Blowing glass in a carpeted room.

[FoggyMountain]

I may be moving to a nice house which has a renovated garage. It is carpeted and suprisingly I still am given the OK to blow glass inside of it, thanks to my business owners insurance. However i still need to be safe and am trying to think of a way to make a nice workable floor surface that will be stable and not mess with my back as well as protect the carpet.

I was thinking of Plywood covered with sheet metal, but i don't want it to wobble or flex between the seems...... hmm

I was also thinking maybe plywood with concrete board on top?

Any better cheaper ideas?

[cc_bob]

Can you take the carpet up and put it back when you move out?

[FoggyMountain]

I am not sure, but she said it wasn't the greatest carpet to begin with , so maybe i could? Thats a good option, i prefer concrete.

[themoch]

maybe it's a really flat carpet like the kind they put in office buildings or schools and you wont have to worry so much.

unless you're using small pieces of plywood i don't see how that would be a problem... you won't get much wobble once you put a table ontop of it.

[phab]

...whatever you go with, plywood or hardi backer just be sure to stagger the joints so they arent all in the same line. that means 1 sheet you can cut in half so when you start the second row the joints will be staggered and it will be better than if all the joints were in the same line.

removing the carpet and storing it sounds better and cheaper tho.

[mistahead]

i love the smell of burnt carpet in the morning.

[vetropod]

If you're not covering too large an area, get one of those plastic mats for under an office chair (made for chair to roll easily.) They have short spikes on the bottom and stay in place really well.

I use this under my workbench (mat is about 4'x4'), BUT the carpet in my studio is really short. Also, I'm not too worried about the occasional meteorite as the carpet was shitty to begin with - the landlord has been replacing them lately as new tenants move in (this is an office building, BTW.)

[Turning Point Glass]

I used hardibacker-type concrete boards on top of carpet and layed some sand in the seems. I had this setup for three years without any problems.

[Dom]

If your landlord says its not the greatest carpet then I would ask about removing it.

[Unkl Ian]

If you can't remove the carpet, check out "Tongue and Groove plywood",
commonly used for floors. The edges fit together, so you don't get movement.

New carpet is probably cheaper than doing a fire resistant sub floor.
Maybe pay upfront, for a new carpet, to be installed after you leave.
Then rip out the old stuff.

Landlord gets a new carpet, you get a solid floor.

[vetropod]

New carpet is probably cheaper than doing a fire resistant sub floor. Maybe pay upfront, for a new carpet, to be installed after you leave. Then rip out the old stuff.

Landlord gets a new carpet, you get a solid floor.

^ best idea yet!

[midniteburner]

Can you take the carpet up and put it back when you move out?

That's the best option or you may be replacing it anyway with new carpet.

Sara

[MUPH]

Hot glass falling on the carpet will ruin any chance of salvage

[Glassroots]

Just don't drop anything on it.......DUH

[bc]

buy a vacuum....

[FoggyMountain]

I used hardibacker-type concrete boards on top of carpet and layed some sand in the seems. I had this setup for three years without any problems.

I like this one. It seems easy and fast. However i still need to price materials. I want at least a 10X15 section squared off and i need to see how to do that cheapest.

The capet is shag, not short otherwise i wouldn't worry so much about being on shaky ground.