The Framers Forum

I'm just about to refresh my framing counter and wondered what people were using to cover the counter top.

Obviously not something that is attractive to velcro, otherwise moulding chevrons will stick to it, and would have to be something resistent to wear and grime, maybe easily and cheaply replaceable/refreshable, and most importantly, smart looking.

All comments and suggestions gratefully received.

I've used carpet tiles on mine, BUT be careful which type. You do not want the looped pile, and you don't want nylon, and you don't want patterns.

I went on eBay, found some cut pile top of the range tiles in dark grey where they had about 20 left, think it cost me about £45 for the lot. I use this area as a workbench/fitting area on occasions as well as a customer counter so this works well for me, as it is easy to keep clean with the vacuum cleaner.

I use a piece of kitchen carpet on mine. Same for all the workbenches. As Jim says, avoid strong patterns. They make your eyes go funny under bright lights. You can often find good bits in 'end of roll' bins.

Are you on about the counter. ie Customer counter
or
Workshop table top.

On our customer counter we have the lockable wood laminate flooring.

As per previous answer we have laminate flooring on our counter. And we use router mat on our assembly bench. All others are covered in backing board covered with mountcard.

Try very low pile carpet tiles.Spray the ones in the centre with a small amount of adhesive then when you get to one layer from the edge fire a couple of staples along them.As they get dirty or wear out just pull them up and replace.
When they're all down give them a good brush with a stiff brush then a thorough hoovering.Iff you do that regularly no problems.I've been using them for 15 years .( when I was framing).
We tried everything and the tiles were the most economic and they always looked good at the end of the day.
Tony

I like carpet because you can flip frames face-down without risk of marking them as you might a hard surface.

My counter top is made from oak veneered 18mm MDF. It was about £50 for an 8'x4' sheet. It's finished with Liberon stain and finishing oil. Its about 7 years old now, has moved workshop twice, and is a little scratched, but still looks good and has a nice worn in appearance. I used a Rose and Hollis oak spacer (F3 I think) to edge it, this is glued and pinned flush with the top.

Another bench I sometimes use as a customer counter is topped with white melamine faced chipboard, it's usually used for all mounting tasks as the surface is easy to wipe clean and keep dust free.

My front of shop counter is solid beech work top, very pretty, and sandable if it gets too scratched, it is 40mm thick.
My framing bench has carpet, on top of that is a bed sheet, which i can changed regularly. I nip out to the local charity shop, there are about 15 within a stones throw, and pick up a nice flat double sheet. I get a brand new surface to work on every time, and a choice of colours! Have learned that pale colours are best, and plain obviously...!!

White!
I have a mirror at 45 degrees to the counter top so the frame looks like it is hanging on the wall, in the mirror!

Not everyone hangs frames on wood walls, so that I think that might be a bit distracting.

Hi, we have just had to not only recover our benches, etc, but rebuild them again after a flood. What we have used this time for workshop benches is a very tight weaved carpet tile, we searched the internet for decent ones, but ended up at our local B&Q store, where we got a pack of 10 for just under £1.50. (somehow I think that was wrong, I think they should have been £1.50 each) But anyhoo....The tiles look great, and have been adhered to the MDF top by carpet spray adhesive, (for easy removeal and replacement)

We fully intend doing our new showroom counter using the same tiles and methods.
Hope that helps,

Steven

I'm not too keen on the wood idea but the black carpet tiles would work a treat. Thanks everyone for your comments.

Jon.

We use carpet tiles. The place next door to us was a carpet showroom and we got as many as we needed plus some spares all for a fiver. I think they charged us more for a can of spray adhesive!

Don't try and do any finishing work on them though as the fibres tend to get picked up by any static.

I've just switched to a piece of lino, an offcut I got from a local flooring shop. It's non slip, has a little give but not too much, easily wiped down or swept, no fibres to get onto anything.

ChrisG