Flooring options for lab in carpeted room - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: bitbanger
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2018, 04:18:39 pm
content: Hi Folks -Moving into a new place (rental) and the bedroom I've designated for my lab unfortunately has carpeting. Owner is replacing carpet with a low-pile carpet, and I've asked him to consider laminate flooring instead (laminate downstairs) but I have to assume it will be carpet.Unfortunately I'm not in a place environment wise that I can setup in the garage (hot, humid, unconditioned space).This sucks because I have a high drafting chair that I could easily roll back and forth between my bench and workstation. Not to mention static potential.Any ideas? Those computer chair mats are limited in size, and the industrial ESD versions can get pretty pricey. I'm thinking maybe cope with the carpet and use some sort of ESD spray? Or maybe put some type of temporary interlocking floor tile down? Has anyone had any success with the "garage" tiles over carpet?Old pic but this was my prior setup:

author: Red Squirrel
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2018, 04:24:14 pm
content: Could maybe lay down drycore flooring over the carpet, it's tongue and grove 2' x 2' chip board tiles meant for basement subfloors. Idealy you would want to finish them somehow so you don't get slivers of wood or wear from the chair. I have it in my basement and it's been fine as a main floor. I'll probably put laminate eventually.https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/p.subfloor-membrane-panel-235-inch-x-235-inch.1000112986.htmlHere's a pic of how it looks like installed:This is not really ESD proof but probably still better than carpet. I oddly hardly ever get ESD in my house (hardwood upstairs) though despite the low humidity. If I make humidity too high the windows frost right up.

author: bitbanger
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2018, 04:40:43 pm
content: Quote from: Red Squirrel on May 18, 2018, 04:24:14 pmInteresting, I didn't know such a thing existed. Not sure how well it would hold up but I could possibly paint it. The 2x2 would likely have less movement than the foam/rubber style interlocking tiles sold at the big box store. Hmmm.BTW to be clear I'm not trying to achieve actual lab-grade ESD protection just something better than chair wheels rolling over synthetic carpet fibers.Thanks for the suggestion!

author: nfmax
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2018, 04:46:56 pm
content: I use an ESD floor mat fixed with flooring tape to a sheet of 3mm plywood (actually it's 2 sheets stapled & glued together edge to edge, after I discovered it wouldn't fit in the car after all & got B&Q to cut it in half). This sits between my 2 benches and I roll my lab chair about on it happily.Edit to add: my lab is not actually sideways...

author: bitbanger
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2018, 05:12:11 pm
content: Quote from: nfmax on May 18, 2018, 04:46:56 pmHey that looks great - did you really mean 3mm plywood? Almost looks like unfinished masonite.Actually hardboard might not be a bad choice now that I think about it (similar to what clipboards are made of) - smooth finish.PS your equipment setup is oddly similar to mine, Agilent scope, HP dmm/gen, HP linear power supplies

author: nfmax
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2018, 05:23:49 pm
content: My lab is also a converted bedroom. The floor is carpeted - the range/brown coloured covering. I made a mistake, sorry - it's 5mm plywood. I figured the point loading from the chair castors might be a bit much for plywood.The worst part of it is the tendency of the plywood to creep across the carpet in the direction of the pile. I've put a couple of wooden blocks in place on the far (window) side, braced against the bench leg & skirting board, to stop this happening. You can just see them in the pictures.There's more HPAK gear just out of shot, too...

author: bitbanger
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2018, 05:35:33 pm
content: The more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to just put some cheap, over-stocked, maybe less-desirable-colored laminate "swift-lock" flooring down. I'll have to see how "plush" the pile ends up being but apparently it's not uncommon to do this over carpet:https://messymom.com/2013/10/how-we-put-hardwood-over-carpet-html/I guess the other hitch would be the door clearance, but I'll have to wait and see (can't move in until 1st).Thanks!

author: fourtytwo42
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2018, 06:34:24 pm
content: Just wire yourself to GROUND ankle or wrist straps, grounding the frame of the chair would help too, just dont work on high voltage stuff

author: Berni
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2018, 06:50:44 pm
content: ESD might not be an issue depending what kind of rug is it and what sort of humidity you usually have there. Having a grounded ESD mat is probably plenty enough since when you rest your hands on it it will drain away most of the charge from your body. I don't even use a ESD mat as the humidity here is not usually very low and a solid wood table doesn't tend to build a charge.I also like laminate wood floors. They provide a nice smooth gap free surface, is very resilient to damage or spills and can easily be disassembled and removed if needed.All the things on wheels in my lab roll really nice on it. That includes a full height U42 rack cabinet filled with old test gear, the whole thing likely weighing close to half a ton. Tho my floor is placed directly on concrete, rolling around things that heavy might be an issue when its placed on top of soft carpet.

author: ajb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 18, 2018, 06:55:16 pm
content: In a previous apartment I put down some sheets of 1/2" tongue and groove OSB over the carpet, then I screwed down a layer of masonite with the seams offset from the seams in the OSB. It was a bit overkill, but made a nice and solid surface that still floated over the carpet, and he room was like 8'x11', so it worked out quite nicely. I taped up all of the seams and the perimeter and then used an outdoor-grade oil based paint. Held up quite well for a number of years, and total cost was like a hundred bucks.My current home lab is in a basement with some nice but horrifically installed marble tile, and there was no way I was going to get full 4x8 sheets of plywood down the stairs, so I laid down a couple of layers of ~5mm foam underlayment, then some of the cheapest interlocking composite flooring I could find. The cheap planking follows the topography of the floor better than plywood would have, but still evens it out well enough that my chair rolls around easily.EDIT: If I were dealing with carpet again I would probably go with some 5mm Lauan or similar underlayment plywood and then the interlocking planks.Also It's worth noting that some places require that multi-family dwellings have a certain percentage of the floor carpeted for noise reasons, so covering the carpet with a hard surface might run you afoul of that. Depends on how stringent the landlord/local authorities are.