Underlayment plywood + vinyl plank over carpet for an electronics lab - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: matthuszagh
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 28, 2023, 04:08:51 am
content: I'm moving into a new apartment soon and the room I'll turn into my lab is carpeted. This is obviously undesirable for a couple reasons:(1) ESD(2) hard to clean solder out of carpet(3) easily gets dirty(4) harder to move racks on casters over carpetI'm sure the list goes on.I searched around online and a bunch of links indicate hardwood flooring or vinyl plank can be installed over carpet. If the carpet is really thin and hard, the flooring can be installed directly over the carpet, but otherwise underlayment plywood can be set down first, followed by the vinyl plank. The carpet I'm dealing with isn't very plush or soft, but also isn't like the super hard carpet in commercial spaces. I was planning to do the plywood + vinyl plank approach.I do have some 19-inch racks that are probably in the neighborhood of 400-500lbs and one big shelf that's probably closer to 1k lbs, though I'm guessing.Any thoughts? Has anyone done this? Any pitfalls? I've read that the carpet should be clean and free of moisture before the installation. Any other things to keep in mind?Are there better solutions? I saw these interlocking tiles (https://freestyleflooring.com/solutions/freestyle-commercial-interlocking-flooring/) that are designed specifically for this purpose and look nice, but as it's targeted for commercial clients I'm a bit worried the cost might be too high.Another thing I thought of is the sort of interlocking hard rubber tiles used in gyms. No idea how this would fare for the above criteria.I suppose another related question is linoleum vs vinyl tiles over the plywood.There are ESD-safe tiles, but what I've found starts at $10/ square foot, which is too much. I found vinyl plank at $1.50 to $2 per square foot, which is more what I'm looking to spend.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 28, 2023, 08:57:17 am
content: Is there a good reason to not remove the carpet? Is it a rental where you have to restore the carpet afterwards?

author: John B
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 28, 2023, 09:32:13 am
content: Generally interlocking flooring like laminate are going to be very intolerant of substrate imperfections, and certainly intolerant of movement. I would also recommend just ripping the carpet. If it's no good anyways, there's nothing to save. I've never understood turning flooring into a geological timecapsule. One bathroom I stripped had multiple layers of flooring on top of one another going back to the 70's.

author: AndyBeez
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 28, 2023, 11:00:15 am
content: What is under the carpet? Wood, concrete, chipboard, fibreboard, underlay, newspaper, porn mags? Never lay interlocking or clip together laminate on an unstable substrate, unless you intend modeling the process of plate tectonics. First, rip out the crap carpet and start with a blank floor. Office grade carpet tiles may be the way to go ahead.

author: matthuszagh
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 28, 2023, 02:31:31 pm
content: It's a rental and I'm not sure I can remove the carpet. I may ask them but I'm a bit worried to have my second interaction with them, before I sign the lease, be to ask to make permanent modifications to the unit, especially since they seem quite protective of the place. Also I'd prefer not to pay someone to do this and I'm not sure how they'd feel about having someone (me) who's never done this before installing the new flooring.Is the underlayment plywood not sufficient to provide a stable base for the vinyl plank?I'll try to determine what's under the carpet. I think there's a closet in the room without carpet, so maybe that will give me some idea. The floor seems pretty solid and even.

author: AndyBeez
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 28, 2023, 02:41:36 pm
content: Check with your state laws and see what rights you have as a tenant. Running an electronics lab might not be coverd in your tenancy agreement so, changing the flooring might be a moot point. Otherwise declare to their relator that the carpet is unhygenic, a fire hazard, alergenic, or something like that, and stipulate they change it before you sign. Know your rightsAs for your racks, place them on MDF sheets.

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 28, 2023, 04:04:13 pm
content: I found that putting even carpet tiles in my work area (just held down by the weight of the furniture/desk) did not prevent damage to the carpet below. IMO it's a risk you would need to accept if you're doing electronics in a rental. While the carpet isn't ideal for ESD, other precautions should make that less of an issue. Putting vinyl flooring atop carpet in an apartment you don't own to protect the landlord's carpet is honourable but probably ultimately unnecessary. Also, depending on where you live, the cost of paying for a new carpet might be cheaper than going to all that effort to protect it. A 15m^2 carpet here would cost about ~£350 to replace all in.

author: matthuszagh
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 28, 2023, 05:00:05 pm
content: Well it's not just to be able to protect the carpet (though that is one of the goals); I'd also much prefer to work on a hard surface for the reasons I mentioned initially.Are carpet tiles carpet on top? I probably won't do that. I really don't want the final surface to be carpet.It seems people are saying vinyl plank directly over carpet can be problematic. But, again, that's not what I plan to do. There will be a intermediate layer of underlayment plywood.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 28, 2023, 05:48:56 pm
content: One layer of plywood over a soft substrate wont work satisfactorily because as it flexes, the joints 'print' through whatever smooth surface floor covering is over it. You'd need two, with well overlapped and extensively stapled joints, so will end up with a significant level difference, which is problematic at doorways, as a trip hazard, and also as the door wont open over it unless the bottom edge is planed down to fit.If the carpet is in good condition, it can be lifted, stored rolled, and re-laid on new grippers at the end of your tenancy. Unfortunately the same is often not true for the underlay, unless its in near-perfect condition, and has been laid without the usual budget patchwork bodgery, so figure on having to replace that.

author: ejeffrey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 28, 2023, 06:06:14 pm
content: ESD floor mats that you just install under your working areas, not equipment racks mostly solves problems 1 & 2, and helps with problem 3, although I wouldn't worry about getting the carpet dirty, an electronics lab is going to be cleaner than a kids bedroom or a college student hosting keg parties. Many rental agreements have some stipulations about professional cleaning and/or replacing carpets when you leave.It won't make it easier to roll heavy equipment racks around, but it should pretty much solve the rest of your concerns.

author: matthuszagh
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 28, 2023, 07:23:36 pm
content: Yeah, maybe I just need to accept that carpet isn’t the end of the world and I can address ESD concerns on their own. But there are other reasons I didn’t mention. For instance, my chair is on casters and I don’t know how I’d wheel that around. I guess I could put that on a small section of plywood but I imagine one section will tend to drift around (or always in one direction).Another reason is my office tends to accumulate dust quickly. I think the reason for this is some combination of me spending a lot of time in there and lots of stuff and equipment in the room. It’s so much easier for me to keep hardwood clean than carpet.