Seat height filter

March 24, 2005 8:37 PM

I'm a pretty tall guy, and the chair I have doesn't adjust high enough. Is there any way (I was thinking of some sort of caster extensions) to make my existing standard office chair a couple of inches taller?
posted by cameldrv to health & fitness (3 comments total)

have you thought about larger casters ,4 or 5 inchers?
The stems are some what standard.I think even 6 inch wheels on a chair would work fine.
posted by hortense at 10:18 PM on March 24, 2005

i have a higher than normal table at home (my workdesk) and i found that there are some office chairs made with a longer stem. i can't remember the term used (it would be spanish anyway), but apparently chairs exist that are designed particularly for sitting at higher levels (it has a ring for resting your feet on). so i'd suggest checking a large industrial/office furniture place. i've seen similar chairs in traditional (pre cad/cam) draughtsman's offices, for example.
posted by andrew cooke at 5:58 AM on March 25, 2005

andrew cooke is talking about work stools, which probably aren't going to work for you; they're designed to be used with a counter-height work surface.

Larger casters are the way to go if you want your chair higher, but I'm wondering if you really need a higher chair...

Most office chairs are designed to fit the "normal" range of human sizes: 5'2"/120 lbs to 6'2"/300 lbs. (This drives me crazy because I'm 5'0" and weigh 100 lbs and am forever removing arm rests, finding taller foot rests, and lowering my desk surface, etc...) You can make adjustments with other stuff before screwing with your chair, even if you're 6'5" and 350. Anyway, I'd make sure that you don't need to adjust your desk height and/or posture before altering your chair.

Ideally, your thighs should be parallel to the floor with your feet resting flat. If not, it's better to have your knees slightly higher than your hips rather than lower (lower means the chair will press into the back of your thighs and inhibit blood flow). When you're typing, your forearms should also be parallel to the floor, and your keyboard should have a negative slant to avoid stress on your tendons. And the height of your work surface has to jive with all this too.

If you can't get close to this (sorry, crappy diagram) then maybe you need to look at your chair height.
posted by Specklet at 12:11 PM on March 25, 2005