Carpet (Ugh) Workshop
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I have a bit of a quandary, and was hoping for some advice. I’m moving into a carpeted apartment. I will continue woodworking by hand, and I need to figure out a solution to the carpet workshop problem. After doing some lengthy searches on various forums and coming up empty (many people offer
the totally unhelpful “rip up the carpet” solution; not possible for me), I was hoping for some feedback on how to work wood in a carpeted apartment.I see the problem this way: even though woodworking by hand kicks up far less dust than machine work does, it nevertheless creates a bunch of debris that will inevitably get stuck in carpet. Imagine ripping an 8′ board over carpet! Or trying to “sweep up” the waste from a table’s worth of mortises! So the question becomes: how do you cover the carpet, keeping the dust off, and offering a cleanable floor?
My thoughts so far:
1. Build a stage/platform. Lay down some 2x2s or 2x4s and screw down some cheap 3/4″ plywood, or some inexpensive flooring. I could cover appoximately 10′ by 10′ with three sheets of plywood and 10 2x4s.
2. Lay the plywood directly on the carpet. If I went this route, I’d probably use two layers of 1/2″ ply, overlapping them to create one solid piece.
3. Lay down some laminate flooring over the carpet. I’m a bit leary of this, as laminate clearly needs a firmer base. But some people have done it with .
4. . Functionally, this would probably be the best option, but ouch, it’s expensive. $200 for a 10 x 10 area. That’s a bit hard for me to stomach.
5. Painter’s tarps. They’re cheap (Less than $30 to cover the whole room) and easy to install. But I have doubts about their durability. Would one even last me a year of frequent use? And they’re still a pain to sweep up.
Anybody have any experience here? I’m determined to make this work, and I’m open to other suggestions, too.
Thanks in advance,
Justin
I have yet to have a problem with woodworking debris in my carpet. My biggest problem is actually that the carpet compresses, and so my bench wobbles when I start putting the pressure on something. I do use a canvas dropcloth for glue ups, but the sawdust and shavings come up fine with a shopvac and normal house vac.
Yikes. Seems like at best, you have to try to choose between the least of several evils. As you said, Ugh. And none of them are particularly appealing…honestly, if it were me, I probably would go with the heavy tarp option. Something heavier than a painter’s tarp, like a heavy outdoor tarp.
What kind of workbench are you using? Maybe use sandbags to add more weight to the bench. However, it might look to tacky… I like the idea of using painter’s drop cloth and a decent vacuum..
have you thought about the rubberised flooring you can get for garage floors ive seen it in the UK in Costco stores it comes in rolls about 5 0r 6 ft wide it has the look of checker plate
Eddy .. Liverpool, Merseyside, UK
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i remember my sister once covered a carpet with lino because her son had bad eczema as a baby she stuck it down around the sides with duck tape ,it worked a treat she could also very easily brush and wash it ,i not sure if its call lino where you are but maybe its similar to what eddy is talking about kind of a rubber or heavy plastic floor covering
"we can learn what to do, by doing" Aristotle
If I were in your shoes I would think about two things:
One, a heavy treated canvas tarp. I think you could buy one big enough for less than a hundred bucks, and if taken care of it would be a lifetime purchase. Working on a crinkly plastic tarp would drive me nuts. Clean up would be pretty simple.
Second would be salvaged tongue and grove flooring or decking from somewhere. Should be less expensive and less flexible than the other options listed. I would be checking craigslist or a habitat for humanity store if those options are available to you. You don’t mention if you are in the US or somewhere else so I don’t know if those are viable. You would also be able to use it for projects or an actual floor if your living conditions changes in the future.
Washington State, USA
My own humble blog:
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Also, I wouldn’t build a stage…I would think that would raise the noise level of mortising to an unacceptable level in an apartment.
Washington State, USA
My own humble blog:
http://toolsofourfathers.wordpress.com/Thanks, all, for the suggestions and comments. Keep em comin’!
I realize that my original post has some botched hyperlinks. Sorry about that. Not sure why that happened…
– @mathbone Good to hear that someone else is facing this same problem, and that in practice, it’s not that big of a deal. I’m still a bit hesitant to work on carpet, though. I just can’t shake the impression that I would wreck the carpet in short order. Good tip on keeping the bench from moving, too. Have you managed to find a way to keep it from squirming around the shop?
– @edfly Yeah, I’ve thought about rubber flooring. That was supposed to be Bullet point 4 in my original post, but the hyperlink got mussed up. Bottom line is that flooring tiles and roles – ones that will lay down over carpet, anyway – seem to be pretty expensive. I like the idea, but yeesh, that’s pricey for a shop floor.
– @dmr400 It sounds like others agree with you: a canvas tarp would be a pretty easy and inexpensive solution. I’m thinking of basically a painter’s drop cloth, which can be had at Lowe’s for $30: http://low.es/16ufG1s (I’d embed the hyperlink, but I’ve already botched a couple). Is this what you’re thinking of? Or did you have something different in mind?
As far as I can tell, installing tongue and groove flooring over carpet is a bad idea: it shifts too much, and the tongues break. But this is all speculation and second-hand knowledge on my part. Do you have experience to the contrary?
Thanks so much!
That drop cloth is similar to what I had in mind, but I was specifically thinking about a treated waterproof version I used to use as a floor in my canvas wall tent. I think it might save you your deposit if you spill a bottle of finish or stain onto it, could be cleaned up before it soaked through to the carpet. I bought mine at a ranch and home center, about $50 for an 8×10.
As for the Tongue and Groove, I don’t have any experience. I was thinking that you would want to somehow attach them to each other so they couldn’t come apart…but at this point it’s speculation and I don’t have a good suggestion. I also probably wouldn’t hesitate to sneak a couple nails down through the carpet in the outside pieces to keep them from separating though 🙂 I think Tongue and groove decking would be a better option than flooring, thicker stock equals thicker tongues which I would think would hold up better. But to be honest if it was me, I’d probably buy the tarp 🙂
Washington State, USA
My own humble blog:
http://toolsofourfathers.wordpress.com/
Hi Justin,
Carpet.. I would put plastic and on the top and install something like that:I know you can find industrial type too.
Toronto, Canada
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Eddy .. Liverpool, Merseyside, UK
,Ok, I think I’m going the canvas drop cloth route. It just seems cheapest and easiest. I’ll report back with results.
Thanks for all the suggestions!
Justin
After a couple weeks of regular use, I’m happy to report that a canvas tarp over carpet is totally serviceable. The bench does rock a bit, especially when traversing a board or ripping a board while it’s in the vise, but I can live with it. Maybe I’ll try to load up the base with some more weight. But in the meantime, I’m still working.
Justin
Hi Justin
You could fit a tool chest under your bench to give it more stability I find that as well as giving the extra weight to the bench it is also puts your tools close to the point of use.Wigan, Lancs. England :
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