If you have a home office with hardwood floors, your office chair—especially if it’s one with wheels—can cause unwanted scratches and wear over time. While hardwood is durable, it’s still vulnerable to damage from debris and repeated friction. To maintain your floor’s beauty and longevity, here are some effective ways to protect your wood floor from your office chair.
Why Office Chairs Can Damage Wood Floors
Few things can scuff, scratch, and wear hardwood floors like a rolling office chair. If you don’t take precautions, your hardwood floor could end up looking like an overused cutting board. Aside from the chair wheels themselves wearing down the finish, debris underneath them can scuff the panels as you roll over it.
If your floors are hickory or mahogany, scratches or scuff marks can be less noticeable than with oak or maple flooring. But with heavy use, any type of flooring will begin to show wear and tear without the right protection. In an office, the top priority is to protect your hardwood floor from your desk chair.
How to Protect Wood Floors From Chair Wheels
Office chairs and wood flooring can be a difficult match, leading to unattractive worn patches. But don’t trade your desk chair wheels for hardwood floors just yet. Below are some ways you can protect hardwood floors from a desk chair to keep them looking great for years.
Clean the Floor
It may sound overly simple, but even small specs of dirt, dust, and food crumbs can scratch your hardwood floors, especially when chair wheels carry them across the floors. Try to avoid eating lunch or snacking at your desk to prevent crumbs. If you take a working lunch at your desk, do a quick sweep after your meal. Protect wood floors from chair wheels by using a broom or a vacuum with a brush attachment, and avoid using the wheels on your vacuum because they could also scuff the floors.
Lift Your Chair When Possible
One of top ways to protect your hardwood floor from a rolling chair is to be more mindful of how you’re moving the chair. Heavy objects and furniture can scratch or dent your floorboards, and an office chair is no exception—especially if you’re attempting to move it while still sitting in it. Instead of screeching your wheels against the hardwood floor, carry it when you can. Pulling your chair out to sit down or moving it slightly to get comfortable is OK, but remember to lift your weight from the seat and move the chair gently.
Lay Down a Chair Mat
Chair mats for hardwood floors protect your floor from a chair’s wheels and can give you a smoother glide. Just be careful when using plastic mats because they can collect grit beneath them and ruin your floor’s finish.
Instead, when shopping for wood floor protection from an office chair, choose a mat made from polyvinyl chloride, glass, or polycarbonate. You should also clean under the mat at least once a week and inspect the floors for discoloration or fading.
Decorate With an Area Rug
If you’re not into the look of a desk floor mat, there are more stylish options for a wood floor rolling chair protector. A woven area rug is more aesthetically pleasing than a chair mat and it can cover a wider area if you have a large desk.
Rugs also muffle chair noise, providing you and others with a quiet, relaxing workspace. Keep in mind that a rug might allow more debris under it and hold it in its fibers, so make sure to clean it regularly to get rid of stubborn dirt that can rub against your wooden flooring.
Place Cardboard Under the Rolling Chair
Did you recently purchase a desk chair or install new flooring? A quick and easy way to protect hardwood floors from office chair damage is to use cardboard as a mat. While not a long-term office chair on wood floor protector, cardboard can be effective (and inexpensive) until you find the perfect area rug or mat. Simply place one or several thicker pieces of cardboard under your chair to act as a cushion between your wheels and the floor.
Cover Your Rigid Casters With Soft Cloths or Duct Tape
Another creative, short-term way to protect hardwood from a rolling chair is to wrap duct tape, fabric, or another soft material around your chair’s wheels to prevent scraping. Additionally, applying duct tape will help keep the chair’s casters in place so they do not swivel against your floorboards.
These makeshift solutions will wear down quickly — not to mention give your new office chair a funny look — but they can protect your floor while you shop for a more permanent solution.
Check Your Chair’s Casters and Wheels
A chair wheel attaches to your chair through the caster, which holds it in place and helps it move. While you may remember to sweep the floor area, casters can also become dirty or broken over time, causing damage to your floors.
To protect hardwood from your office chair and keep your chair functioning properly, inspect the casters periodically for damage and debris. Clean dirty casters by removing them from the base and rinsing them in warm, soapy water. Just be sure to gently lay your chair on its side on towels or another padded surface.
Replace or Remove the Wheel Casters
Hard plastic or nylon casters could put too much pressure on your hardwood floors. Replace them with a softer material, such as neoprene, rubber, or urethane. There are also hardwood casters designed specifically to protect a wood floor from a rolling chair.
Replacing or removing your chair’s wheel casters is easier and more cost-effective than having to replace your wood flooring due to damage
Change Your Office Chair Wheels
You can also replace the wheels on your office chair with smoother ones. Some chairs feature wheels that are similar to those found on roller skates. Even though these components can still scuff up your floors if you’re not careful, they’re much softer. Replacing your chair’s wheels is super easy—you can typically just pop off your current set and insert the new wheels with no tools required.
Buy a New Office Chair
Instead of replacing the wheels and casters to protect your wood floor from your office chair, you might switch out the whole chair. If you’re looking to replace or update your office chair, consider one with high-end wheels or get an office chair made for hardwood floors.
Put Felt Protectors on Your Furniture Legs
If you decide to remove the wheels or casters from your office chair, there are still precautionary steps you need to take. Make sure you put felt pads on the furniture legs so they don’t dent or scratch your hardwood floors. This will also allow for smoother, quieter movements when you sit down or get up.
Even if your chair does not have wheels, consider using a rug or chair mat. The extra cushion and protection won’t hurt, and rugs double as beautiful decor for your office space.
Apply a Polyurethane Wood Finish
If you’ve had your office chair wheels on hardwood floors previously, your floors may already have some damage. If you notice scratches on your hardwood flooring and you want to make it look brand-new again, consider refinishing it.
Resurface your hardwood floors to remove any current wear, and then apply an oil- or water-based polyurethane finish to revive your floor’s shine. After the finish has dried, you can lay down an area rug or a chair mat to make sure you don’t have to refinish your floors again for years.
Replace Your Wood Floors
Sometimes, the previous damage to your wood floors is just too extensive. While you can try to cover it up with rugs or mats, it may be best to get a fresh start. Now that you know how your office chair can affect hardwood floors, you can look for more durable flooring and protective coatings for your new hardwood floor.
By following the recommendations above, your new floors will be sure to stay beautiful for years to come.
Schedule an Appointment With 50Floor
At 50Floor, we can help you protect your wood floor from your office chair. We offer a floor care guide that gives you the tools you need to keep your office floor looking its best for years to come. If you need new hardwood flooring, schedule an appointment for us to come to your house and show you samples of robust hardwood species for your new floor.
With our in-home consultations, our expert staff can identify your flooring needs and guide your shopping experience. For more information about our inventory, call us at 1-800-50-FLOOR.