Wall to wall desk

[OverflowIssues]

I've got two of these: https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/platsa-chest-of-3-drawers-white-fonnes-white-s49277247/
I'm going to get a solid ash worktop to go ontop which is ~2600mm x 635mm x 40mm. This will be touching 3 walls.

Got a few of questions:

1. Was planning on putting a bead of caulk around the edges of the worktop to finish, is there a better idea?
2. Do I need to account for the solid ash worktop expanding/contracting - if so, how many mm leyway should I give? (I'm already accounting for non-perfectly square walls)
3. Will these drawers be able to handle the weight (guessing the worktop is around 60Kgs). If not, I can put some wood on the walls as a ledge for the worktop to sit on to take some of the weight. Given the floor is carpet, the chest of drawers will sink a little when the worktop is put on, so does that mean I should put the wood a few mm lower that the height of the chest of drawers to account for this?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

1. Was planning on putting a bead of caulk around the edges of the worktop to finish, is there a better idea?

Small matching timber upstand. This will also help take care of any discrepancies in the wall (and if your walls are square, straight and plumb I'd seriously contemplate looking for a blue moon or a star in the east...)

2. Do I need to account for the solid ash worktop expanding/contracting - if so, how many mm leyway should I give? (I'm already accounting for non-perfectly square walls)

Yes, but there is no known way to calculate it exactly, so you are better off acclimatising the worktop in the room before fitting it and leaving a small gap round 3 sides. The upstand will hide the gap

3. Will these drawers be able to handle the weight (guessing the worktop is around 60Kgs). If not, I can put some wood on the walls as a ledge for the worktop to sit on to take some of the weight. Given the floor is carpet, the chest of drawers will sink a little when the worktop is put on, so does that mean I should put the wood a few mm lower that the height of the chest of drawers to account for this?

Fix a bearer round all three sides ( 2 x 1in or 2 x 2in PAR depending on how straight your walls are) and usecthe bearers to carry the majority of the weight. Screw upwards through the bearers into the underside of the worktop to stop it moving. Plastic wedge packers are made for furniture to allow you to accommodate squishy carpets

 

[OverflowIssues]

Small matching timber upstand. This will also help take care of any discrepancies in the wall (and if your walls are square, straight and plumb I'd seriously contemplate looking for a blue moon or a star in the east...)

I'm having trouble visualising, would you put this on the back wall or all 3?

Yes, but there is no known way to calculate it exactly, so you are better off acclimatising the worktop in the room before fitting it and leaving a small gap round 3 sides. The upstand will hide the gap

Well my worry now is that its really hot - I guess now is a good time to do it cause it will shrink rather than expand. The temperature in the room will vary right?...or am I missing something.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I'm having trouble visualising, would you put this on the back wall or all 3?

All three

Well my worry now is that its really hot - I guess now is a good time to do it cause it will shrink rather than expand. The temperature in the room will vary right?...or am I missing something.

With timber temperature really isn't the biggest issue - a bigger issue is the relative humidity (RH) of the atmosphere and its' effect on the moisture content (MC) of the timber.

Basically in summer in the UK it is generally fairly dry, so the armosphere has a low RH, which in turn results in the MC of any timber dropping, and timbers shrink when the MC drops. Conversely in winter it is wetter outside, the RH is higher, leading to an increase in the MC of timbers - so they swell. Fortunately, mist people these days live in centrally heated houses where the RH is fairly constant throughout the year, however the RH of where the timber has come from is probably higher, plus it has been transported, stored, etc and is therefore likely to have a somewhat higher MC than the timber in your house.

Unlike metals or plastics, shrinkage and swelling in response to changes in RH occur relatively slowly, over a number of days, and unlike any other material wood shrinks and swells more, a lot more, across the grain than it does in the length. So if you store the timber where you intend to use it for a week, the timbber will reach equilibrium with its' new environment and you'll have a lot less problems. This, incidentally, is the same advice you get with laminate or engineered flooring, only the difference in your case is that worktops are a lot thicker so can take longer to reach equilibrium.

Hope that isn't too much like gobbledegook

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

1. Was planning on putting a bead of caulk around the edges of the worktop to finish, is there a better idea?

I would use a matching timber quadrant strip, fixed to the worktop only, with the worktop only fixed to the drawer units. The walls are unlikely to be square, and you will need a few mm of clearance around the sides, to enable it to be fitted - the quadrant will hide the gap and take care of the settlement. Add a support only fixed onto the wall, once it has settled maybe.

 

[Why Not Indeed]

Shirley if the quadrant is fixed to the worktop then the required gap will be vertical between the quadrant and the wall, ie, more visible than if the quadrant was fixed to the wall and the gap was horizontal between the worktop and the quadrant.
Although, how would you neatly fix quadrant to a wall?

 

[Deleted member 174758]

Shirley if the quadrant is fixed to the worktop then the required gap will be vertical between the quadrant and the wall, ie, more visible than if the quadrant was fixed to the wall and the gap was horizontal between the worktop and the quadrant.

Correct

Although, how would you neatly fix quadrant to a wall?

With difficulty, even with a second fix nail gun. In addition if the wall is anything other than (near) perfect the quadrant would snake across the wall following any discrepancies in the plasterwork. Which is why a joiner would most probably go for a low upstand - easier to fix to the wall (with screws) for starters, and any gaps at the top could easily be caulked...