RE: Best building surface.
I took it one step further. I bought a door blank, one without the doorknob hole drilled, then bought some 1/4 inch thick cork and covered the whole thing with cork. I never tried the ceiling tile because the cork worked out just great. The cat likes it too.. [>:]
I put the whole thing on heavy duty 'plastic' saw horses. The ones I bought have a nice little shelf in the a-frame that are support as well as shelves. I added a power strip and have a nice portable work bench for building.