How to mount a custom desk to a wall?

[daley85]

I am attempting to build a custom office/office desk from the 32mm thick custom Bunnings kitchen benchtop range. I'm going to ask to get the Bunnings team to cut the benchtops into what ever size/shapes required to ease fitment and joinery.

The desk will be supported by multiple overrated 90-degree brackets screwed to wall studs and installed with a laser level.

I want to install acoustic panelling on the walls similar to (Prempanel 2700 x 600 x 21mm Black Oak Timber Acoustic Panel)

I want to ideally use the gaps between slats to run cables to keep it cable managed and avoid drilling port holes for cables., but this presents a problem, or at least a choice. I either cut the acoustic panels into two pieces and install to the wall leaving a 32mm gap for the desk meaning the desk will be flush with the wall and will look counter-sunk into the acoustic panels (good) but leaving no room for cables to go down the back.

or,

I have the desk made to the dimensions of the wall 'with' the panels already installed, meaning the desk will be flush to the panels, but the desk will then be 21mm away from the wall, all be it still supported by the brackets. While it means I could run cables anywhere, Ibut 'm not 100% sold on how it may look, I'm also concerned about weight distribution on the brackets. Is this a terrible idea or present a structural support issue because the edge of the desk/contact point is not flush with the wall putting a levering force on the bracket?

I've calculated the weight of the desk and calculated what my walls can support and I'm well within limits.

Or maybe i simply ask the team to notch some channels? 

I hope this makes sense, how would everyone else go about this problem?"

[EricL]

Hello @daley85 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about your custom desk.

It appears you have everything planned out. I suggest going with leaving a gap between the panels so that the benchtop is pushed against the wall. Your idea of notching channels in the back of the benchtop was exactly the idea I was going to propose. Depending on the number of computers and accessories you'll be putting in, I suggest cutting several channels at the back of the benchtop to allow you to pass computer cables and power cables at the back of the benchtop. This will technically preserve your countersunk look and at the same time allow you to run the cables between the slats.

Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1 and @Nailbag for their recommendations.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[R4addZ]

Hi @daley85 

All looks good and the only difference with notching out the back of the tops is that it will be very hard to get a nice smooth finish. That is why people prefer to hole saw the tops and use plastic inserts for the cable access. I recently decided to tidy up my desk cabling and one thing I did was go to Bunnings and buy some coated wire storage like these.....

https://www.bunnings.com.au/flexi-storage-clever-cube-white-wire-undershelf-basket_p0234695

and then fixed them under the desk using some bits of these.....

https://www.bunnings.com.au/carinya-20-x-200-x-1mm-flat-make-a-bracket-single_p3975816

I then mounted power boards to the underside of the desk (watch your screw length).

The undershelf baskets gave me somewhere to put all the power bricks and keep them off the floor and desktop!

[Nailbag]

Hi @daley85 great work on those detailed plans! 

Read this article on what Bunnings cutting service. Plus I would also double check with your local store, especially when handling heavy 32mm bench tops. I'm fairly sure they won't. But could possibly be special ordered in? But they definitely wouldn't cut any channels for cables. @MitchellMc could advise here for clarification.

The acoustic panels are non-structural as they are made of soft MDF battens lined with a thin timber look vinyl. These are then fixed to thick sound-absorbing fibre material. Fixing anything to them will simply crush/compress the battens.

Running channels at the rear of the desk will still expose the cables and plugs from a visual perspective. Unless you're accessing power from above the desk, At some points the power plugs will need to go through the desk or over at an end.

Personally I would run the cables through small access points neatly finished with these available in different colours. Or online places have aluminium ones of all shapes. Just Google "office desk cable entry points" 

I have built many home office desks and use one of these power boards mounted under the desk and plugged in to a powerpoint close by.  I bought online a surface mounted power and USB outlet which had a DIY installation for my phone etc.

All under desk cables ate cabled tied to small clips screw under the desk or there are lots of cable management options available at Bunnings.

I've included a couple of photos that show using this technique how clean the top of the desk area is of cables and full depth with no cable trays.

Nailbag

[MitchellMc]

Hi @daley85,

To confirm what @Nailbag has suggested, we'd need to see if we can have those sizes cut to measure by the manufacturer; our team could not cut them in-store for you. Let our Special Orders team know the sizes you are after, and they can inquire as to whether the manufacturer can custom-make those for you.

Mitchell

[Dave-1]

Morning @daley85 

I like your design of the desk and in particular I like the second option you have mentioned.

I do like the idea of cable management but like you I am not keen on holes in the desktop, My general solution is traywork under the desk to hold teh cables off the floor with the ability to have the desk slightly off the wall to allow cables through. Running cables for PC;s and desktop equipment and then keeping them safe and tidy is what ive been doing for the past umpteen years and I still prefer the cabels to go "over the back of the desk and into some kind of tray (a slotted duct less so)

So how about this as a solution.

Run your acoustic panels on the wall first, then your brackets and desk but leave a gap of about 15mm. At one point (preferably in line with were the power point is under the desk)  Notch out the vertical timber slats of one or two of the acoustic panels. This is to allow a point for the heads of power  cords to go down if needed, then they can slide along the width of the desk.

The span of the desk is large, I know you are after no legs but it may be an idea to have two located towards the walls either side. I know I tend to haveto get up on a desk to do something or other and a body weight plus teh bench weight you hear the creaking. You could always go for legs that arnt fixed but can be slid out on an angle if support is needed? (you know liek the caravan table type legs?

Dave

[daley85]

Everyone has had really valid and useful feedback. thank you.  I have taken all views on board.

I will see if the Bunnings team can get the benchtop supplier to make the required modifications if I supply a fabrication drawing first before deciding on a direction, il be happy to pay extra as it will save my buying the tools and table to deal with it all myself, likely with some expensive mistakes

Its probably a little over-ambitious for my first Reno, and I can see this being completed in stages taking a lot longer than originally expected.

If the community is interested, I will document the Reno, lessons learned and post the progress here.

[MitchellMc]

We'd love to follow along with your project @daley85. Keep us posted, and reach out again if you need further assistance.

Mitchell

[Dave-1]

Morning @daley85 

Love to see the project unfold, never to many photos!

Note of warning for your meausrments, sometimes walls are not perfectly square. So meausure the wall, then measure the wall off the wall by 600mm and you may be surpprised.

Dave

[daley85]

Hello again people.

So everything is marked out. but I have more silly questions.

I didn't trust my old stud finder, it was giving me inconsistent results so I invested in your professional one that gives a better accurate and visual representation of where the studs are and how wide they are.

In using this I found:

The smaller standard studs are 35mm wide which means the carinya 290 x 240 Black cast brackets I intended to use, only just fit the width of the smaller studs. This concerns me due to the holes being quite offset from the centre of the bracket and very close to the edge of the stud if I am to use top holes. I'm concerned about splitting/failure. I don't like the idea of using alternative unreinforced brackets due to potential sag. i can't find anything with inline centre holes and reinforced so I'm considering offsetting the carinya bracket from the stud centre by about 6 mm which would mean the bottom hole and one of the top holes will be better centralised to the stud but I will only get 2 screws into the wall, not 3.

I am also going to be using batten flat head screws that fit the holes perfectly with a 5mm pilot. i haven't trailed to see if a drill will give me a decent angle to screw with the bracket in place or whether I need to buy a smaller impact tool yet. Any major red flags gents or advice/alternatives?

Having said that for the larger studs, I wanted to use the Carinya 400 x 350 mm Black Cast bracket but the holes are 9 or 10mm and I cant find a batten screw large enough to fill the tolerance.