chair around to? The measure the size of the area and think about what kind of shape this area makes. That should give you an idea on the size and shape. Sort of overly simple advise so check out the net, better info is out there.

A square chair mat will typically have two measurements - say 44 x 60". Typically the 44 would be the width and the 60 would be length. If there are additional measurements like 44 x 60, 10" , that means there is a 10" square extension or lip that will run under your desk. If measurement as additional number in it like 44 x 60, 10 x 12" it means that the 'lip' measures 10 x 12"

For simplicity, we'll only look at clear vinyl. There are different levels of 'clear' Some floor mats are more clear, some are more or less translucent. The clear ones will show off your rug or hard floor more. If you have a nice rug or floor, get clear to show it off. If not, get something less clear. Mats with less transparency hide scratches and dirt better.

Plenty of chair mats to choose from on Amazon. If you want to see some different colors and styles, click any product below and you'll see tons of different mats to protect the floor in your office.

Bevel means that there is basically a little ramp or hill or chamfer, etc all the way the edge of the mat that allows the wheels to roll on and off the chair mat easy. I like the bevel because it makes for a less bumpy ride if I need to roll onto the carpet. The straight edge has no bevel.

Studded Mats are essential for carpeted floors. It keeps the mat from sliding on the rug. The higher the pile of your rug, the bigger the studs you'll need. High pile carpet needs longer studs, low pile needs lower studs. Getting too long of studs for too low a pile could cause marks in your carpet.

Non-studed is for hardwood, tile, non-carpeted floor.

That's about all the tips I have. Hope that helps!

If you haven't had enough or feel like you need more photos or explanations, check out the Amazon links below for more information. These links take you to Amazon's trusted site where you'll see some images of floor mats and possibly even some reviews if we're lucky.

Check it out below.

Do you want to instantly improve the look of your cubical? Your workspace says a lot about you. Neat and clean makes you look efficient and will help you to remain organized.

Once you have that brand new chairmat in your work space, consider get those jackets up off the floor and hung up neat. This post will talk about some really inexpensive and easy to use hangers that are specifically designed for a cubicle. Check out the post I linked below to learn a little bit more. You'll believe how good and simple they are when you see it.

Your rug is protected and your office area is in good condition, how about your address book? How about your email address? What kind of shape are these things in? Don't just rely on paper notes to keep your addresses organized. If you are using Lotus Notes mail, roll that chair on over to your computer and start adding addresses to your Lotus contact book.

So roll across the floor (as often as you like now that the rug is safe), grab that rolodex, then roll back over to your computer and start plugging in those addresses and phone numbers.