So I have berber carpet and put a  chair mat on it at my desk......they keep F'ing cracking!!!!

Every review I read on Amazon bitches about this, any help?  This last one cracked with such sharp edges, my 3 year old cut her feet.  Hell, its worse than stepping on Lego's in the middle of the night.

Any good experiences??

Tile Floor

4x4 sheet of masonite with a 1/4" plywood backer.
 

The one's I've bought from Sam's have been excellent.

I had one of those plastic mats
my chair's rollers made dents in it so the chair would get stuck
I covered it with plywood since I'm not concerned about looks

Lose Weight...........

Get a box or two of laminate flooring and use that.

Assuming you're not inclined to rip up that damned carpet and replace with a proper wood floor, mix fiberglass resin and catalyst, saturate your berber, allow to harden and enjoy your new free-wheeling floor.

In another life I was in a sector of the industrial plastics business but we had some literature and connections to commercial and retail plastics and I remember there were thicker heavy duty mats. But no body but this one outfit in L.A. handled them. One time I called him, I don't remember if it was for us or a customer but the old grumpy guy that ran the place said yeah we have them but....it was Winter and even though they were in Los Angeles, it was cold enough that the Vinyl the stuff is made from (remember thermoplastic not thermoset) came on a roll and he just wouldn't screw with it untill Summer when he said they put it out in the Sun to warm up. Bascially he never wanted to dick with it at all.

There may be other solutions now.
I have cheap, thin, cracked ones that my 4x4 office chair gets stuck in.


Oh and I guy I worked with had to rout those things to shape when he was a kid. He said it was the "new guy" job that was so miserable that people would start their new job at 8:00 am and a lot of them just walked out before noon.
I sure the new CNC routers or cutters are easier now.

U a fattie?

I have been dealing with the same problem as the OP.  Never thought to look up the problem on ARFcom though.    

Costco sells Bamboo chair mats for $199.99.  You could probably replace the carpet with bamboo flooring for 3-4 times that amount depending on room size, but if a chair mat is what you're after, then try those.

yeah...



mine doesn't break/crack like that but I've seen them do just that.  What mine does is allow the wheels to sink in a bit and create little depressions.  Thus failing at it's purpose of making it easy to roll around...



It is really about the same as just being on the carpet...



For me it is a minor annoyance that I'd like to fix but haven't yet got around to fixing. And at least the carpet is somewhat protected.
So I've thought about how I would fix it...  Plywood.  or maybe some other board with a counter-top like finish or laminate if I cared about looks.  I... You... need something rigid for the chair to be on.

I've been working from home for more than 10 years with a mat on carpet.

The only solution is to replace your mat every year, or buy one of the more expensive wood ones

Replace it every year or two when it cracks.

Kharn

Thread title is misleading, I was going to suggest wearing a rubber.

the little prickly things on the bottom of the mat would really require a sadist to enjoy.......

at the risk of explaining the joke...



F'ing chair Materials...



Mats ... Materials...



 

Fire,.....definitely fire.


It's the only way to be sure.

i've had one i bought from staples, had it several years now, ... maybe i noticed one tiny hairline crack, but it isn't anything that is going to hurt your feet.    though, as others have stated, it does suffer from the "impressions" left by my chairs casters when sitting in one spot for a while...

I bought a big square wood laminate chair mat from Costco several years ago and it's still like new.  The cheap plastic ones were always a problem.  Glad I switched.  I don't see it on their web site (I bought it at the store) but the bamboo ones look like they would last.

Buy a thicker mat.  I use one to stay off the very nice tropical hardwood floor.  Been on it 2 years.



If you carpet is very plush - it may not be supporting the mat enough.  Go thicker.

Someone here needs to invent a chair that hovers.  No mat needed.  And make it comfy too.