How can I make my Aeron taller?

March 23, 2009 6:42 PM

I need to raise my Aeron chair a few inches. It's on casters. How can I do it?

I got a new desk which is just a little bit too high for me to work comfortably. The desk can't adjust any lower, and since it is glass, I can't add a keyboard tray to the bottom of it.

The casters look like this: http://www.officedesigns.com/images/main/aeron-casters.jpg

I was thinking they are probably the easiest way to add height to my chair. However, I can't find any higher casters.. so I may have to make some modifications myself.

Hoping someone has some ideas I can try. I emailed the company I bought the chair from and they weren't much help.

Thanks!

posted by gradient to home & garden (9 comments total)

Were they a licensed Herman Miller distributor? How long ago did you buy the chair? Was it a size B, would a size C get you where you needed to go?

I confess I ran into a similiar predicament a few years back, unfortunately I took the direction of changing the desk and am now quite a pain in the ass to try to buy office furniture for as I will evaluate the height first and everything else second.

How important is moving the chair around in your office to you? Would you consider essentially a raised or lift flooring to bring you up towards the desk?
posted by cavalier at 6:46 PM on March 23

I hate to say this, but you may have gotten the wrong desk. Your best option would be to extend the height of the tube that's the center of the chair support. I don't know if Aeron chairs can have that part replaced with a longer one, but some chairs can.
posted by Nelson at 7:07 PM on March 23

The Container Store sells large casters that might fit your chair. You won't get much height out of them though, possibly 2-3" at most.
posted by wongcorgi at 7:18 PM on March 23

If you are doing this yourself, lowering the desk must be easier, no? Hacksaw? :)
posted by rokusan at 7:57 PM on March 23

Unbolt the 4 screws on the seat pan (between the raisy thingie and the sitty thngie) and cut some 3/4" plywood to fit as a spacer. make a few so you can get the height right. you'll need to drill the appropriate holes in the right places. you'll need longer screws too. when you're done, paint the blocks black and no one will ever know.

or get the right desk.
posted by KenManiac at 8:48 PM on March 23 [1 favorite]

Once I was searching for keyboard trays and came across a few that worked without screws or were specifically recommended for glass tables. I don't remember any names, but that is an option.
posted by trig at 10:35 PM on March 23

I'm assuming you've adjusted the chair to its maximum height as well, correct? Aerons do have a height adjustment, as there's one on the right side just under the seat on the one I'm sitting in.
posted by mikeh at 6:56 AM on March 24

I've done what KenManiac suggests and it worked fine for me. Although I used a series of fender washers and long bolts instead plywood as the spacer.

One issue I ran into was that the nuts in the seat weren't parallel to each other. Instead of sticking straight down, they stuck out at slight angles. So when the seat got raised, the holes in the bracket were no longer aligned correctly. I reamed them out and it worked out fine.

I love it, because now the height of the chair versus the desk versus the caster assembly is perfectly aligned that I can rest my feet on the legs of the chair.
posted by gjc at 8:22 AM on March 24

gjc, can you show me a photo of what you've done to accomplish this?

Much appreciated everyone!
posted by gradient at 7:47 PM on March 24