Thanks for pointing out the idea! I never thought to use a laminate. You can get super-cheap laminate (wood grain or tile) at the local Habitat for Humanity (Restore) outlet if you're not picky and many have self-gluing peel-away strips with tongue and groove ends. My challenge is making them super-low-profile to keep from stubbing or breaking my toes. A weak foundation does tend to force the edges up thought if I'm seated in the middle of the laminate mat. They actually bow up. I might experiment with a 1/4 inch thick plywood if the price is right and arrange them crossways to improve stability. Edges for these laminate styles are available at the local home improvement that might even be safer for toes. I need a very long run (like 10 feet) because I need two desks to share the computers and big monitors I need for school, personal and work as they need to remain separate.
Sir, you definitely have a gift for teaching others how to complete a simple project in the DIY genre. You seem to say only what needs to be said, and, do it in a manner that is easy to understand and to reproduce at home. You've turned DIY into an art form as far as I am concerned. Thanks for the video and the excellent idea for a solid carpet protector that should last many years. Two thumbs up!
I wanted to thank you for this. I made my own version of this using peel-and-stick floor tiles and a 5/8" plywood sheet - it's the absolute perfect solution! It also solves the fact that my chair was a bit too low at the desk while on the old standard thin plastic pad (this caused significant nerve pinching sensations in my arm and wrist for years). I really wish I'd seen your video 13 years ago!
Just moved and installed new carpet. Needless to say I wanted a solution to avoid issues. This is the first video I watched and I’m sold. Going to build 2 of these, thanks so much 🙏
Awesome, V! The 2 that I built for this video have held up really well. I'm sitting in my office on a chair sitting on one right as I type this. I've been really happy with them. Thanks for watching!
I made a mat based on this video. Thanks for the inspiration. Here's how it went: my flooring was left over from another project and was 3/4" hickory. I used a 1/4" OSB board for the base. The final mat was 1" tall plus the molding. I made the molding as described on the video. I used a clean stud grade 2x4 and leftover stain. It looks great and I'm happy with how it turned out. Here are a couple of comments. At 1" the mat is really tall and took a bit to get used to. Additionally my molding extends above the flooring and that's is fine but it's square so it hurts if I inadvertently step on it. I might take the time to round the top of the molding and try to make it as low as possible if I did the project again. I tried using finishing nails and couldn't get them to hold given the thin piece of 2x4. I used small deck screws and stained over the top of them. They blend in perfectly and the molding is rock solid. I had most of the stuff I needed in the shed so total cost was only about $20 and it will last a very long time. I should add mine is larger than the one AmplifyDIY made and it's heavy. Surprisingly heavy.
Dude. Wow. This is it. Really good solution to those terrible vinyl mats. So much better looking if you truly care about the space you work in every day. I'm doing this for sure.
Good idea... I was thinking it would be nice to have a an option for a thinner base to avoid changing the ergonomics of my current setup, but it would probably be better to raise my whole desk to match. Might just make the platform big enough to put it on too....
I tried using press board on high pile carpet. I have rollerblade wheels but quickly learned that it was not thick enough. So I doubled the sheet up to twice the thickness. It was still not enough. It has lasted about a year, but it is disintegrating into flakes. Wish I would have seen this video before. Thank you for the inspiration!
Awesome video and work. I did the same thing but didn’t get the results I hoped for. My mat lasted a couple years, but eventually the casters wore down the joined edges and began to eat into the pieces. One reason might have been I used a ¼” plywood base that was probably too flexible. But I didn’t want to use ½” plywood that would make the mat taller than I wanted. For sure it’s best to stick with ½” plywood. I also used the cheapest laminate, and that might have been part of the problem. The edges might not have snapped in quite so tightly. But another and real problem with using any type of laminate flooring is that, although it looks marvelous and is easy to slide across to reach drawers, printer, etc., the hard surface is dangerous. It's easy for the chair to slip out from under you as you try to sit down or get up. A company I cleaned for found that out the hard way with injuries to several of their workers. I've had to be extra careful sitting down and getting up. I’m not particular about the esthetics as it is an apartment bedroom/office, and I don’t have the use of a shop. So, although I love to wheel back and forth, I’m going to try ½” plywood with a very low pile indoor outdoor carpet. Probably just carpet tape it or staple it around the edges for now in case I want to go back to laminate, or roll vinyl, etc. But anyhow, the mats you made look really great.
Were you able to finish your project? You had a great idea with that carpet opt I’m one of those victims that fell!! That chair just rolled right out from under me & ouch! Thank you for the response ASAP cause I’m considering a remote position Have an awesome day
Haven't been able to yet. Need to get a pick up to carry the plywood. But I just received some polyurethane 3-in casters and they work wonderfully -- much better than the casters that came with the chair.
@@roseliherrera7261 I bought the 1/2 inch (sanded both sides) plywood, at home depot for $49.00 and it might be enough (They will cut it to your size for free) . I do like to roll back and forth and carpet hinders that. Just have to be careful sitting and getting up. :) Also I bought polyurethane 3" casters from Amazon ($25 for five) They are a lot better than the hard plastic casters that are standard on office chairs. They are much gentler on the plywood and don't leave groves or indents. I will probably stain it and use a tough clear finish on it. If that doesn't do it I'll probably apply self-sticking vinyl panels.
They sell different casters for chairs if you run them on a hard surface. They don't spin as easily and usually have rubber rather than hard plastic. Your idea of running a low pile carpet is also not a bad solution, as that's what most office chair casters are intended for, as office environments tend to run low pile carpet squares.
I was looking for a comment like this. I'm here because I just installed vinyl planks like this in my office and you should **NOT use an office chair on vinyl floor**. For very close to the same price I would advise buying some **unfinished utility oak hardwood flooring**. It's just about $2 /sqft when not on sale at places like Lumber Liquidators (LL Flooring) or local lumberyards (you can also look for mills). Glue it down to a sheet of plywood like this. Finish it (or not) and it will last a lifetime.
u know ive been thinking of replacing my carpets with some LVP. but i've never done a project like that before and doing something like this feels like a great way to get comfortable with this stuff.
I hate carpets. I just happen to be lumbered with them. I moved into my current brand-new house a few years ago and it had fitted carpet throughout except in the bathroom. It really looked nice as the builder showed me around. Pristine beige carpet everywhere! It didn't stay pristine for long. Soon I was buying a more powerful vacuum cleaner. As I got older, I needed more stamina to push the nozzle across the carpet, especially when the suction was turned right up. But as time passed, inevitably the carpet got dirty. So I then purchased a carpet washer. This does work, though the manufacturer's genuine detergent (which you're supposed to use exclusively if you don't want to void the warranty) costs and arm and a leg. Actually, both arms and both legs. That liquid is exorbitantly priced. I should have had all the carpet ripped out ages ago and had wood flooring laid instead. I have a lot of contact with European families and in practically every house I visit, they have either wooden floors or ceramic tiles, both of which a dead easy to keep clean compared to carpet. I believe hard flooring is also the norm in Australia.
I did it close to this, then bought a flat rubber chair mat on top. I feel like the chair moves better over the texture of the rubber mat and especially over those seams of the laminate flooring.
Been researching glass matts, but they are expensive and can still shatter and make quite a mess. I have some leftover LVP from a recent remodel and thinking of trying this. Super job on the "homemade" trim.
I found a free way by accident. When in Home Depot, one day they got their load of vinyl planking. On these, they have a big solid square of the material to show what the pattern is. They said they dont use them for anything after they are displayed, and they gave me one. It does slide around some over time and of course, no lip. But for the price, which was free, worked for me. And its been 4 years now and it works the same it always has, compared to a plastic chair mat that gets the divit anyway over time
The roll-up plastic mats are such junk. The chair wheels press dents into it, and they fall apart every 2-3 years. This is a great project, I wish I could do it at reasonable cost. When did plywood get so expensive? Right now, a 4x4 half-sheet of garbage pine plywood is over $30. And who wants to lay nasty knots and splinters on the carpet? You need to sand and finish the underside or else use something of much better quality. If I had a wood shop full of scrap materials and a table saw, I'd be all over this. But from scratch, to do it right, it's at least $100 of materials. Maybe I'll reconsider when my latest plastic mat falls apart.
Your video was the first one I watched now that I an desperately trying to find a solution to using a wheeled office chair over thick carpet at home. My problem is that I need to roll much further than the plastic mat allows me to. I roll off the mat and when I want to back up to roll back onto the mat the chair wheels get stuck on the mat! I have to stand up and pick the chair up onto the mat! I have tried everything including taping two mats together, etc. Your solution is ingenious! However I do not know any carpenters who could build a mat like you did. Now I am stuck knowing that there is a solution that is reasonably priced but I can't have it! Ugh!!!! Thanks anyway!
Can you please make your next video on screening the outdoor trash cans? My HOA wants the trash cans being screened either by shrubbery or have a fence around them. Fencing is really expensive while having shrubs would cost me around $150-$170. Its really impressive how this project turned out to be under $70👌 So if you can do the same with screening the trash receptacles under $70 that will be awesome! Thank you 😊
Thank you very much for your video. I didn't want any of those plastic mats and I've been thinking for a while about what I can use. I'm going to home depot right now!!!!! I loved your video....
Fantastic! I need one of those for my sewing room. I like the fact that if you rearrange the room it's no problem to move the mat. Oh, what about the bottom side of the mat? Don't want any splinters left behind in case you need to move the mat. Thanks for this 😊
Hi Kayla - portability of this thing is great! If splinters are a concern, lightly sand the entire bottom side before you assemble anything - or, better yet, build it with an OSB or MDF base. Either will be less likely to leave any splinters. Good luck!
@@AmplifyDIY I was desperate to do something, because the dang carpet was such a nuisance. And 5mm MDF is so cheap, if it fails after six months I'll just buy another sheet! I didn't want to use 10 mm, because I didn't want there to be a step to trip over. The 5mm kinda sinks into the carpet, making the transition from carpet to hard floor very gentle.
For today's prices, I found this would run $151 for 2. We got 2 used chair mats and we hate them. One is cracking and the other one despite the little nubs, slides all over. Good chair mats now cost like $60-80, so this probably still would make more sense to do
Nothing leaks out of a gun like PL300 lol. But it's the best! And it doesn't smell bad! Also, if you mist the plywood with a little water first that PL will cure in a few hours.
@@AmplifyDIY oh and I realized later today that people really need to know, any normal construction adhesive, besides PL, can take forever to cure especially between layers of plywood, and even more so with this laminate flooring. PL is one of the important points of the video, and it cannot be overemphasized.
Thanks for the idea though I modified it a little. I did it differently by using some 1" thick decking boards I got for free off a wrecked semi flatbed trailer instead of venier. Allows me to resurface it later down the road though its heavy as a mofo to move lol.
This was so useful, i saved the video and subscribed, Hopefully ya have more awesome and useful content like this. I'm a first time homeowner and these small details, like an office chair mat, can add up. Thanks for this video!
Hey A - thanks for letting me know you enjoyed this video! If you look around on my channel, I think you'll find I have a whole bunch of useful stuff for homeowners: how to flush your water heater, as well as several other videos on improvements you can make to it; how to clean your dryer vent; how to hang up a patio shade, etc, etc. Welcome, and I hope you like what you find!
This is a great detailed video. .Glad I stumbled across your channel while researching chair mats for on carpet! I had a free hard plastic one from an office that was closing down, and there are now chunks of cracked yellowed plastic all over my office. Ideally, I would love to replace all this nasty carpet with hardwood, but this has me thinking...I wonder if it's possible to make a small hardwood chair mat for around just my desk for now? If it's tongue and groove hardwood, does it still need to be glued down to a base?
Hi Tepetkhet - if you have 3/4" tongue and groove hardwood, you should still have some sort of a base to put it on to reduce flexing as you roll around on it. If you just interlocked the pieces and put it straight on the carpet, you'd likely find that in a very short time just from rolling the chair around on it the pieces would separate.This is why I went with a thin laminate and thicker underlay board. Good luck!
When you got to your Solution... I was hating. Like Really... Seems like your making a project out of it. Well you did... But it was a cool project and I may even try it myself... as it warms up a little bit. Great Content.
Greetings, I've went thru 5 sets of this. With my 2 inch chair rollers...the "lifetime" material broke down. I purchased 3 inch "LifeLong" rollers and threw away all those mats. Found on Amazon for under $40. Chief Ken Bauer, USAF (Ret)
Hello :) love your video. Your project, it’s implementation and explanation were really cool. I will be making at least one of these chair mats myself. I was wondering if you could tell me what software you used to make such a seamlessly clean, and wonderful, green screen / chromakey image of yourself ( s ), please. Your audio is also outstanding. Yours is one of the best and most user-friendly videos. I have seen on RUclips. Thank you for the great good humor.
Hi Michael - thank you! I use DaVinci Resolve as my editor: www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve ... and I use an older RødeLink wireless lavaliere mic system for most of my audio. Thanks for watching, and best of luck with your chair mat!
Curious after having it for a few months if you would have gone with 3/4" plywood vs 1/2" ... about to build the same project and I thought I was going to need 3/4 to avoid feeling it flex.
Hi Trav - I have not noticed much of any flex, but if you have really thick carpet/pad, or are concerned about flex, going with a thicker plywood is a great option. Good luck!
Thank you, Demi! I'm glad you liked the project! The desks are both from a store called Scandinavian Designs, and we really love them as well. We have the Gammel Desk - my wife's is the one with the filing cabinet return, mine is just a plain desk. You can see them here: scandinaviandesigns.com/collections/office-desks Thanks for watching!
Excelente proyecto muy bien desarrollado y mejor ejecutado , pero me parece una redundancia , si tienes una moqueta o alfombra grande , ponerle un trozo de madera encima , para que ande mejor una silla con ruedas , saca la moqueta que es una coctelera de ácaros y pon un buen suelo de madera , gracias por compartir , un saludo cordial y por supuesto un gran like desde Narón , Galicia (España) 🤓 😜
¡Gracias por vernos y por la idea! Quería mantener toda la alfombra en la habitación, en caso de que decidiéramos reorganizar la oficina. Tener colchonetas que se puedan mover era importante para mí.
I would stub my toes on that every time I walked into my office. I wouldn't mind the chair coming off the mat that much so maybe have a curved/sloping edge?
That's the beauty of a DIY approach: you can finish off the edges however you like. I'm also prone to stubbing toes, but this mat has not been a problem at all. Thanks for watching!
As a city-slicker who is short on construction space but long on dollars, is there a website or service I could use that could construct a mat like this to my specifications?
@@AmplifyDIY thanks for the reply on a 1.5 year old video. No worries, I’ll just stay in awe of how handy you are at building and figure out some other solution.
Sorry it was a trip hazard for you. Maybe modify the design to have small ramps rather than raised lips at the edges? The chair could roll off it easily, but it would be less of a trip hazard. At any rate, thanks for watching!
I enjoyed the video. My question is I did a similar chair mat for my home office however, the actual piece of wood moves on my carpet when I roll around on it I would like suggestions on how to stop this from happening. I thought about attaching a cheap plastic mat to the bottom the problem I'm having as you are aware of is the tips are for low pile carpet . Please let me know how to prevent my wooden chair mat from sliding on my carpet Ii love the fact it was inexpensive and will last forever but the sliding around is making me a little crazy. Please help me.
Hmm... How smooth is the bottom surface of your mat? Perhaps you could try gluing a couple of sheets of grip tape or very coarse sand paper to the bottom to help it grip the carpet better?
I've been looking for a solution to my desk chair on shag carpet. At first I thought this is brilliant! I love doing projects and it's way cheaper than buying a $35 thick office mat. Though, there is one issue with using laminate as a desk mat. When I lived with my parents, my bedroom had laminate flooring and over time my chair scratched up the laminate and left hazy soft marks on the floor. It was literally scraping the design off. Do you have an idea how to prevent that?
I recommend replacing the hard plastic wheels that come on most office chairs with a set of rubber "rollerblade-style" wheels. These are designed NOT to scratch / damage any hard surface, and I have them on all my office chairs. They work great! Here's a link to some options: amzn.to/3x25ZxE
Just a great vid as I was looking for an alternative to an expensive mat that would break in 2 years (or less). Hopefully you can answer a question for me? I've got a box of engineered hardwood that I plan on using to make this. The e/wood is about 1/2" thick and I plan on putting it on a half sheet (4x4) of OSB . My question: how thick should the overall pad be when completed? OSB choices is 1/4" or 7/16" . One would be 3/4" high (plush pile) the other would be ~1" high. I'm leaning towards the 7/16" board because of the "solid" base but.........??
Hi Len - I would also choose the thicker OSB, as it will provide a sturdier foundation. You'll note that I trimmed the outside edges of mine both to hide the substrate (plywood, in my case) and provide a lip to help prevent the chair from rolling off. The difference in overall height of the finished project is negligible, and you'll be glad for the extra rigidity that the thicker osb will provide. Good luck!
HI Aaron - I would recommend sanding the bottom side with a pretty coarse grit (say, 80), then maybe hit it again with a little higher grit like 120... just trying to knock anything loose off and get it sort of smooth(ish). Then I'd probably coat it with a polyurethane that is designed for higher traffic areas. I know Home Depot and Lowes carry a variety of both water-based and oil-based options. For something like this I'd probably just be lazy and grab a few cans of the spray-on oil-based poly and give it a few coats. Good luck!
Wow -- I've been trying to come up with something very much like this, and my Google search turned this video up, and it's answered just about every one of my questions! One twist: because of the way the legs are on the largish L-shaped desk I have, and items I wanted to stow under the desk, I want to have a "mat" that's 58" to 64" on a side (which starts to become more of a "floor"... ). So I need to make it from two pieces of wood -- is that going to start to ruin my DIY-limited day? And does this start to make gluing vs. floating more of an issue?
Hey Larry! I'm glad you enjoyed the video and found some useful tips! As for your specific situation: It sounds like your area will be substantially larger than the one I showed in the video. This won't really be a problem for the flooring, but does have an impact on the type of sub floor you should use: I'd recommend 3/4" thick rather than the 1/2" that I used. The wider the piece of sub floor is, the more it will have a tendency to deflect / bend under the weight of the chair, and sink a bit into the carpet. On a smaller span like I built, 1/2" is sturdy enough, but on something larger like you need, you'll be glad to have a stiffer base under the flooring slats. You are right that you'll need to have more than 1 piece of flooring to span your width. I do think you can still glue the slats down, but if you wanted to build it so it could float that would also be fine. I don't think you'll need to worry much about expansion/etc though even with the larger size. One tip: stagger your seams / joints between boards so that you don't have any joints line up. I recommend starting with a full length board at the lower left, then cut the next piece to fit to the right edge. The next course (row) cut the first board 8-12" shorter on the left edge, then cut the next piece to fit the right edge. The next course cut the first board 16-24" shorter, then the next one to fit, etc. Keep doing that until the right-hand board won't fit the full span, then start over with a full size board on the left. Does this make sense? I'm happy to send over a diagram if that would be helpful. Staggering joints like this is both more visually appealing as well as helps to reinforce the structure of the floor so you don't have any weaker areas that are more flexible than others since the joints don't line up anywhere. At any rate - I wish you the best of luck with your build, and I'm happy to try to answer any other questions that you may have. Thanks for watching!
For the edges? Yes, you can buy some pre-made bull nose trim at your local big-box hardware store. You'll need at least a saw (a hand saw and a miter box will do - or they may even cut the miters for you at the store) to cut the angles on the ends for the corners. Good luck!
![[#2024MAMA] BIGBANG (빅뱅) - 뱅뱅뱅 (BANG BANG BANG) + FANTASTIC BABY | Mnet 241123 방송](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EQsYfiPR9uM/mqdefault.jpg)
Awesome video! Very creative way to solve a common problem. Esthetically pleasing, inexpensive & the lip is the 🍒 on top! Keep up the great content!👍🏼
Thanks, Maria!
Thanks for pointing out the idea! I never thought to use a laminate. You can get super-cheap laminate (wood grain or tile) at the local Habitat for Humanity (Restore) outlet if you're not picky and many have self-gluing peel-away strips with tongue and groove ends. My challenge is making them super-low-profile to keep from stubbing or breaking my toes. A weak foundation does tend to force the edges up thought if I'm seated in the middle of the laminate mat. They actually bow up. I might experiment with a 1/4 inch thick plywood if the price is right and arrange them crossways to improve stability. Edges for these laminate styles are available at the local home improvement that might even be safer for toes. I need a very long run (like 10 feet) because I need two desks to share the computers and big monitors I need for school, personal and work as they need to remain separate.
Sir, you definitely have a gift for teaching others how to complete a simple project in the DIY genre. You seem to say only what needs to be said, and, do it in a manner that is easy to understand and to reproduce at home. You've turned DIY into an art form as far as I am concerned. Thanks for the video and the excellent idea for a solid carpet protector that should last many years. Two thumbs up!
Thank you Masconi! You've made my day!
Useful. Glad I found this before committing to some plastic mat. Most appreciated.
Glad it helped!
I wanted to thank you for this. I made my own version of this using peel-and-stick floor tiles and a 5/8" plywood sheet - it's the absolute perfect solution! It also solves the fact that my chair was a bit too low at the desk while on the old standard thin plastic pad (this caused significant nerve pinching sensations in my arm and wrist for years). I really wish I'd seen your video 13 years ago!
I'm so thrilled that my video was helpful for you. That's great!
Just moved and installed new carpet. Needless to say I wanted a solution to avoid issues. This is the first video I watched and I’m sold. Going to build 2 of these, thanks so much 🙏
Awesome, V! The 2 that I built for this video have held up really well. I'm sitting in my office on a chair sitting on one right as I type this. I've been really happy with them. Thanks for watching!
I made a mat based on this video. Thanks for the inspiration. Here's how it went: my flooring was left over from another project and was 3/4" hickory. I used a 1/4" OSB board for the base. The final mat was 1" tall plus the molding. I made the molding as described on the video. I used a clean stud grade 2x4 and leftover stain. It looks great and I'm happy with how it turned out. Here are a couple of comments. At 1" the mat is really tall and took a bit to get used to. Additionally my molding extends above the flooring and that's is fine but it's square so it hurts if I inadvertently step on it. I might take the time to round the top of the molding and try to make it as low as possible if I did the project again. I tried using finishing nails and couldn't get them to hold given the thin piece of 2x4. I used small deck screws and stained over the top of them. They blend in perfectly and the molding is rock solid. I had most of the stuff I needed in the shed so total cost was only about $20 and it will last a very long time. I should add mine is larger than the one AmplifyDIY made and it's heavy. Surprisingly heavy.
3/4" Hickory is stout stuff. Not gonna lie - I'm a bit jealous ... yours is likely quite a bit nicer than mine. But I still love mine as well. :)
I LOVED your video! I don't have a table saw and I'm not handy at all. The thing I loved about your video the most is the TWINING!!!
Hey, thanks for watching (from the both of us - LOL!)
Going to try this over the New Year. You just saved me $200 importing a tempered glass mat to New Zealand!
I'd love to hear how your build turns out. Good luck!
You put so much effort into this video. I respect the hell out of it. Great info too.
Thank you, Spingus!
Dude. Wow. This is it. Really good solution to those terrible vinyl mats. So much better looking if you truly care about the space you work in every day. I'm doing this for sure.
Good idea... I was thinking it would be nice to have a an option for a thinner base to avoid changing the ergonomics of my current setup, but it would probably be better to raise my whole desk to match. Might just make the platform big enough to put it on too....
I tried using press board on high pile carpet. I have rollerblade wheels but quickly learned that it was not thick enough. So I doubled the sheet up to twice the thickness. It was still not enough. It has lasted about a year, but it is disintegrating into flakes. Wish I would have seen this video before. Thank you for the inspiration!
Awesome video and work. I did the same thing but didn’t get the results I hoped for. My mat lasted a couple years, but eventually the casters wore down the joined edges and began to eat into the pieces. One reason might have been I used a ¼” plywood base that was probably too flexible. But I didn’t want to use ½” plywood that would make the mat taller than I wanted. For sure it’s best to stick with ½” plywood.
I also used the cheapest laminate, and that might have been part of the problem. The edges might not have snapped in quite so tightly.
But another and real problem with using any type of laminate flooring is that, although it looks marvelous and is easy to slide across to reach drawers, printer, etc., the hard surface is dangerous. It's easy for the chair to slip out from under you as you try to sit down or get up. A company I cleaned for found that out the hard way with injuries to several of their workers. I've had to be extra careful sitting down and getting up.
I’m not particular about the esthetics as it is an apartment bedroom/office, and I don’t have the use of a shop. So, although I love to wheel back and forth, I’m going to try ½” plywood with a very low pile indoor outdoor carpet. Probably just carpet tape it or staple it around the edges for now in case I want to go back to laminate, or roll vinyl, etc.
But anyhow, the mats you made look really great.
Were you able to finish your project?
You had a great idea with that carpet opt
I’m one of those victims that fell!!
That chair just rolled right out from under me & ouch!
Thank you for the response ASAP cause I’m considering a remote position
Have an awesome day
Haven't been able to yet. Need to get a pick up to carry the plywood. But I just received some polyurethane 3-in casters and they work wonderfully -- much better than the casters that came with the chair.
@@roseliherrera7261 I bought the 1/2 inch (sanded both sides) plywood, at home depot for $49.00 and it might be enough (They will cut it to your size for free) . I do like to roll back and forth and carpet hinders that. Just have to be careful sitting and getting up. :) Also I bought polyurethane 3" casters from Amazon ($25 for five) They are a lot better than the hard plastic casters that are standard on office chairs. They are much gentler on the plywood and don't leave groves or indents. I will probably stain it and use a tough clear finish on it. If that doesn't do it I'll probably apply self-sticking vinyl panels.
They sell different casters for chairs if you run them on a hard surface. They don't spin as easily and usually have rubber rather than hard plastic. Your idea of running a low pile carpet is also not a bad solution, as that's what most office chair casters are intended for, as office environments tend to run low pile carpet squares.
I was looking for a comment like this. I'm here because I just installed vinyl planks like this in my office and you should **NOT use an office chair on vinyl floor**. For very close to the same price I would advise buying some **unfinished utility oak hardwood flooring**. It's just about $2 /sqft when not on sale at places like Lumber Liquidators (LL Flooring) or local lumberyards (you can also look for mills). Glue it down to a sheet of plywood like this. Finish it (or not) and it will last a lifetime.
u know ive been thinking of replacing my carpets with some LVP. but i've never done a project like that before and doing something like this feels like a great way to get comfortable with this stuff.
AWESOME video. I'm going to give this a go for my office. This looks like a way better solution than any off the shelf options I've seen.
I hate carpets. I just happen to be lumbered with them. I moved into my current brand-new house a few years ago and it had fitted carpet throughout except in the bathroom. It really looked nice as the builder showed me around. Pristine beige carpet everywhere! It didn't stay pristine for long. Soon I was buying a more powerful vacuum cleaner. As I got older, I needed more stamina to push the nozzle across the carpet, especially when the suction was turned right up. But as time passed, inevitably the carpet got dirty. So I then purchased a carpet washer. This does work, though the manufacturer's genuine detergent (which you're supposed to use exclusively if you don't want to void the warranty) costs and arm and a leg. Actually, both arms and both legs. That liquid is exorbitantly priced. I should have had all the carpet ripped out ages ago and had wood flooring laid instead. I have a lot of contact with European families and in practically every house I visit, they have either wooden floors or ceramic tiles, both of which a dead easy to keep clean compared to carpet. I believe hard flooring is also the norm in Australia.
I was thinking about doing something like this for my house just couldn't figure out how exactly I would build. This is freaking awesome
Your videos are so detailed. I built my shed from your videos. I recently sold my house and the shed was the selling point. Thank you!
Wow! That is awesome! :) I'm so glad my videos were useful. Congratulations on the sale of your house!
you also need to replace your office chair casters for the single wheel rubber variants that will not damage the wood laminate
This is a great tip! I believe I mentioned it in the video as well. Thanks for watching!
Very interesting to come across this. Working from home full time now and my plastic mat has not held up.
Those plastic mats never do hold up for long. Thanks for watching!
I did it close to this, then bought a flat rubber chair mat on top. I feel like the chair moves better over the texture of the rubber mat and especially over those seams of the laminate flooring.
I'm glad you like how yours turned out!
Been researching glass matts, but they are expensive and can still shatter and make quite a mess. I have some leftover LVP from a recent remodel and thinking of trying this. Super job on the "homemade" trim.
I found a free way by accident. When in Home Depot, one day they got their load of vinyl planking. On these, they have a big solid square of the material to show what the pattern is. They said they dont use them for anything after they are displayed, and they gave me one. It does slide around some over time and of course, no lip. But for the price, which was free, worked for me. And its been 4 years now and it works the same it always has, compared to a plastic chair mat that gets the divit anyway over time
Nice!
I appreciate the thought that went into this video.
Thanks for watching!
Great idea! Very informative. I'm using a Pleaxiglass mat right now and it is always sliding on the carpet, I think this is the solution. Thank you,
I love this mat that I built. It stays put, and has been rock solid for me. Thanks for watching!
Nice job, this looks so much better than the generic plastic mat. And the MCM shirt is 🔥
Thanks, porkstamina! CHOPPED!
Awesome video, very detailed.
Thank you.
I will be doing this for my office.
I'm going to make it so a part of it goes under the table.
Great! Best of luck with your build, Aaron!
Thanks for this guide! I don't have the space or tools to do this kind of project at the moment, but I'm definitely bookmarking this for the future!
I'm using card board from a box right now haha. This will be way better and a fun project. Great video.
Gotta admit - cardboard is one solution I've never actually tried. :-)
this video is awesome! i followed the instructions and i actually managed to build a mat of my own!
Awesome! I’d love to see some pictures of your finished pad, if you are willing to share: AmplifyDIY (at) Gmail (dot) com. Nice job!
How thick is your wood floor 1/2, 3/4, or 1 inch thick.
Good looking solution to a common problem.
Great idea!! My trim is staining and the project is coming out super well! 🙂
Awesome, Cyrus! I hope you love your chair mat as much as I love mine!
The roll-up plastic mats are such junk. The chair wheels press dents into it, and they fall apart every 2-3 years. This is a great project, I wish I could do it at reasonable cost. When did plywood get so expensive? Right now, a 4x4 half-sheet of garbage pine plywood is over $30. And who wants to lay nasty knots and splinters on the carpet? You need to sand and finish the underside or else use something of much better quality.
If I had a wood shop full of scrap materials and a table saw, I'd be all over this. But from scratch, to do it right, it's at least $100 of materials. Maybe I'll reconsider when my latest plastic mat falls apart.
Your video was the first one I watched now that I an desperately trying to find a solution to using a wheeled office chair over thick carpet at home. My problem is that I need to roll much further than the plastic mat allows me to. I roll off the mat and when I want to back up to roll back onto the mat the chair wheels get stuck on the mat! I have to stand up and pick the chair up onto the mat! I have tried everything including taping two mats together, etc. Your solution is ingenious! However I do not know any carpenters who could build a mat like you did. Now I am stuck knowing that there is a solution that is reasonably priced but I can't have it! Ugh!!!! Thanks anyway!
Sorry to hear of the pickle you are in! I hope you are maybe able to find someone local to you who could build a mat like this for you. Good luck!
That's amazing dude! I loved the part qhere you snapped your fingers and said, Right! NOW! 👌🏻
🙌
that was really cool to watch. well done mate !
Glad you enjoyed it!
Can you please make your next video on screening the outdoor trash cans? My HOA wants the trash cans being screened either by shrubbery or have a fence around them. Fencing is really expensive while having shrubs would cost me around $150-$170. Its really impressive how this project turned out to be under $70👌 So if you can do the same with screening the trash receptacles under $70 that will be awesome! Thank you 😊
Reject your HOA. Grow corn on your front lawn
@@OtherDalfite 🤣🤣
Love the chopped MCM shirt brother. Super cool, don't see anyone else mentioning it either lol. Good vid!
It's all about the P U R I T Y on the best 4 wheel driving channel on the internet! Thanks for watching!
Thank you very much for your video. I didn't want any of those plastic mats and I've been thinking for a while about what I can use. I'm going to home depot right now!!!!! I loved your video....
Sorry for my delayed response - did you get this project built? How did it turn out for you?
Great Videos you have and you are funny too! Keep up the wonderful comedy in all you do! Thanks! This is the FUN way to learn.
Glad you enjoy it!
This is a *great* idea. Looks amazing.
Thank you! 😊
I LOVE this! Going to do this in my hubby and I's offices! Thanks for the awesome video.
Have fun!
Anyone know where I can buy something like this??
Fantastic! I need one of those for my sewing room. I like the fact that if you rearrange the room it's no problem to move the mat. Oh, what about the bottom side of the mat? Don't want any splinters left behind in case you need to move the mat. Thanks for this 😊
Hi Kayla - portability of this thing is great! If splinters are a concern, lightly sand the entire bottom side before you assemble anything - or, better yet, build it with an OSB or MDF base. Either will be less likely to leave any splinters. Good luck!
@@AmplifyDIY Thank you and keep making these great videos!
Glad to see that there are 2 of you now 😂Which means more cool videos!
Heh. One of us is super lazy, though!
Very nice! I need to do this before I ruin our carpet. On my to-do list now.
Go for it!
This is the exact video I was looking for
Better than I expected
I grabbed a sheet of 5mm MDF and laid it down over the carpet in front of my desk. Job done. Cost: 6 English pounds (8 bucks).
I'm curious how long that will last. MDF in my area (particularly that thin) won't hold up long. Glad it's working for you, though!
@@AmplifyDIY I was desperate to do something, because the dang carpet was such a nuisance. And 5mm MDF is so cheap, if it fails after six months I'll just buy another sheet! I didn't want to use 10 mm, because I didn't want there to be a step to trip over. The 5mm kinda sinks into the carpet, making the transition from carpet to hard floor very gentle.
If anyone sells any of these premade, I’d be interested like on Etsy or whatever
I've had a few requests like this... if only there were more hours in the day....
For today's prices, I found this would run $151 for 2. We got 2 used chair mats and we hate them. One is cracking and the other one despite the little nubs, slides all over. Good chair mats now cost like $60-80, so this probably still would make more sense to do
These are also MUCH more sturdy than plastic mats... We love the ones I built!
Nothing leaks out of a gun like PL300 lol.
But it's the best!
And it doesn't smell bad!
Also, if you mist the plywood with a little water first that PL will cure in a few hours.
Great tip on the misting!
@@AmplifyDIY oh and I realized later today that people really need to know, any normal construction adhesive, besides PL, can take forever to cure especially between layers of plywood, and even more so with this laminate flooring.
PL is one of the important points of the video, and it cannot be overemphasized.
i'm so glad majority of my home including my bedroom has no carpet
Love the "hey, didn't see you there!" type intro
Took forever to film/edit, but I'm unreasonably pleased with how it turned out. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the idea though I modified it a little.
I did it differently by using some 1" thick decking boards I got for free off a wrecked semi flatbed trailer instead of venier. Allows me to resurface it later down the road though its heavy as a mofo to move lol.
Great job!
This was so useful, i saved the video and subscribed, Hopefully ya have more awesome and useful content like this. I'm a first time homeowner and these small details, like an office chair mat, can add up. Thanks for this video!
Hey A - thanks for letting me know you enjoyed this video! If you look around on my channel, I think you'll find I have a whole bunch of useful stuff for homeowners: how to flush your water heater, as well as several other videos on improvements you can make to it; how to clean your dryer vent; how to hang up a patio shade, etc, etc.
Welcome, and I hope you like what you find!
Great idea and love the VGG hat. A guy was looking for something just like this.
Looks like a guy went ahead and did the right thing. :)
Beautiful mats..wish i lived close and could buy one from you
Thanks for the great idea!! Cant wait to start my clearance flooring search!!
Good luck!!
Great project! Thanks for sharing! Loved the out-takes too!! LOL!
Glad you enjoyed it, Alyson!
This is a great detailed video. .Glad I stumbled across your channel while researching chair mats for on carpet! I had a free hard plastic one from an office that was closing down, and there are now chunks of cracked yellowed plastic all over my office.
Ideally, I would love to replace all this nasty carpet with hardwood, but this has me thinking...I wonder if it's possible to make a small hardwood chair mat for around just my desk for now? If it's tongue and groove hardwood, does it still need to be glued down to a base?
Hi Tepetkhet - if you have 3/4" tongue and groove hardwood, you should still have some sort of a base to put it on to reduce flexing as you roll around on it. If you just interlocked the pieces and put it straight on the carpet, you'd likely find that in a very short time just from rolling the chair around on it the pieces would separate.This is why I went with a thin laminate and thicker underlay board. Good luck!
When you got to your Solution... I was hating. Like Really... Seems like your making a project out of it. Well you did... But it was a cool project and I may even try it myself... as it warms up a little bit. Great Content.
I'm sitting in a chair on this mat as I type this, and while it was a bit of a project to build, I LOVE this chair mat. Thanks for watching!
great production video. Great explanation.
Glad you liked it!
Amazing video! Love this idea! Putting it on the honey to do list! My husband will appreciate this video! LOL 😂😏
Greetings,
I've went thru 5 sets of this. With my 2 inch chair rollers...the "lifetime" material broke down. I purchased 3 inch "LifeLong" rollers and threw away all those mats. Found on Amazon for under $40.
Chief Ken Bauer, USAF (Ret)
Great idea and wonderful presentation., but I have a vinyl mat. Can I glue the flooring to a vinyl mat? Will it work?
This is a great solution. Wish I had a table saw and some clamps. Might be time for an investment.
Great idea!
Thanks!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOUUU!!
great quality video!
Americans have serious problem with carpet, a normal house should have tile or parquet
Hello :) love your video. Your project, it’s implementation and explanation were really cool. I will be making at least one of these chair mats myself. I was wondering if you could tell me what software you used to make such a seamlessly clean, and wonderful, green screen / chromakey image of yourself ( s ), please. Your audio is also outstanding. Yours is one of the best and most user-friendly videos. I have seen on RUclips. Thank you for the great good humor.
Hi Michael - thank you! I use DaVinci Resolve as my editor: www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve ... and I use an older RødeLink wireless lavaliere mic system for most of my audio. Thanks for watching, and best of luck with your chair mat!
Thank you so much for your quick response, and link. I hope you have a most excellent day.
Curious after having it for a few months if you would have gone with 3/4" plywood vs 1/2" ... about to build the same project and I thought I was going to need 3/4 to avoid feeling it flex.
Hi Trav - I have not noticed much of any flex, but if you have really thick carpet/pad, or are concerned about flex, going with a thicker plywood is a great option. Good luck!
I like the hat and all the shirts. Video was good too!
Thanks for watching!
Do the roller blade wheels really work well? Even for a heavy chair and heavy person?
The rollerblade wheels work really well. I'm not a skinny guy by any stretch, and they work great. :)
Love this!! Where did you get your desk? I love that too!!
Thank you, Demi! I'm glad you liked the project! The desks are both from a store called Scandinavian Designs, and we really love them as well. We have the Gammel Desk - my wife's is the one with the filing cabinet return, mine is just a plain desk. You can see them here: scandinaviandesigns.com/collections/office-desks
Thanks for watching!
wow....$18 for OSB? $55 today at HD.
Prices are extremely nuts right now for sure!
this is great idea thanks
Glad you like it!
Excelente proyecto muy bien desarrollado y mejor ejecutado , pero me parece una redundancia , si tienes una moqueta o alfombra grande , ponerle un trozo de madera encima , para que ande mejor una silla con ruedas , saca la moqueta que es una coctelera de ácaros y pon un buen suelo de madera , gracias por compartir , un saludo cordial y por supuesto un gran like desde Narón , Galicia (España) 🤓 😜
¡Gracias por vernos y por la idea! Quería mantener toda la alfombra en la habitación, en caso de que decidiéramos reorganizar la oficina. Tener colchonetas que se puedan mover era importante para mí.
I would stub my toes on that every time I walked into my office. I wouldn't mind the chair coming off the mat that much so maybe have a curved/sloping edge?
That's the beauty of a DIY approach: you can finish off the edges however you like. I'm also prone to stubbing toes, but this mat has not been a problem at all. Thanks for watching!
Really amazing
As a city-slicker who is short on construction space but long on dollars, is there a website or service I could use that could construct a mat like this to my specifications?
I wish there was - but as far as I know there is not...
@@AmplifyDIY thanks for the reply on a 1.5 year old video. No worries, I’ll just stay in awe of how handy you are at building and figure out some other solution.
nice 👍
Wonderful
Awesome idea!!!
Thank you, Amy! 😊
tried it, but because of a dropped foot, I tripped constantly on it..... bummer cause its beautiful to me!
Sorry it was a trip hazard for you. Maybe modify the design to have small ramps rather than raised lips at the edges? The chair could roll off it easily, but it would be less of a trip hazard. At any rate, thanks for watching!
this is great stuff 👍
Thanks, J M ! Glad you think so!
I enjoyed the video. My question is I did a similar chair mat for my home office however, the actual piece of wood moves on my carpet when I roll around on it I would like suggestions on how to stop this from happening. I thought about attaching a cheap plastic mat to the bottom the problem I'm having as you are aware of is the tips are for low pile carpet . Please let me know how to prevent my wooden chair mat from sliding on my carpet Ii love the fact it was inexpensive and will last forever but the sliding around is making me a little crazy. Please help me.
Hmm... How smooth is the bottom surface of your mat? Perhaps you could try gluing a couple of sheets of grip tape or very coarse sand paper to the bottom to help it grip the carpet better?
Love it, I will make 1 for my self.. I am still have the ugly plastic
Good luck with your build, Juan!
Great video
Glad you enjoyed it, Griff!
I've been looking for a solution to my desk chair on shag carpet. At first I thought this is brilliant! I love doing projects and it's way cheaper than buying a $35 thick office mat. Though, there is one issue with using laminate as a desk mat. When I lived with my parents, my bedroom had laminate flooring and over time my chair scratched up the laminate and left hazy soft marks on the floor. It was literally scraping the design off. Do you have an idea how to prevent that?
I recommend replacing the hard plastic wheels that come on most office chairs with a set of rubber "rollerblade-style" wheels. These are designed NOT to scratch / damage any hard surface, and I have them on all my office chairs. They work great! Here's a link to some options: amzn.to/3x25ZxE
@@AmplifyDIY thank you! I totally didn't think of the wheels in regards to damaging the floor.
Just a great vid as I was looking for an alternative to an expensive mat that would break in 2 years (or less). Hopefully you can answer a question for me?
I've got a box of engineered hardwood that I plan on using to make this. The e/wood is about 1/2" thick and I plan on putting it on a half sheet (4x4) of OSB .
My question: how thick should the overall pad be when completed? OSB choices is 1/4" or 7/16" . One would be 3/4" high (plush pile) the other would be ~1" high. I'm leaning towards the 7/16" board because of the "solid" base but.........??
Hi Len - I would also choose the thicker OSB, as it will provide a sturdier foundation. You'll note that I trimmed the outside edges of mine both to hide the substrate (plywood, in my case) and provide a lip to help prevent the chair from rolling off. The difference in overall height of the finished project is negligible, and you'll be glad for the extra rigidity that the thicker osb will provide. Good luck!
Hey I have that chair, the Akir from BTOD right?
Bingo! I love it!
Do you have any recommendations for something to coat the plywood underneath?
So it's not bare plywood on the carpet.
HI Aaron - I would recommend sanding the bottom side with a pretty coarse grit (say, 80), then maybe hit it again with a little higher grit like 120... just trying to knock anything loose off and get it sort of smooth(ish). Then I'd probably coat it with a polyurethane that is designed for higher traffic areas. I know Home Depot and Lowes carry a variety of both water-based and oil-based options. For something like this I'd probably just be lazy and grab a few cans of the spray-on oil-based poly and give it a few coats. Good luck!
What's wrong with bare plywood? It'll actually help the mat grip the carpet if it's rough underneath.
I need this ! But have zero of the tools or work space to even attempt this smh
Wow -- I've been trying to come up with something very much like this, and my Google search turned this video up, and it's answered just about every one of my questions!
One twist: because of the way the legs are on the largish L-shaped desk I have, and items I wanted to stow under the desk, I want to have a "mat" that's 58" to 64" on a side (which starts to become more of a "floor"... ).
So I need to make it from two pieces of wood -- is that going to start to ruin my DIY-limited day? And does this start to make gluing vs. floating more of an issue?
Hey Larry! I'm glad you enjoyed the video and found some useful tips! As for your specific situation: It sounds like your area will be substantially larger than the one I showed in the video. This won't really be a problem for the flooring, but does have an impact on the type of sub floor you should use: I'd recommend 3/4" thick rather than the 1/2" that I used. The wider the piece of sub floor is, the more it will have a tendency to deflect / bend under the weight of the chair, and sink a bit into the carpet. On a smaller span like I built, 1/2" is sturdy enough, but on something larger like you need, you'll be glad to have a stiffer base under the flooring slats.
You are right that you'll need to have more than 1 piece of flooring to span your width. I do think you can still glue the slats down, but if you wanted to build it so it could float that would also be fine. I don't think you'll need to worry much about expansion/etc though even with the larger size. One tip: stagger your seams / joints between boards so that you don't have any joints line up. I recommend starting with a full length board at the lower left, then cut the next piece to fit to the right edge. The next course (row) cut the first board 8-12" shorter on the left edge, then cut the next piece to fit the right edge. The next course cut the first board 16-24" shorter, then the next one to fit, etc. Keep doing that until the right-hand board won't fit the full span, then start over with a full size board on the left. Does this make sense? I'm happy to send over a diagram if that would be helpful. Staggering joints like this is both more visually appealing as well as helps to reinforce the structure of the floor so you don't have any weaker areas that are more flexible than others since the joints don't line up anywhere.
At any rate - I wish you the best of luck with your build, and I'm happy to try to answer any other questions that you may have. Thanks for watching!
Let's Go Blues!
Honk. HONK. *HONK!!*
Great game last night against Calgary. :)
@@AmplifyDIY Heck yeah it was!
What thickness of plywood did you use or would you recommend?
NVRMND - You later state 1/16". Thanks.
I actually recommend at least 1/2" plywood. 3/4" is a more sturdy option.
Can one buy trim that would do the same thing? I don't have any tools like that.
For the edges? Yes, you can buy some pre-made bull nose trim at your local big-box hardware store. You'll need at least a saw (a hand saw and a miter box will do - or they may even cut the miters for you at the store) to cut the angles on the ends for the corners. Good luck!