deskdrywallmountingstuds
I have this weird portion of a second bedroom where about 4 foot of it is 2 feet deeper than the rest of the wall.
What I want to do is fix a butcher block in that space to use as a desk.
What is the best way to mount this? I would be mounting it to drywall fronted studs / fire barrier. Will anchoring it in the studs and fire barrier at multiple points.
Is this a good plan or should I be looking into other procedures? I'd rather not buy desk legs if I can mount it to the wall.
I did a lot of research when finishing our basement. I eventually went with a wall model recommended by building sciences corporation that, from outside in, is:
This is a system that Fine Homebuilding magazine also recommends and is considered valid by the US Department of Energy. I know this because our local building codes were still using the antiquated 'fiberglass + plastic' model and I had to do a ton of research to educate the local code enforcers before they'd approve this.
I went with metal studs for the following reasons:
There are a few cons, though:
As for baseboard, I decided to use the new synthetic foam pre-finished trim. It looks pretty good, is super light, easy to work with and...it's not wood. So I thought it was another great product for a basement. Because it's so light, it was really easy to toe-nail it in to the sheetrock with an pneumatic trimmer.
As for mounting cabinets and such, on the walls where I knew I wanted to do this, I added 2x2's inside the metal studs for support.
The only corrosion issue that I'd be worried about is rust, and that should only be an issue if you still have a moisture issue in your basement. It'd also take a really long time for a stud to rust through and be any sort of problem.
Some tips:
As for your plan:
barrier (tar paper) on all exterior walls, Framing a stud wall, insulating, installing a vapour barrier, and dry-walling over top
...I STRONGLY recommend against that.
for starters, your plan involves two vapor barriers...that is a really bad idea. That will only trap moisture inside the walls. The modern recommendation (at least in colder climates) is to not use any vapor barrier in an old basement. Instead, use foam board for the insulation. Foam board is permeable, and the idea is that if water ever got on one side or the other, it could eventually dry to the other.
The other issue is that you want the insulation on the OUTSIDE of the stud wall. The foundation wall will be the coldest surface and is where moisture would condense. You want all of your framing on the inside of the conditioned space.
The proper way to put a water barrier in a basement is on the OUTSIDE of the foundation. Ideally, you'd have a water barrier and insulation on the outside of the concrete. But that's obviously really hard to retrofit.
Chip away the drywall over the hole and install a Stud Plate. These are designed to stop anyone from drilling into a wire that runs through a stud.
Patch the drywall. Next time, if you can't find the location, and accidentally drill in the same spot, you'll hit the stud plate.
Best Answer
I would just buy a 1x4 or similar material that would go with your butcher block and use them as a ledger board on the three sides. Simply measure the height you want, attach ledger board to wall all the way around (3 easy cuts) and attach them to the studs.
Then just slide on your butcher block. To attach to ledger you can use screws but a little silicone is probably more than enough for a tight space to keep it from moving.