TrussMetal is a metal fabrication shop in North Vancouver that works across Metro Vancouver. This page is for homeowners, condo and small-space owners, designers, and studios, workshops and offices that need a work surface only some of the time.
We fabricate the top, or a steel frame for a top by others, the optional front leg and the catch, and fit the bought-in folding brackets, which the quote names. We supply them; fixing to the wall is by your installer to the details we agree.
Configurations
Fold-down desks
A top on locking folding brackets that folds flat to the wall: for a laptop and monitor in a small room, a hallway or a guest room.
Work tops with a front leg
A fabricated front leg locks down to carry the front edge to the floor, for longer tops or heavier work, and clips up under the top before it folds.
Counters and hobby tops
Fold-down folding counters in laundry rooms, craft and sewing tops, potting benches and light garage benches.
Tops and finishes
Steel or aluminum tops made here, or timber, laminate or solid surface by others, on a powder-coated or stainless frame.
Concept drawing
Concept drawing
Concept drawing
Concept drawings, illustrative only: not a tested design, a shop drawing or an installation detail, and not a photograph or record of completed TrussMetal work. Dashed parts are by others or bought in. Parts marked “if specified” are included only where the agreed design calls for them.
Use and Loading
Use first
We start with what the top is for: a laptop, a sewing machine, hobby tools, folding laundry. People also lean on the front edge and rest their arms on it. The top, brackets and fixing are chosen together for that use.
Bracket ratings
Folding bracket makers rate their brackets under their own test conditions; one maker’s ratings assume brackets fixed into studs at set spacing and note that real use typically gives less. A bracket’s figure isn’t a rating for the finished desk, and we don’t publish one.
Not for
Vises, hammering, machinery, or sitting or standing on the top. For that work a fixed bench or a frame with legs is the right answer, and we can quote that instead.
Wall and Fixing
The wall
Wood studs, steel studs, concrete or block, confirmed before we draw. Brackets fix straight into studs, blocking or masonry, at the spacing their maker’s instructions assume.
Blocking
Steel studs and drywall alone don’t hold a fold-down top. Where blocking is needed, the contractor adds it before installation.
Fixings
Screws or anchors suited to the wall are named with the quote and installed to the bracket maker’s instructions; one maker warns that wrong or inadequate fasteners can let brackets pull loose.
Level
Brackets are set level and at matching heights, because the top follows them.
Open, Folded and Release
Open
The brackets lock when the top is raised. Where the use needs support at the front edge, the folding front leg locks down to the floor.
Folded
Any front leg clips up under the top first; the folded top then hangs against the wall and a catch holds it so it can’t drop open.
Release
A lever on each bracket releases it, and the top is lowered by hand, or by brackets with a soft-close damper where that is wanted.
Hands and cables
Gaps at the hinge line and around the brackets are detailed to keep fingers clear, and cables are routed so folding doesn’t pinch them.
Materials and finish
Powder-coated steel for dry rooms; stainless steel or aluminum for laundry rooms and garages that get damp.
Before We Build
Settled before an order
The use and what goes on the top, the wall construction and stud positions, the bracket model, the top material, and whether a front leg is needed. The quote names the brackets.
Checked before delivery
Each desk is assembled with its brackets and catch and worked through its movement: raise, lock, release, fold and latch.
Who Does What
Responsibilities that affect the quote
TrussMetal: the metal top or top frame, the optional front leg and the catch, fitted with the bought-in brackets named in the quote, and checked through their movement before delivery. Supply only.
Installer or contractor: blocking where needed, and fixing to the wall to the agreed details.
Owner or designer: the use, the location, and any timber or laminate top by others.
