The Sewing Place

Sewing room flooring

Mamashep

Sewing room flooring
« on: June 10, 2017, 19:03:31 PM »
I need new flooring in my sewing room. MY computer is in there as well, and I have 2 wheeled chairs, which have destroyed the laminate I have at present. I do not want carpet, and do not want laminate again. I am looking for suggestions for flooring that will work with wheeled chairs, and is easy to clean.

Jo

Re: Sewing room flooring
« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2017, 19:40:26 PM »
I have ceramic floor tiles. They look great, super easy to clean and work well with caster wheels.
We have floor heating, but if you don't, they tend to be rather cold in winter.

SkoutSews

Re: Sewing room flooring
« Reply #2 on: June 10, 2017, 20:43:22 PM »
I have carpet, which was in the room already, so was the cheap and easy option. I had been thinking of laminate, but your experience goes against that.
What is the actual floor? Is it concrete, or floorboards, or what? Although it's not fashionable, vinyl floor covering comes in many different guises and is very practical. Alternatively there are a lot of the amtico types, not all as expensive as the market leader.

BrendaP

Re: Sewing room flooring
« Reply #3 on: June 10, 2017, 21:12:12 PM »
My sewing room has carpet which has been down for yonks and although a hard floor would be practical for sweeping up all the bits of thread and snippets of fabric I'm not sure that it would work.

The spare bedroom, which with one bed pushed underneath the other one gives me the biggest area of floor space available in the house, has a laminate floor but just walking across it sounds downstairs.  I think moving a chair on casters would sound awful and lead to more than a few disgruntled words from Terry.

The ideal would be a downstairs sewing room with ceramic tiles on the floor.
Brenda.  My machines are: Corona, a 1953 Singer 201K-3, Caroline, a 1940 Singer 201K-3, Thirza, 1949 Singer 221K, Azilia, 1957 Singer 201K-MK2 and Vera, a Husqvarna 350 SewEasy about 20 years old. Also Bernina 1150 overlocker and Elna 444 Coverstitcher.
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.

Ploshkin

Re: Sewing room flooring
« Reply #4 on: June 10, 2017, 22:21:48 PM »
We have laminate floor throughout the house (because we have underfloor heating) except where it is tiled.  When the house was done the builder recommended getting a laminate with a commercial guarantee rather than just domestic.  It's tough as old boots and it doesn't get marked at all by wheelie chairs or stuff being dragged around.  I find it useful in my sewing room because I can hear when a pin or needle falls on the floor.
Life's too short for ironing.

elephun

Re: Sewing room flooring
« Reply #5 on: June 10, 2017, 22:34:37 PM »
I put flor Fedora down as an area rug in the sewing room on top of the polished concrete flooring, thinking the carpet would keep pins and things from bouncing too far away when they fell, and that the extremely low pile it would be easy to keep clean. My flooring combination looks something like the photo below that I pulled off of the flor website, except my flor is a gray-blue that appears to be discontinued now.



The flor Fedora carpet is easy to see pins on, so there's no real danger of stepping on sharp things, which is great. This carpet does not offer much of a cushion, but it's better than standing on the concrete floor alone. It's easier to glide chairs and tables on than a plush carpet.

The carpet collects threads snips and fuzz like crazy. It's like velcro for some of those bits. I use one of those giant lint rollers on it, but I probably should have been religious about rolling it after each sewing day from the beginning in order to have kept the carpet pristine. As it is, my carpet is now a darker hue than it started out because of all the dark fibers I use. Fibers get nestled into the grooves between the individual carpet tiles.

All-in-all, I prefer having the flor carpet to just having the concrete floor, it's just not as neat and clean as I want it to look.

I suppose I could start over with the charcoal color, and a promise to de-lint every session  :loveit:



Mama likes to make

Re: Sewing room flooring
« Reply #6 on: June 10, 2017, 23:19:47 PM »
I agree with ploshkin about commercial laminate flooring. We did the kids bedroom in it last year and honestly it still looks as good as the day it went down. There is furniture dragged around the room (they like re arranging!) and at least once a day someone is building trains or playing cars and rolling them ⎌around on it.
2018 fabric used 12m.
2018 wardrobe items completed 6.

Ploshkin

Re: Sewing room flooring
« Reply #7 on: June 11, 2017, 06:31:42 AM »
Our laminate has been down for 6 years and is as good as new.
Life's too short for ironing.

Swisslass

Re: Sewing room flooring
« Reply #8 on: June 11, 2017, 09:28:08 AM »
I would look at laminate again, I've got it in my sewing room, it's extremely practical, and easy to install. It's been down a few years and still looks good, it would look even better if i stop the chair castors gumming up with thread!
I'd like to think I was inspired, but maybe sewing is just hard wired

Surest1tch

Re: Sewing room flooring
« Reply #9 on: June 11, 2017, 10:47:59 AM »
Cushion floor, in hindsight I wish I'd put that down in my sewing room instead of carpet but I was thinking of trying to keep the noise down instead of the practical side.  I've got cushion floor in my kitchen and it's a dream to keep clean despite having a muck magnet labrador and it's warm underfoot.

Hachi

Re: Sewing room flooring
« Reply #10 on: June 11, 2017, 13:44:43 PM »
I don't know if Pergo is popular in the U.K., but it's a brand of laminate flooring, and it's pretty durable and scratch resistant. It's not as high-valued as hardwood flooring but considered better (and valued higher) than other laminate flooring in the U.S.

I had tiled floor too. It was also durable but may not be as easy to clean as hardwood or laminate because if you mop it, the grout gets dirty over time, and you may have to re-seal it in the future.

I also had engineered wood floor too (though not in my sewing room). The modern surface finish allows less fussy cleaning than required for old fashion hardwood floor; no waxing or special cleaning solution needed(I just mopped mine with a bit of vinegar).

Is using a plastic floor protector under your chair an option?

Jo

Re: Sewing room flooring
« Reply #11 on: June 11, 2017, 13:46:09 PM »
Just wanted to mention that there are also casters made for wood/laminate floors. They are rubber or silicone coated and don't destroy your floors :)

QuiltySisty

Re: Sewing room flooring
« Reply #12 on: June 11, 2017, 19:21:40 PM »
I've got bamboo flooring in my sewing room. It looked lovely when we moved into the house (although with a few scratches as it was the kid's playroom before we moved in) but the casters on my Wheely chairs have made denty bits in it. I don't want it to get any worse so I'll look into getting the special casters! Thanks for the tip Jo!

We've just had amtico style vinyl tiles put down in the hall and I think they'd work really well for a sewing room - super easy to clean, not as chilly on the feet as tiles and nowhere for the pins to hide!

Gernella

Re: Sewing room flooring
« Reply #13 on: June 14, 2017, 10:47:54 AM »
Whatever you do go with flat.  I wanted laminate but the floor upstairs was not level on one point (pillar underneath that got a bit too high).  Levelling would have added to the cost so I went with carpet, which looks great, when it is clean, but more often than not is covered with bits of thread, cat litter, fabric scraps and sometimes pins.  A flat surface would have meant it was cleared out every time I left.  The kitchen has laminate, that never looks untidy and DH brings half a field in every time he comes in, it is just so easy to clean as is any flat surface.

I had cushion floor in the kitchen but it got wear points, however the conservatory flooring just looks the same as when it was installed 30 years ago (thank goodness I  went with  all white and a slight pattern) so you should have no problems in a sewing  room.

Enjoy spending the money. <3
Stash extension 2024- 6.1 meters
Left at the end of 2023 - 66 meters now (includes fabric found hidden out of sight)  Lining fabric not included

Ohsewsimple

Re: Sewing room flooring
« Reply #14 on: June 14, 2017, 12:18:41 PM »
I have laminate in my room and had no problem with the wheely chair.  My son put it down when he was at uni.  He's 32 now so it's done well.  I can hear when I knock something off including pins.  I was forever trying to get pins out of the carpet before.  I am liking the idea of special castors as the only problem I have is rolling across the floor when I don't want to! :o :)