Long (7ft+) floating desk build strategies

[Quentin Martiny]

Hello,

I hope you can help. I am looking to build a desk all the way along the side of the wall, similar to picture below.

What would be a good strategy to allow for the 'seamless' look ?

I appreciate battens etc will not work due to lenght.

Any ideas appreciated.

Thanks again

Quentin


EDIT :
I actually reached out to the architect of the house and they answered!

"To make that long desk without supports involved steel. There are a number of SHS steel welded to plates and fixed securely into the stud walls. They are then lined top and bottom with the douglas fir boards. Finally lipped."

 

[Fitzroy]

Is one, or both, ends against a wall? What is the construction of the wall that it floats on?

 

[Quentin Martiny]

Is one, or both, ends against a wall? What is the construction of the wall that it floats on?

I
Thank you for your reply !

It would be both ends against the wall, I built alcove shelves recently but this spans more than 6ft so I worried just battens would not work.

I believe it's drywall into brick? - it's the adjoining wall in a standard victorian terraced house

 

[Bingy man]

You could fit battons to each end to the side , then large brackets approx 20 inches x 20 inches every 3 or 4 feet or so ,placed so that you can sit and work without the brackets taking your knees out ..

Edit I’ve done this with a worktop for a utility room - length was aprox 8 ft battons at each end and the rear but nothing in between . Its not sagged and it’s been in since 2017..

 

[sams93]

These are surprisingly strong! Although I don't like that they only screw into the wall via 3 screws (two at top and one at bottom). If it is going to have any load I would be tempted to add a few more screws.

https://www.diy.com/departments/for...g-bracket-h-300mm-d-60mm/3663602764786_BQ.prd

 

[TomTheToolMan]

An option would be to put a wall batten all the way round the 3 sides and then set a 40mm box section steel along front but inset 100mm. This should then stop sagging and be pretty invisible.

 

[Fitzroy]

At 6’ long and battens on the rear and both ends you’ll be fine with just a top of reasonable thickness.

My justification is the desk I just built, it is a 6’x6’ corner desk with no front apron so one of the desk sections is in this same support configuration, the top is 32mm thick and you can sit on the edge without issue.

Fitz

The desk section to the right is only supported at the rear and on each end.

 

[MF1000]

At 6’ long and battens on the rear and both ends you’ll be fine with just a top of reasonable thickness.

My justification is the desk I just built, it is a 6’x6’ corner desk with no front apron so one of the desk sections is in this same support configuration, the top is 32mm thick and you can sit on the edge without issue.

Fitz

The desk section to the right is only supported at the rear and on each end.
View attachment 169049

Love the stitched effect bow ties

 

[Quentin Martiny]

At 6’ long and battens on the rear and both ends you’ll be fine with just a top of reasonable thickness.

My justification is the desk I just built, it is a 6’x6’ corner desk with no front apron so one of the desk sections is in this same support configuration, the top is 32mm thick and you can sit on the edge without issue.

Fitz

The desk section to the right is only supported at the rear and on each end.
View attachment 169049

Beautiful work! what did you use for the top?

 

[Quentin Martiny]

An option would be to put a wall batten all the way round the 3 sides and then set a 40mm box section steel along front but inset 100mm. This should then stop sagging and be pretty invisible.

That sounds good as well, would this be secured to the wall as well? just trying to picture it

 

[Quentin Martiny]

Thank you all for your replies

I should have mentioned actually the front of the room has a corner - see picture of the planned desk in yellow.

How much of an issue will that be?

 

[Fitzroy]

That sounds good as well, would this be secured to the wall as well? just trying to picture it

In the photo you linked in your original post the desk top is two components, the horizontal top and a vertical apron running along the font edge. The apron is to provide stiffness and prevent sag, the box section would do the same. It would be attached to the top rather than the walls, that way it can move with any expansion in the top as the back edge is restrained by the wall. With a sufficiently thick top, in my experience 32mm of oak, the apron is not required as the board is stiff enough without it. I actively tried to build my desk without a front apron as I find they get in the way when trying to get a comfortable desk height vs seat height, more important if you sit there for long periods.

The wall battens need to be secured into brick or studs, plasterboard will not provide sufficient strength.

Top on my desk is repurposed oak sleepers, a complete pain to work with, then finished with a tinted hard wax oil by Fiddes.

Regards the missing corner I expect it will be fine with just a batten (say 25mm x 80mm) attached to the wall but extending to support the full desk depth, you could add a leg at this point if you were worried, or build a removable leg into the design and test in-situ before including or excluding.

Oh,...... looking at your picture 6' is a bit of an understatement! 2.3m is 7.5' which is mechanical terms is considerably longer than my 6' desk! I still think you'd be ok with a 35+mm thick top attached to battens round the edges. I would however make provision in the design for some strengthening elements if found needed ie, a leg on the corner, the box section support etc.

The sagulator is a great tool in woodworking to get an idea of how loads impact a design. A 2.3m x 0.48m x 35mm white oak shelf fixed at the ends would sag 4mm if a 150kg person sat in the middle of it, which does not sound terrible. This would be significantly reduced by the rear wall batten.

F.

 

[Quentin Martiny]

Thank you so much Fitzroy for the insightful reply, I will look into it! I really appreciate your help. Have a great rest of the day

 

[XTiffy]

Your project is crying out for a Torsion-box construction. This gives stiffness to the structure but is also light. Modern fush doors are an extreme example (as they use cardboard for the core. Quite sure there will be lots of information on the internet. It would be possible to batten the wall and set the core back by that depth and fix from below i.e. no visible fixings. There are plenty of veneered ply or mdf as plain or exotic as you like. Front edge finished off with solid lipping.

 

[Quentin Martiny]

In the photo you linked in your original post the desk top is two components, the horizontal top and a vertical apron running along the font edge. The apron is to provide stiffness and prevent sag, the box section would do the same. It would be attached to the top rather than the walls, that way it can move with any expansion in the top as the back edge is restrained by the wall. With a sufficiently thick top, in my experience 32mm of oak, the apron is not required as the board is stiff enough without it. I actively tried to build my desk without a front apron as I find they get in the way when trying to get a comfortable desk height vs seat height, more important if you sit there for long periods.

The wall battens need to be secured into brick or studs, plasterboard will not provide sufficient strength.

Top on my desk is repurposed oak sleepers, a complete pain to work with, then finished with a tinted hard wax oil by Fiddes.

Regards the missing corner I expect it will be fine with just a batten (say 25mm x 80mm) attached to the wall but extending to support the full desk depth, you could add a leg at this point if you were worried, or build a removable leg into the design and test in-situ before including or excluding.

Oh,...... looking at your picture 6' is a bit of an understatement! 2.3m is 7.5' which is mechanical terms is considerably longer than my 6' desk! I still think you'd be ok with a 35+mm thick top attached to battens round the edges. I would however make provision in the design for some strengthening elements if found needed ie, a leg on the corner, the box section support etc.

The sagulator is a great tool in woodworking to get an idea of how loads impact a design. A 2.3m x 0.48m x 35mm white oak shelf fixed at the ends would sag 4mm if a 150kg person sat in the middle of it, which does not sound terrible. This would be significantly reduced by the rear wall batten.

F.

Coming back to this, do you think
Battens at the end and these sort of brackets as supports Heavy Duty Hebgo Bracket 150kg
Would work?

 

[Quentin Martiny]

Your project is crying out for a Torsion-box construction. This gives stiffness to the structure but is also light. Modern fush doors are an extreme example (as they use cardboard for the core. Quite sure there will be lots of information on the internet. It would be possible to batten the wall and set the core back by that depth and fix from below i.e. no visible fixings. There are plenty of veneered ply or mdf as plain or exotic as you like. Front edge finished off with solid lipping.

Hi, that's exactly how I built alcove shelves, basically battens + centre supports and slide a box in, I guess I thought it would not work due to lenght

 

[Jacob]

Simplest would be to buy an 8x4' fire door blank. Your drawing shows 2300 mm and the doors are available as 2400+ (8ft). Would easily span the gap and leave you with a handy off-cut - to make support for each end perhaps?
As it happens I've got two offcuts here FTAGH - Two fire-door offcuts ideal for bench tops which nobody seems to want!

 

[Quentin Martiny]

Simplest would be to buy an 8x4' fire door. Your drawing shows 2300 mm and the doors are available as 2400+ (8ft). Would easily span the gap and leave you with a handy off-cut - to make support for each end perhaps?
As it happens I've got two offcuts here FTAGH - Two fire-door offcuts ideal for bench tops which nobody seems to want!

Thanks but I'm a bit far from you!

Lots of good advice. I will have a play around with different configurations.

 

[Fitzroy]

Coming back to this, do you think
Battens at the end and these sort of brackets as supports Heavy Duty Hebgo Bracket 150kg
Would work?

Yes, undoubtedly, so long as the brackets are attached correctly, or to brick or studs.

 

[Jacob]

Coming back to this, do you think
Battens at the end and these sort of brackets as supports Heavy Duty Hebgo Bracket 150kg
Would work?

A bit OTT.
A couple of of 2x1" battens screwed to the wall should be enough, depending on the wall and your desk material.
One bracket in the middle and you could use 1" redwood floorboards etc for the top. Or 18mm ply etc.
Two brackets and you could use 18mm MDF