I rely on a robot vacuum for most of the floor cleaning around the house.
Robot vacuums are great, but you usually need to do a quick prep before sending one out — clearing the floor, and blocking off areas it shouldn’t try to climb up onto.
This time I built a small barrier to stop our robot vacuum from climbing onto the speaker stand.
Robot Vacuum Climbing the Speaker Stand — Before & After
Here’s our speaker stand:
Without any barrier, our robot vacuum (a Panasonic Rulo) would climb right up onto the base.
It might be technically fine, but it makes a nasty grinding noise — almost certainly scratching the wood.
Measuring the step height: about 18 mm.
The Rulo can supposedly climb up to 20 mm (2 cm), so 18 mm is well within its range.
※ Side note: as of 2023, the latest Rulo models are spec’d up to 25 mm.
My old workaround
Up until now, before sending the vacuum out I’d lay scrap wood next to the stand to block it:
It works, but laying it down before every clean is a hassle.
And leaving it in place permanently looks bad.
The new permanent barrier
So I built a low-profile barrier that blocks the vacuum without being an eyesore.
Building the Barrier
The goal: block the robot vacuum, but stay as visually subtle as possible.
Plan: thin square stock painted to look like metal.
Picked up some 12 mm × 12 mm hobby stock from the home improvement store.
Cut to length with a hand saw.
6 pieces total.
Quick sanding pass to clean up the cut ends.
For paint I’m using Turner “Iron Paint” in “Iron Black” — a textured paint designed to look like real metal.
Brush it on. Apparently leaving a slightly uneven texture makes it read more like metal.
Painted. Let it dry.
I’m going to attach the painted pieces to the speaker stand with double-sided tape — but if I stick the tape directly to the stand, removing it later would damage the wood.
Solution: lay down masking tape first, then put the double-sided tape on top of that.
Masking tape applied:
Then strong double-sided tape on top of the masking tape.
Stick the painted pieces in place. Repeat around each side of the stand.
Done!
It blocks the robot vacuum from climbing up, and stays visually subtle, I think.
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