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Hardwood Desk Top Installation: Standing Desk Frames or Desk Frames

Installation Guide - Desk Frame or Standing Desk Frame

**No Glues, Construction Adhisives, Epoxies, or similar should be used at any time when installing hardwood desk tops. Any of these will inhibit hardwood's natural movement and can lead to warping or cracking.

**Every desk top will have a designated top side. This should be apparent just by looking at the desk top. Also, if crated, the desk top will be shipped top side up. If you have any questions about this, don't hesitate to ask.

1. Acclimate Your Desk Top: 

Upon receipt, bring your desk top into the area where it will be installed. It's important to give the desk top time to acclimate to the conditions in your house. 5 days is adequate for the wood's acclimation process. You can store the desk top on your frame if you’d like. You can also store it against a wall with the planks running vertically if you need to keep it out of the way until installation. Take care in protecting your desk top from damage during this time period. If stored on your desk frame. Make sure you and anyone else in the area are aware that the desk top isn’t screwed in yet and both the desk top and any equipment on the desk top are susceptible to sliding/damage if bumped.

2. Prep Your Desk Frame

One major difference between a real hardwood desk top and one that’s made with a different material (such as laminate, MDF, plywood, or a veneered substrate) is that hardwood expands and contracts with changes in temperature and humidity. You won’t be able to see it expand/contract, but this movement is important to account for when installing your desk top. This is very easy to do and is explained next.

A. Desk Tops 34” deep and under:

The supports on a typical standing desk frame are long enough to support desk tops under 34” deep without any additional reinforcement. To account for movement in your desk top, you’ll need to enlarge the installation holes on the frame by drilling them out. A 3/8” drill bit is perfect for this. Drill out all holes (often there are 8 of these holes) that will be used to install your desk top. Once complete, move to step 3.

B. Desk Tops over 34” deep:

Desk tops greater than 34” deep should use additional reinforcement so the overhang on the front and back of the desk is better supported by the frame. These are called cleats. They can be made out of any durable wood. Please contact us if you'd like cleats to accompany your desk top. Since most standing desk frames only provide 24” of support, we recommend cleats for desk tops greater than 34” deep. The goal here is to have no more than 5” of unsupported desk top on the front and back edges. As an example, we recommend 30" cleats if you order a 40” deep desk top.

Center your cleats on your desk frame with equal distance of overhang on the front and back edges of your desk frame. Attach the cleats to your desk frame with wood screws at all installation points. Make sure to leave access to the pre-drilled desk top installation holes. You’ll need access to these pre-drilled holes later to install the desk top. You do not need to account for wood expansion/contraction when installing cleats. They’re small enough that expansion/contraction amount is negligible. Once complete, move on to step 3.

3. Prep Your Desk Top for Installation

Make sure your desk top is right side up. Place your desk top on your desk frame and center your desk top on the supports you prepped in step 2. As you measure and center your frame, it might be helpful to mark your installation points with blue painter’s tape or pencil (on the underside only). That way you can easily find your installation points and quickly re-center your desk top if it gets bumped while you’re measuring.

Important Note :

**DO THE FOLLOWING STEP CAREFULLY AND MAKE SURE NOT TO DRILL THROUGH THE DESK TOP. DRILLING ALL THE WAY THROUGH YOUR DESK TOP WILL CAUSE IRREPAIRABLE DAMAGE**

Next, lightly pre-drill your installation points in the underside of the desk top. Use a drill bit slightly smaller than your installation screws. Pre-drilling is an important step because it helps prevent cracking in the hardwood during installation.

Choose your fender washers and wood screws. Your goal is to install the wood screws halfway into the underside of the desk top. So you’ll want the screws to go 1/2” deep into a 1” thick desk top. To calculate this length, measure the thickness of your desk top supports (or your cleats if your installation requires cleats) and your fender washers. Then add half the thickness of your desk top to this measurement to determine the correct length for your wood screws.

4. Install Your Desk Top

With all previous steps completed and double checked, you’re ready to install your new hardwood desk top.

**DOUBLE CHECK TO ENSURE YOUR SCREWS ARE THE CORRECT LENGTH FOR YOUR INSTALLATION. MAKE CERTAIN NOT TO SCREW ALL THE WAY THROUGH YOUR DESK TOP. THAT WOULD CAUSE IRREPAIRABLE DAMAGE.**

Note before installing screws: Do not overtighten the screws. The goal is to tighten the screws just enough so that you can still wiggle the fender washer with your fingers. This allows your hardwood desk top room to expand and contract. The friction created by numerous installation points will be plenty to hold your desk top in place.

Working one installation point at a time, slide a fender washer over each screw and center the screw at the installation point. Fasten the screw to the underside of the desk top. Do this for all installation points, making sure not to overtighten.

5. Congratulations!

Your new Hardwood Desk Top is installed and ready to use. For ongoing Care & Maintenance Instructions, visit http://hardwooddesktops.com/cleaning-and-care-instructions/