Protecting Hardwood Floor from Metal Couch Footings

4 years ago

Hi, we are moving to a home with all hardwood floors. Currently, our main couch is a sectional with recliners, and has huge metal footings under each seat (think a few feet across and several inches wide).

I'm trying to figure out what to put between the couch and the floor to not destroy my floors. The usual small felt pads or strips will not work here.

The best idea I could come up with was purchasing a roll of felt flooring underlayment (like this) and cutting it down to fit my needs. But then I also need something to attach to it so that the couch doesn't slide around the floor then.

Wanted to find out if anyone has done something similar, or has a solution I didn't think of. Any advice is welcome.

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Comments (4)

SJ McCarthy
4 years ago
Nothing. There is no need. But if you insist, you can use massive area rugs. But here's the reasoning why you do not need anything underneath:

The first thing is the feet aren't feet. They are metal beams. This is GOOD! The problem with metal feet (the size of a dog's paw) is the POUNDS PER SQUARE INCH. A small foot has HUGE pounds per square inch. You have very LOW pounds per square inch.

Here's an example of what I mean:

Eg. 1. A bar stool has 4 legs. Each foot = 1 square inch. That means the chair is resting on 4 square inches. The chair is 40 lbs (40 lbs divided by 4sq.in = 10 lbs/sqin) That means that each foot is taking on 10 lbs per square inch. Now a 360 lb person sits on that stool. The combined weight is 400 lbs. Do the math again. Each little foot is taking on 100 lbs/sq inch. Wow! That is MASSIVE (so's the person btw). Damage is likely to occur very quickly.

Eg. 2. You have a sofa sitting on metal beams. Each beam is 4ft long and 4inches wide. Each beam is 192sq inches (12inches per foot x 4 ft = 48 inches: 48inches x 4inches = 192 square inches). You have 4 of them. That's a total of 768 sq.inches of surface which the sofa is sitting on. The sofa has a total weight of 200 lbs. The pounds per square inch are VERY low (200/768 = 0.26lbs/sq inch). Now you add 4 people onto that sofa (each person weighing 200 lbs). You have a combined weight of 1000lbs (200 + 200 + 200 + 200 + 200). Now let's do the math again: 1000/768 = 1.30 lbs per square inch.

Do you see where the difference is? The stool, just sitting by itself is doing MORE DAMAGE than your sofa with 4 people sitting on it. The pounds per square inch are SOOOOOOO low that the floor isn't going to notice it.

The way to think about it is this. A needle (sewing needle, hospital needle, etc) are very small and very sharp. It takes just a SMALL amount of effort to puncture the skin. That puncture = damage. Now compare that to the rounded end of a baseball bat. It is VERY HARD to puncture the skin with a round surface like a baseball bat. If you pressed the baseball bat into your palm, it just sits there. There is no damage done (no piercing of the skin). You would have to shoot the bat out of an artillery cannon to get enough force for it to go through skin (and everything else in it's way). As gruesome as this imagery is, it is the easiest way to explain pounds per square inch and the effects it has on a wood floor.

Needless to say, your sofa is fine. Just make sure there aren't any rough barbs on those beams and your wood floor will be just fine.
Steven
4 years ago
That makes a lot of sense - thanks for the detailed explanation!

In terms of the weight distribution and such, you are absolutely correct. But my concern is more about if someone sits down too fast or jumps onto the couch and it slides 2-3mm...now it the same metal beams dragging along the wood.

That's really what I need a "solution" for.
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SJ McCarthy
4 years ago
Area rugs. They are the best 'stoppers' any sofa could ask for. Make sure at least one set of feet (usually the front feet) are set onto the area rug. That will do everything you need it to do.
M Bartlett
2 years ago
Have same issue Did you find a good solution?

Protecting Hardwood Floor from Metal Couch Footings

Comments (4)

SJ McCarthy

Steven

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