After being unable to find a good chair option, I wanted to ask the Teeming Millions if anyone might have created a flat base to put a roller chair on, so that it won’t slide or damage the carpet underneath. I don’t meant a flat plastic mat that goes on the carpet to protect it (although they are fine). I was hoping for something that would protect the carpet, and let me use a roller chair without it sliding it.
Not sure if this ever existed or if this is just a dumb question. However, as I’m the one asking it’s probably the latter. Thank you.
At work, we have some anti-fatigue mat in front of some benches and other workstations. They’re pretty soft and perhaps half and inch thick. I’d bet the wheels would sink right in and not roll too easily.
From what you wrote, I’m not sure if you’re looking for something which will prevent the chair from moving or a mat that doesn’t slide on the carpet. But if you’re looking for a mat which stays in place, some chair mats have plastic studs to prevent them sliding around on carpet. Search for “studded chair mat” to find them.
Yes and the studs are also to keep the carpet from getting overly compressed, and to keep the fibers from being damaged when the wheels roll over them. Just like the free-standing casters (not wheels) intended for carpets, with the spikes on the bottom.
So, we have a vote for the OP trying to keep the chair stationary, another vote for trying to find a mat that won’t move and my guess, upon reading it, was that they are looking for a way to allow the chair to roll directly on the carpet instead of the wheels digging in and it skidding around, potentially tearing the carpet.
I think we need some clarification.
Also, it they want the chair not to move at all, one option would be to remove the wheels. They typically pop out pretty easily, but you’ll have to make sure you can raise the chair up another 3 or 4 inches or you’ll be sitting way too low.
My vague thought was a round base that would go under the chair and, more or less keep the wheels in place, allowing it to rotate freely but not slide on rollers, and enough to sit flat on the carpet.
Is the chair still going to have to move in the sense of pulling it out from under the desk in order to sit on it, then moving back to the right seating position once you have your legs under the desk?
Its unclear what you mean. When the wheels do their thing, it’s called “rolling”. If for some reason the wheels are locked, the chair might “slide” along the floor without the wheels turning.) When the chair turns side to side, it’s called “swivelling”.
Do you mean “how can I stop the chair from rolling?”
Something soft, like the suggested anti-fatigue mat mentioned above will stop some rolling, particularly when the chair is occupied. an unoccupied chair might be light enough to still roll, allowing you to roll it back to get in position and pull it back forward as you sit.
If you want the chair fixed in place, those furniture caster cups would be best.
A simple handy-man fixit is to remove the caster wheels. Usually these have a metal peg about 3/8 inch diameter simply snap-fit into the base of the chair. the downside is the chair is about 2 or 3 inches lower. Plus, the base is often not solid flat, so you may want to cut pieces of wood or plastic (or use those Caster Cups) and attach them to the base - either attach a peg to the cup or glue the cup on (more permanent).
Also occurs to me those cups come in sets of 4 and most swivel office chairs have 5 wheels.
We have some kind of plexi-glass base at the office to give the chair a nice hard surface to roll on. It protects the carpet and allows the chair to roll when you need it to roll.
I guess if you put a chair on it without rollers, it might be able to slide/skid on it, though.