Carpet In The Shop Area

[giles45shop]

The only drawback to horse stall mats is that they are heavy and somewhat awkward to handle if this is a temporary mat that you are moving around frequently. If that's the case, they do make mats in the same rubber material in 4x5 or 4x6 sizes that are perforated. These are much easier to move around. If it's semi-permanent, then disregard that advice. My go-to mat is an outdoor rug that my wife got for free from a big RV show. They were used as props at the show and look like a miniature football field, but are ~ 4x10' when unfolded. The material is like a woven polypropylene material that has thickness and "cush". It's made to be folded up, so I leave it folded which results in a pad that's about 3/4-1" thick. It's lightweight and more comfortable that horse mats or carpet due to the extra cushioning. I typically don't do a lot of heavy grinding or welding directly on it, but being polypropylene it's also stain proof.

 

[Aisin]

The stall mats cab be had in half size. 4x3 they are slightly thinner at .50” compared to the bigger 4x6 ones. Bonus is they have a 5 year warranty on them.

 

[SomeGuy]

I've got some rubber role diamond pattern mats that are pretty thin but definitely beat the straight concrete floor. Can buy it by the foot at princess auto, probably have 30-40 feet of it because I got a bunch on sale.

Otherwise, $10 outdoor mats with rubber backing. Any normal carpet just gets destroyed and is gross instantly, I would never use it.

 

[Stuck]

Grab a few sleeping bag mats or the thick yoga mats. I use them all the time. If I do have to work on gravel Ill throw down cardboard then the mat.

 

[clodhopper]

I cant do creeper carts. Even the really low slung carts raise me up too much and I feel like my nose is touching the chassis. Then I go to turn a wrench and the cart starts rolling around and I cant get leverage. I have tried many times, but anymore the creeper hangs on the wall unused. It was a fathers day gift from the kids years and years ago, so I cannot throw it out. So there it hangs.

I now have a barn I use for a shop and it has a dirt floor. I have several sheets of plywood that I put down before I work on a vehicle (car, tractor, what have you). Sometimes I will toss a scrap of cardboard on the plywood to help slide my butt in, but usually the plywood is enough. Even with the seams between the sheets, it is still better than laying on cold concrete, which I did for years. At this point, even if I had a concrete floor, I would still put down the plywood before working under a car.

 

[FleshEater]

I hated my Craftsman creeper, but I got a Snap On creeper with a used tool deal and it’s freaking awesome.

The bubble wrap idea is actually pretty clever. You could tape big cardboard rectangles together for a core and wrap it with bubble wrap.