WheelchairDriver

hi all just wondered what other wheelchair users use for flooring where the chair is used?i have what was sold as heavt duty lino and even small stones in the tyre treads have left damage,carpet obviously a no go,what lasts? any ideas welcome,cheers all

Laminate vinyl planks, you will need a good level floor if you don't have the Floor screeded. They must be fitted by someone who knows what they are doing and the most important thing you need the planks that does not have already adhesive on.

I do 2 things.

Half my ground floor is ceramic floor tiles, and these are on to concrete. Been down 20 years. Look exactly the same today as when installed.
The other half was industrial carpet tiles in dark grey. Almost impossible to damage. When one gets paint/shit/oil/whatever on that cannot be cleaned off, I just swap out a handful as required. All are exacty the same in every room inc my bedroom, hallway, living room, etc. So only need keep one type of spare! I have 6 boxes of extra tiles. These look just as good as when first put in around 6 years ago.

Uncleaned for 4 or 5 weeks.
https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/images ... 0_0159.JPG
They look like new again after a quick clean and polish a decade and a half on.
https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/images ... ting-1.jpg

Ceramic tiles on concrete floor. bathroom. Also a decade old.
https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/images-house/1%20(24).jpg

Wet room floor. Welded vynl and doesent wear as far as I can tell. Gets dirty, car "back to black" sorts that in 15 mis like new.
https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/images-house/1%20(45).jpg

Bedroom-workshop carpet tiles.
https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/images ... 0_2462.JPG

Same carpet tiles living room. Aso in hallway. All through house in one go.
https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/images ... 600JPG.jpg
https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/images ... 0_2469.JPG
These are the sort of carpet tiles used on shop dooways, airports etc. They cost more. They are very tough.

Non of those show any sign of use after many many years. If you look after them.

Stone and ceramic tile last well IF you have a good solid base (i.e solid concrete floor) but will fail if there is any flex in the floor under them, and given the weight of power-chair + user, we will get flex on floors that would be fine under an AB... I'd be hesitant to use them on a typical US wooden joist construction floor....

I have heard that the better grades of laminated 'wood' flooring hold up pretty well if properly installed, but no practical experience... If nothing else, I'd suggest looking for products intended for commercial / industrial use as opposed to residential...

ex-Gooserider

I'd be hesitant to use them on a typical US wooden joist construction floor....

On concrete which doesent move at least enough to detect, and which expands and contracts at the same small rates as the tiles, it is basically permanant. Thats most of my house. So tiles on batroom, kitchen etc work great and dont deteriorate.

Only one room here downstairs is a wood floor. My living room. It uses the carpet tiles.

On wood, even heavy marine ply, its not great. Wood moves, expands, contracts and tiles dont... On wood floors the industrial carpet tiles are the way to go. Very hard wearing, easily replaced in small areas iff needed in the future.

Burgerman wrote:I do 2 things.

Half my ground floor is ceramic floor tiles, and these are on to concrete. Been down 20 years. Look exactly the same today as when installed.
The other half was industrial carpet tiles in dark grey. Almost impossible to damage. When one gets paint/shit/oil/whatever on that cannot be cleaned off, I just swap out a handful as required. All are exacty the same in every room inc my bedroom, hallway, living room, etc. So only need keep one type of spare! I have 6 boxes of extra tiles. These look just as good as when first put in around 6 years ago.

Uncleaned for 4 or 5 weeks.
https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/images ... 0_0159.JPG
They look like new again after a quick clean and polish a decade and a half on.
https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/images ... ting-1.jpg

Ceramic tiles on concrete floor. bathroom. Also a decade old.
https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/images-house/1%20(24).jpg

Wet room floor. Welded vynl and doesent wear as far as I can tell. Gets dirty, car "back to black" sorts that in 15 mis like new.
https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/images-house/1%20(45).jpg

Bedroom-workshop carpet tiles.
https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/images ... 0_2462.JPG

Same carpet tiles living room. Aso in hallway. All through house in one go.
https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/images ... 600JPG.jpg
https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/images ... 0_2469.JPG
These are the sort of carpet tiles used on shop dooways, airports etc. They cost more. They are very tough.

How thick are the carpet tiles?
What do they stick to the concrete floor with?
Do they sell them on Amazon?

Have a read, this is just a shop. https://www.birchcarpets.co.uk/heavy-duty-carpets
There are many different super hard wearing carpets and carpet tiles.

They are self adhesive. To get a super tough bond, you also spread a layer of PVA (like wood glue, used thinned with water) over the concrete or wood floor first to seal the surface. It leaves a surface that the self adhesive tiles stick really well onto. You cant get them up without a big fight. But it can be done. And then replaced easily too.

Yes you can get them on amazon. But better to get industrial quality ones. Heavy traffic area ones. Those are what you see when you enter an airport doorway or whatever. In the bank. Places with heavy foot traffic, suitcase tractors, and wheeled cleaners etc.

Burgerman wrote:They are self adhesive. To get a super tough bond, you also spread a layer of PVA (like wood glue, used thinned with water) over the concrete or wood floor first to seal the surface. It leaves a surface that the self adhesive tiles stick really well onto. You cant get them up without a big fight. But it can be done. And then replaced easily too.

Yes you can get them on amazon. But better to get industrial quality ones. Heavy traffic area ones. Those are what you see when you enter an airport doorway or whatever. In the bank. Places with heavy foot traffic, suitcase tractors, and wheeled cleaners etc.

I understand.
How do you clean that industrial carpet?

Wet vac.

But you generally dont need to. As much. But they are safe very wet. Becase the fibres are all bonded to a hard stiff rubber base.

https://rubberfloorings.co.uk/collectio ... avy-duty-1

Theres also this. It is stuck down with adhesive. Very hard wearing. But not very homely.

well i have spent several days and a good few hundred pounds but have done a thorough job including fixing the dodge job the installer made when fitting the french doors it seems other than about 6 screws and a dab of flexible sealer is enough for them,i spent a while and gouged out all the sealer and have used mortar and careful sealing of the concrete floor with pva,then have fitted anthracite colour industrial carpet tiles,painted the entire room and put together new pine furniture and designed the room around the ease of access for everything for tina and today had out first ever in 30 odd years brand new to us sofa,pleather of course.
now all we got left is to do the hallway and replace the crap thin pockmarked lino,cheers for the advice again,peace all

You owe us a picture...

Hes replacing the lino...

martin007 wrote:You owe us a picture...

here you go taken on the wrong setting so grainy looking but give an idea of the finished job,spent rather more than intended but i wanted to do the job right and thats not cheap.


just joking but was tempted! can you imagine tinas face?
proper pics to follow.

Burgerman wrote:Hes replacing the lino...

not yet! i spent today doing the finishing touches in the frontroom this is after having to do serious mortar work on the floors at every doorway due to the use of those goddamned horrid nail gun nails previously used to hold the ali threshold strips to the concrete,it seems someone tried invain to remove them and smashed up all the concrete and just stuck them down with no more nails!
i could not do that so i repaired the concrete and preset rawlbolts in the right place and then if they require lifting in future its easy,not hard to do it right so i wonder why people dont.
anyhow a couple of grainy pics after i finished today,should have been doing my chair but not stopped raining all day
thanks again for the advice re flooring.



more to follow,

You still have that potato.

Burgerman wrote:You still have that potato.

youve lost me,what potato?
well tina is happy with the commercial carpet tiles having driven the chair round on it and the dogs approve so instead of new lino the hallway is getting the same,ive done half of it with the extras from the frontroom and monday some more should come and i can finish it,even going to get one of those robot hoover things as they claim it deals well with short pile carpet and if it doesnt deal well it will get returned at there cost and a full refund given.
got to save up the pennies again first though! i shall get some decent pic when its finished on bros posh camera,peace all

youve lost me,what potato?

The one you used to take the pictures with.

Have you changed the pavement yourself?

Burgerman wrote:The one you used to take the pictures with.

The photos lack resolution...

They lack correct exposure, resolution, focus, lens sharpness, contrast, colour accuracy, colour temperature balance, and consist mostly of noise! You need to throw away the potato that you picked up by mistake! Its taking exactly the sort of images you would expect a potato to take!

It seems to belong to an old mobile phone camera.

Photos from phones are frankly crap even if its new. Thats why have a dumb disposabe flip phone. With a month of battery life. And a real computer for the internet, a real camera for fotos, and all work a million times better than the advertising companies "smart" phone/devices...

Burgerman wrote:Photos from phones are frankly crap even if its new. Thats why have a dumb disposabe flip phone. With a month of battery life. And a real computer for the internet, a real camera for fotos, and all work a million times better than the advertising companies "smart" phine/devices...

I have (and sometimes i use) a 3330 Nokia.
Are you capable of surpassing me Burgerman?

No idea what that is. I got 2 phones for £30 on amazon 12 years ago. The 2nd one is still unused.
I have run over it with a wheelchair, used it as a something to throw at my dog when trying to atteact his attention, and dropped it in the road so many times I lost count. Still works great as a PHONE. Its batt life is down to 20 days...
Its a bog basic doro. It doesnt do anything but call. And thats great. Its a phone, that is its purpose.

Pretty similar, but mine flips... Like star trek communicators.