Greetings all,

This is a wood-care question...

I've come to seek your suggestions in regards to what I should put under a 220lb elliptical exercise machine on my urethane coated wood floors (I think they are made of Oak, but am not certain).

From the little information I have found on-line, it looks like plasticizers, which are commonly found in PVC and other synthetic materials, can cause oxidation to the wood's finish, resulting in a chemical-stain appearance - scary prospect! It seems that natural rubber is the safest bet to use on a urethane coated wood floor; yet it seems that some would be weary of using even natural rubber on this floor... this all brought me to the idea of using a rug pad under whatever type of mat I choose, be it rubber or PVC, but most of these rug pads seem to contain some type of sticky residue (which I would not feel safe putting on this wood floor, would you?) and are extremely thin, not nice and thick as say, a jute rug pad 3/8", which seems to be a higher grade alternative (see links below for details on what I've looked at so far).

So my dilemma is that I do not have the experience with urethane coated wood floors (or wood floors in general) to make a good decision here, one that will not result in any damage to the floor and its urethane finish. I hope you all will suggest what route is best to take. Damaging these floors would be expensive and painful to deal with so that's what I am trying to avoid here.

Should I go with natural rubber (Natural rubber exercise mat: http://www.lowes.com/pd_249285-60754-63 ... Id=1071067 ) or should I choose the cheaper PCV mat (Link: http://www.sportsauthority.com/product/ ... Id=2040790 ) ? And if yes to rubber or PVC, should I put a rug pad (Standard rug pad: http://www.lowes.com/pd_286944-67804-V1 ... Id=3030472 ) or a jute rug pad (Jute rug pad: http://www.rugpadcorner.com/5-x8-superi ... loors.aspx ) under whichever mat is chosen? Seems I could go with PVC if I had a good rug pad under it, which would save some cash. Natural rubber is 66% more in price than a PVC mat. Or do you suggest a different type of padding than shown here?

Alternatively, instead of the rubber or PVC mat approach, how good of an idea would a $60 area rug made of 100% Olefin or 90% Olefin and 10% Polyester be for this wood floor? And would I need a rug pad under it (because the back of these rugs has a checker-board pattern that is quite rough to the touch), and if yes, which rug pad is best, the flimsy one shown above or the jute rug pad, or do you guys suggest something else?

Thanks in advance for taking the time to check out my thread and for your ideas and suggestions. I'm just trying to keep these nice wood floors in great shape, and I am new to wood floors in general.

Cheers,

Bentley

Think I would use about 4-6 m.m. cork underlay under whatever carpet I chose. It's easy to trim to size, wont degrade over time, and should adequately protect your floor, both from physical abuse as well as chemical (Its a natural product)

I'd say the recycled jute or a synthetic recycled fiber pad that can breathe a bit. You can get the recycled fiber pad with or without scrim from just about any dealer or maybe big box store.