How to Install a Counter for a Desk

Plan your layout. Allow at least 24 to 30 inches for a desk chair. Select a location that has an electrical outlet nearby for your computer and other electronic items. If you are hanging wall cabinets, allow enough room between the counter top and the cabinets for your computer monitor.

Select base cabinets that are 28 inches tall. This allows enough room for the counter top and still keeps the counter top at the standard desk height of 29 inches. If your counter top is thicker than 1 inch, make adjustments in the base cabinet height.

Set the desk cabinet into position. Use a carpenter’s level to find level, front to back and side to side. Add wood shims under the desk, as necessary, to level it.

Locate the studs in the wall with a stud finder. Drill pilot holes through the back of the desk and into each of the studs behind the desk. Attach the cabinet to the studs with screws long enough to penetrate the studs at least 1 inch.

Set the counter top on the desk base to ensure it fits. If the back of the counter top doesn’t fit perfectly against the wall, remove small amounts of excess material from the counter top with a fine wood file. Remove larger areas with a hand sander equipped with fine-grit sandpaper. Be careful not to file down too much.

Cut off any excess from the end of the counter top with a 10-tooth per inch hand saw. Apply a straight line of masking tape on the top of the counter top to use as a cutting guide.

Place contact cement on the exposed end of the desk counter top. Attach an end cap that matches the counter top to the exposed end. Some end caps use glue, activated by a hot clothes iron, to connect to the counter top. Buff down any rough edges between the end of the counter top and the end cap with a fine file.

Take the counter top off the desk base. Run a bead of carpenter’s glue along the top edges of the vertical sections of the base. Reposition the counter top on the desk base in its final location.

Drill pilot holes for small angle brackets into the counter top, being careful not to drill all the way through the desk counter top. Drill pilot holes for the remaining sides of the bracket into the interior of the desk base, again being careful not to go all the way through the base cabinet. Attach the brackets to the desk cabinet first with screws then add more screws into the counter top base to secure it. Use as many angle brackets as it takes to securely attach the top.