Realizing you might need ESD flooring is only the beginning. How can you be sure you’re choosing the right floor for your application and environment? On this page, you’ll find info on the different types of ESD flooring (also known as antistatic flooring or static-control flooring) along with our flooring selector chart to help you find the best product for your needs.
Have a question? Give us a call – 617-923-2000 – or email [email protected].
Different types of ESD flooring Staticworx offers
Realising you might need ESD flooring is only the beginning. With a range of ESD flooring types available, how can you be sure you’re choosing the right one for your application and environment? In some projects, one particular product will solve the problem best. For other clients, a combination of materials might be a better solution.
But where to start? Here we provide information about the different types of ESD flooring, including their risk factors and pros and cons. We’ve also included our flooring selector chart to help you find the best product for your needs. We’ve also built our comprehensive Guide to ESD Flooring.
If you’d like to talk to us, we will always be glad to hear from you. Give us a call – 617-923-2000 – or email [email protected].
Discover StaticWorx ESD Carpet
ESD carpet has come a long way since so-called “computer-grade” carpeting – treated with a topical anti-stat – designed to protect people from experiencing static shocks.
The conductive fibers in ShadowFX static-dissipative carpet tiles are wound into the yarn bundle, creating an almost infinite number of electrical contact points, for a fast and reliable path to ground. Random non-directional designs coupled with the extremely low modification ratio of our fibers makes ShadowFX carpet tile robust enough to provide many years of static protection. Making it ideal even for high-traffic environments – such as electronics assembly, 9-1-1 call centers and other telecom and public safety spaces.
Lower Installation Costs
Our ShadowFX carpet tile can be placed directly over old epoxy, access floors, vinyl tile or uneven concrete, lowering installation costs.
Glue-free installations
ShadowFX carpet tiles can be installed with clean, fast-drying release adhesives or with a free-floating method using TacTiles and GroundbridgeTM conductive underlayment.
If the carpet is accidentally damaged, tiles are easily replaced without special tools by simply lifting the damaged tile and setting a new tile in its place, laying it directly into the old adhesive or GroundBridge installation.
Like any material, carpet is not right for every application. It cannot accommodate heavy loads such as forklifts and pallet jacks, for instance; it’s also difficult to roll heavy carts (> 500 pounds) or systems on small wheels. Carpet has low resistance to chemicals and solvents, and, with its textured, multi-colored surface, small electronic parts dropped on the floor may be hard to find.
The biggest challenge lies in finding carpet with permanent static-control performance that also meets the safety requirements for flooring used around operational computers and electrical equipment. Conductive carpet tiles measuring below 1 x 10E6 are too conductive for use in end-user environments such as call centers, 9-1-1 dispatch operations, telecommunications, flight towers and server rooms.
Grounding and safety standards for telecommunications facilities, PSAPs, and FAA flight-control towers* forbid the use of highly conductive floors in areas where people work with energized equipment. To meet these standards, specifiers should require electrical resistance between any two points (RTT) on the floor to measure at least 1 x 10E6 (1 million ohms) or above.
Standards include: Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions ATIS-0600321, Electrical Protection for Network Operator-type Equipment Positions, Motorola R56, and FAA 019f.
ESD epoxy is a durable, low-cost ESD flooring option. The least expensive epoxy coatings are black. Epoxies also come in solid colors, typically used in parking garages and aircraft hangars, for instance – as well as in multiple colors, patterns, and textures.
In areas constantly exposed to heavy loads and high traffic, epoxy can be a practical, cost-effective ESD flooring choice.
While epoxy coatings are ruggedly hard, the shiny slickness of the floor poses a slip and fall risk, and sound tends to bounce off the hard surface and echo through the facility.
Epoxy is easily scratched and difficult to repair. Due to the high potential for field errors—e.g., improper mixing, spread-out, or unanticipated traffic during or immediately after the installation—it is impossible to tell what an epoxy floor will look like or how well it will meet ESD electrical parameters until after it has been installed and fully cured.
Properly installed, most ESD epoxies meet ESD resistance standards. However, some formulations of ESD coatings – Generation 2 coatings in particular – do not meet the walking body voltage testing requirements set out in the ANSI/ESD S97.2 test method.
Generation 1 and Generation 2 ESD epoxy coatings do not prevent static without rigid use of special static-preventive footwear. If people in the space wear normal street shoes, Gen 1 and 2 ESD epoxy floors will generate almost the same amount of static as their non-static-control counterparts.
Inexpensive, first generation epoxies consist of a black, carbon- or graphite-loaded resin, creating a durable, no-frills, static-control surface that passes tests required by ANSI S20.20.
Second-generation epoxies consist of an insulative base coat, a buried black conductive ground plane, and shiny semi-conductive topcoat. Gen 2 epoxies are attractive but difficult to install and repair and do not always pass body voltage (charge generation) tests required by ANSI S20.20.
Newer technologies embed transparent conductive nanoparticles into a high-gloss topcoat, without the need for a conductive buried black primer—allowing for easy application, a wide array of colors, and superior static protection.
Electrically conductive (EC rubber) is a durable flooring material, designed to last forever. Rubber tiles and sheet flooring can withstand high traffic and heavy loads. Like carpet, rubber dampens noise and it’s a better anti-fatigue floor than either epoxy or vinyl. Less porous than vinyl, rubber is easy to clean, wash and maintain – and EC rubber never requires conductive wax.
While its installed cost is the highest among ESD flooring options, rubber is durable and inexpensive to maintain, making the Total Cost of Ownership for EC rubber relatively low.
EC rubber is halogen-free, and has no polyvinyl chloride (PVC), lead, phthalates, and asbestos.
Well-suited for Most Applications – Regardless of Footwear
Associations, universities, labs, consultants, and clients as diverse as ASHRAE, MIT, Dangelmayer Associates, and the ESD Journal have found that conductive rubber flooring offers the lowest charge generation properties of any type of ESD flooring available today. A low static-generating material, EC rubber is the only ESD flooring material that works in electronics manufacturing and handling areas, and other applications requiring body voltage under 250 V, regardless of footwear.
The only fault-tolerant flooring suitable for Class-0 applications – when combined with controlled footwear, EC rubber eliminates the need for wrist straps on mobile personnel.
EC rubber has also been identified in an ASHRAE study as the lowest static-generating floor for data centers, making it ideal for applications such as call centers, PSAPs, computer labs, R&D labs, hospitals, and other 24/7 mission-critical environments with zero tolerance for static.
Though a durable, hard-surface material, rubber has more give than vinyl or epoxy surfaces. In areas like shipping and receiving, activities such as dragging pallets with exposed nails can damage a rubber floor. To ensure proper installation, rubber floors also require a good installer.
In a 7-year study by Lucent Technologies, the conductivity of static-dissipative rubber was shown to deteriorate over time; at 7 years, SD rubber had lost its ESD-protective properties and ability to meet ANSI/ESD standards.
Discover Staticworx ESD Vinyl Tile
Invented in the 1940s, ESD vinyl tile was the first static-control flooring material. Today’s most suitable vinyl products are solid vinyl tiles (SVTs). Properly maintained, SVT is attractive and its monolithic appearance can give a facility a hospital-like look of cleanliness and shine. ESD vinyl is relatively inexpensive, simple to repair, and capable of handling heavy rolling loads.
Unlike cheaper static-dissipative vinyl composition tiles (VCTs), SVT inhibits static without periodic ESD-wax or polish treatments. Because SVT is uniform throughout the thickness of the tile, high-speed buffing—called “burnishing”—is sometimes recommended for cleaning.*
* Over time, burnishing can damage the tile, making simple washing and low-speed buffing the preferred cleaning method.
Vinyl Can Be Installed Over Old Floors, Avoiding Shutdown
Using conductive dry adhesives or fast-drying pressure-sensitive adhesives*, some ESD vinyl tile products can be installed in occupied spaces – laid directly over the old floor – eliminating the need for shutdown. For installers, leaving the old floor in place reduces exposure to pre-existing dangerous contaminants such as asbestos in older VCT tiles.
* low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
To avoid unsightly installations or gaps between seams, it’s crucial to be sure the vinyl tiles will not shrink from plasticizer migration. Before selecting any vinyl tile, specifiers should ask:
ESD Vinyl Must Be Used in Conjunction with Static-Protective Footwear
The conductivity of ESD vinyl reliably draws static away from people to ground. But its plastic base materials generate static. When people wear ordinary shoes, as they walk across the floor the friction between their shoe soles and floor will generate static, called Walking Body Voltage.
Once static builds on the body, the most conductive flooring material cannot bleed the charge quickly enough to prevent static from discharging when the person touches an electronic device.
A conductive floor that generates static cannot protect equipment against random static events.
The conductive material in static-protective footwear—heel straps, toe straps, or special ESD shoes—forms an electrical bond between the wearer and the floor, preventing static buildup as the person walks across the ESD floor. With the use of protective footwear—and only in conjunction with special ESD footwear—conductive vinyl meets industry standards.
Without the use of ESD-protective footwear, conductive vinyl is a static-generation liability.
Because conductive vinyl cannot prevent static without ESD footwear, it’s suitable for use only in areas such as electronics manufacturing facilities – with special static-protective footwear mandated and mandates strictly enforced. ESD vinyl is not suitable for 24/7 mission-critical call centers, dispatch centers, flight towers, or any space in which people wear non-ESD/street shoes.
Discover Staticworx Groundlock Interlocking Tile
Designed for quick, hassle-free installation, Groundlock interlocking vinyl tiles can be installed by anyone -with or without experience. Because the tiles are easily disassembled and moved to a different space or location, redeployment is quick, easy and reliable.
Installable over any sub-floor, with no disruption and no permanent commitment—interlocking tiles are a great solution for leased spaces, concrete slabs with vapor issues, occupied spaces, and spaces requiring fast installation.
Ideal Over Raised Access Panels
The versatility, thickness and dimensions of Groundlock interlocking tiles make them a great option for use over raised access panels.
No other hard-surface ESD tiles work as well over the raised access floors as Groundlock interlocking vinyl tile. Straddled over panels—typical in field installations—other ESD tiles are too thin to hide the seams and require adhesive. With GroundLock, the seams between tiles are nearly invisible. Groundlock can also be picked up and put back down easily and as often as needed, without distortion or curling of tiles.
GroundLock ESD tiles are installed without adhesives and are dimensionally stable (without full adhesion), and the thickness of GroundLock vinyl tiles inhibits telegraphing of seams. The 2’ x 2’ tiles also work beautifully with 2’ x 2’ carpet tiles – with no need for transitions.
Groundlock interlocking tile can be installed over any sub-floor, with no special sub-floor prep required. The tiles are also easy to clean, maintain and repair.
Meets ESD S20.20—and all high-performance static-control parameters of a floor installed with a full-spread, conductive adhesive. An ideal ESD flooring solution for labs, clean rooms, R&D, and electronics manufacturing and handling spaces.
The cost of Groundlock interlocking tiles is higher than other ESD flooring options.
While Groundlock generates less static than other ESD vinyl products, ESD-protective footwear (heel grounders or ESD shoes) is recommended.
Discover StaticWorx ESD Carpet
ESD carpet has come a long way since so-called “computer-grade” carpeting – treated with a topical anti-stat – designed to protect people from experiencing static shocks.
The conductive fibers in ShadowFX static-dissipative carpet tiles are wound into the yarn bundle, creating an almost infinite number of electrical contact points, for a fast and reliable path to ground. Random non-directional designs coupled with the extremely low modification ratio of our fibers makes ShadowFX carpet tile robust enough to provide many years of static protection. Making it ideal even for high-traffic environments – such as electronics assembly, 9-1-1 call centers and other telecom and public safety spaces.
Lower Installation Costs
Our ShadowFX carpet tile can be placed directly over old epoxy, access floors, vinyl tile or uneven concrete, lowering installation costs.
Glue-free installations
ShadowFX carpet tiles can be installed with clean, fast-drying release adhesives or with a free-floating method using TacTiles and GroundbridgeTM conductive underlayment.
If the carpet is accidentally damaged, tiles are easily replaced without special tools by simply lifting the damaged tile and setting a new tile in its place, laying it directly into the old adhesive or GroundBridge installation.
Like any material, carpet is not right for every application. It cannot accommodate heavy loads such as forklifts and pallet jacks, for instance; it’s also difficult to roll heavy carts (> 500 pounds) or systems on small wheels. Carpet has low resistance to chemicals and solvents, and, with its textured, multi-colored surface, small electronic parts dropped on the floor may be hard to find.
The biggest challenge lies in finding carpet with permanent static-control performance that also meets the safety requirements for flooring used around operational computers and electrical equipment. Conductive carpet tiles measuring below 1 x 10E6 are too conductive for use in end-user environments such as call centers, 9-1-1 dispatch operations, telecommunications, flight towers and server rooms.
Grounding and safety standards for telecommunications facilities, PSAPs, and FAA flight-control towers* forbid the use of highly conductive floors in areas where people work with energized equipment. To meet these standards, specifiers should require electrical resistance between any two points (RTT) on the floor to measure at least 1 x 10E6 (1 million ohms) or above.
Standards include: Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions ATIS-0600321, Electrical Protection for Network Operator-type Equipment Positions, Motorola R56, and FAA 019f.
ESD epoxy is a durable, low-cost ESD flooring option. The least expensive epoxy coatings are black. Epoxies also come in solid colors, typically used in parking garages and aircraft hangars, for instance – as well as in multiple colors, patterns, and textures.
In areas constantly exposed to heavy loads and high traffic, epoxy can be a practical, cost-effective ESD flooring choice.
While epoxy coatings are ruggedly hard, the shiny slickness of the floor poses a slip and fall risk, and sound tends to bounce off the hard surface and echo through the facility.
Epoxy is easily scratched and difficult to repair. Due to the high potential for field errors—e.g., improper mixing, spread-out, or unanticipated traffic during or immediately after the installation—it is impossible to tell what an epoxy floor will look like or how well it will meet ESD electrical parameters until after it has been installed and fully cured.
Properly installed, most ESD epoxies meet ESD resistance standards. However, some formulations of ESD coatings – Generation 2 coatings in particular – do not meet the walking body voltage testing requirements set out in the ANSI/ESD S97.2 test method.
Generation 1 and Generation 2 ESD epoxy coatings do not prevent static without rigid use of special static-preventive footwear. If people in the space wear normal street shoes, Gen 1 and 2 ESD epoxy floors will generate almost the same amount of static as their non-static-control counterparts.
Inexpensive, first generation epoxies consist of a black, carbon- or graphite-loaded resin, creating a durable, no-frills, static-control surface that passes tests required by ANSI S20.20.
Second-generation epoxies consist of an insulative base coat, a buried black conductive ground plane, and shiny semi-conductive topcoat. Gen 2 epoxies are attractive but difficult to install and repair and do not always pass body voltage (charge generation) tests required by ANSI S20.20.
Newer technologies embed transparent conductive nanoparticles into a high-gloss topcoat, without the need for a conductive buried black primer—allowing for easy application, a wide array of colors, and superior static protection.
Electrically conductive (EC rubber) is a durable flooring material, designed to last forever. Rubber tiles and sheet flooring can withstand high traffic and heavy loads. Like carpet, rubber dampens noise and it’s a better anti-fatigue floor than either epoxy or vinyl. Less porous than vinyl, rubber is easy to clean, wash and maintain – and EC rubber never requires conductive wax.
While its installed cost is the highest among ESD flooring options, rubber is durable and inexpensive to maintain, making the Total Cost of Ownership for EC rubber relatively low.
EC rubber is halogen-free, and has no polyvinyl chloride (PVC), lead, phthalates, and asbestos.
Well-suited for Most Applications – Regardless of Footwear
Associations, universities, labs, consultants, and clients as diverse as ASHRAE, MIT, Dangelmayer Associates, and the ESD Journal have found that conductive rubber flooring offers the lowest charge generation properties of any type of ESD flooring available today. A low static-generating material, EC rubber is the only ESD flooring material that works in electronics manufacturing and handling areas, and other applications requiring body voltage under 250 V, regardless of footwear.
The only fault-tolerant flooring suitable for Class-0 applications – when combined with controlled footwear, EC rubber eliminates the need for wrist straps on mobile personnel.
EC rubber has also been identified in an ASHRAE study as the lowest static-generating floor for data centers, making it ideal for applications such as call centers, PSAPs, computer labs, R&D labs, hospitals, and other 24/7 mission-critical environments with zero tolerance for static.
Though a durable, hard-surface material, rubber has more give than vinyl or epoxy surfaces. In areas like shipping and receiving, activities such as dragging pallets with exposed nails can damage a rubber floor. To ensure proper installation, rubber floors also require a good installer.
In a 7-year study by Lucent Technologies, the conductivity of static-dissipative rubber was shown to deteriorate over time; at 7 years, SD rubber had lost its ESD-protective properties and ability to meet ANSI/ESD standards.
Discover Staticworx ESD Vinyl Tile
Invented in the 1940s, ESD vinyl tile was the first static-control flooring material. Today’s most suitable vinyl products are solid vinyl tiles (SVTs). Properly maintained, SVT is attractive and its monolithic appearance can give a facility a hospital-like look of cleanliness and shine. ESD vinyl is relatively inexpensive, simple to repair, and capable of handling heavy rolling loads.
Unlike cheaper static-dissipative vinyl composition tiles (VCTs), SVT inhibits static without periodic ESD-wax or polish treatments. Because SVT is uniform throughout the thickness of the tile, high-speed buffing—called “burnishing”—is sometimes recommended for cleaning.*
* Over time, burnishing can damage the tile, making simple washing and low-speed buffing the preferred cleaning method.
Vinyl Can Be Installed Over Old Floors, Avoiding Shutdown
Using conductive dry adhesives or fast-drying pressure-sensitive adhesives*, some ESD vinyl tile products can be installed in occupied spaces – laid directly over the old floor – eliminating the need for shutdown. For installers, leaving the old floor in place reduces exposure to pre-existing dangerous contaminants such as asbestos in older VCT tiles.
* low in volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
To avoid unsightly installations or gaps between seams, it’s crucial to be sure the vinyl tiles will not shrink from plasticizer migration. Before selecting any vinyl tile, specifiers should ask:
ESD Vinyl Must Be Used in Conjunction with Static-Protective Footwear
The conductivity of ESD vinyl reliably draws static away from people to ground. But its plastic base materials generate static. When people wear ordinary shoes, as they walk across the floor the friction between their shoe soles and floor will generate static, called Walking Body Voltage.
Once static builds on the body, the most conductive flooring material cannot bleed the charge quickly enough to prevent static from discharging when the person touches an electronic device.
A conductive floor that generates static cannot protect equipment against random static events.
The conductive material in static-protective footwear—heel straps, toe straps, or special ESD shoes—forms an electrical bond between the wearer and the floor, preventing static buildup as the person walks across the ESD floor. With the use of protective footwear—and only in conjunction with special ESD footwear—conductive vinyl meets industry standards.
Without the use of ESD-protective footwear, conductive vinyl is a static-generation liability.
Because conductive vinyl cannot prevent static without ESD footwear, it’s suitable for use only in areas such as electronics manufacturing facilities – with special static-protective footwear mandated and mandates strictly enforced. ESD vinyl is not suitable for 24/7 mission-critical call centers, dispatch centers, flight towers, or any space in which people wear non-ESD/street shoes.
Discover Staticworx Groundlock Interlocking Tile
Designed for quick, hassle-free installation, Groundlock interlocking vinyl tiles can be installed by anyone -with or without experience. Because the tiles are easily disassembled and moved to a different space or location, redeployment is quick, easy and reliable.
Installable over any sub-floor, with no disruption and no permanent commitment—interlocking tiles are a great solution for leased spaces, concrete slabs with vapor issues, occupied spaces, and spaces requiring fast installation.
Ideal Over Raised Access Panels
The versatility, thickness and dimensions of Groundlock interlocking tiles make them a great option for use over raised access panels.
No other hard-surface ESD tiles work as well over the raised access floors as Groundlock interlocking vinyl tile. Straddled over panels—typical in field installations—other ESD tiles are too thin to hide the seams and require adhesive. With GroundLock, the seams between tiles are nearly invisible. Groundlock can also be picked up and put back down easily and as often as needed, without distortion or curling of tiles.
GroundLock ESD tiles are installed without adhesives and are dimensionally stable (without full adhesion), and the thickness of GroundLock vinyl tiles inhibits telegraphing of seams. The 2’ x 2’ tiles also work beautifully with 2’ x 2’ carpet tiles – with no need for transitions.
Groundlock interlocking tile can be installed over any sub-floor, with no special sub-floor prep required. The tiles are also easy to clean, maintain and repair.
Meets ESD S20.20—and all high-performance static-control parameters of a floor installed with a full-spread, conductive adhesive. An ideal ESD flooring solution for labs, clean rooms, R&D, and electronics manufacturing and handling spaces.
The cost of Groundlock interlocking tiles is higher than other ESD flooring options.
While Groundlock generates less static than other ESD vinyl products, ESD-protective footwear (heel grounders or ESD shoes) is recommended.
We realize an ESD floor is an investment. Whether you’re an architect, contractor, facility manager, or property owner, you have a lot at stake – time, money, perhaps even your reputation.
If you choose to work with us, here’s what you can expect:
The form below will help us better understand your needs and get you as quickly as possible to the right person. We look forward to helping you solve your static problem!
You can expect a response within 24 hours. For faster service, please give us a call: 617-923-2000
Visit our privacy policy to find out how we process data.
StaticWorx high-performance static-control floors protect electronic components, explosives, and high-speed computers from damage caused by static electricity. ESD flooring is part of a system. Choices should always be based on objective, researched evidence. When you partner with us, we look at all possible items that may need to integrate with the floor, and, focusing on your goals and objectives, help you find the right floor for your application.
We accept these major credit cards.
East Coast: 617-923-2000
Email: [email protected]
“I’m so glad we were able to find an attractive solution that didn’t leave us with some run-of-the-mill ugly disaster.”
Unless otherwise stated, standards referenced are the most up-to-date versions.
Sign up for our newsletter and occasional updates.
The FAA has updated its standard for facilities and electronic equipment. StaticWorx meets all requirements for ESD flooring.
We accept these major credit cards.
“I’m so glad we were able to find an attractive solution that didn’t leave us with some run-of-the-mill ugly disaster.”
East Coast: 617-923-2000
Email: [email protected]
Sign up for our newsletter and occasional updates.
The FAA has updated its standard for facilities and electronic equipment. StaticWorx meets all requirements for ESD flooring.
Unless otherwise stated, standards referenced are the most up-to-date versions.
We accept these major credit cards.
East Coast: 617-923-2000
Email: [email protected]
“I’m so glad we were able to find an attractive solution that didn’t leave us with some run-of-the-mill ugly disaster.”
Sign up for our newsletter and occasional updates.
The FAA has updated its standard for facilities and electronic equipment. StaticWorx meets all requirements for ESD flooring.
Unless otherwise stated, standards referenced are the most up-to-date versions.
This site is protected by copyright and trademark laws under both United States and International law.
All rights reserved.
© 2008-2024, StaticWorx® GroundSafe® ESD Flooring. Privacy Policy
