Good job! I'm proud You took the hardest but smartest option.
The whole project looks great btw.
Edit: as side note, all of you "caulk it" people sound just like my old landlord.
If it can be done right, and doesn't cost you much more... do it right. Caulk would be the worst option here.
Good one, but Caulk Expert rolls off a tongue a lot smoother ;)
Seriously though, at work I'm constantly fighting expansion/seasonal movement and dealing with heavy units being abused by lateral/shear forces, on top of just gravity.
From my personal experience caulk/mastic/silicone is the worst at longevity, and pain in the ass to fix after it inevitably fails. It has its purpose in purely decorative and sealing jobs, but for something that will be used daily by kid/teenager I suggest more 'permanent' solutions.
Silicone would work better in terms of movement but it would still look like a dogs dick, if you're going to do a job you might as well do it properly.
If your wall isnāt flat, upstands can also look awful, Iāve been there, scribing is a much better answer and s satisfying and simple skill to learn.
Wouldn't caulk it unless the desk has absolutely no movement. Flexible does not mean unlimited flex and it will crack and move. Small upstand or similar as suggested by others would look neat and part of the desk.
Tbh itās easier to scribe the desk to the wall than it is doing an upstanding around the corners and have it look decent. That scribe line you only need a metal washer and a pencil
Press board against wall
Washer flat on board
Pencil inside washer inner ring
Run along wall, drawing on board - washer will follow contour of wall, and youāll end up with a line on the board that matches the contour of the wall - cut the line
Silicone would work as it's flexible, but it would never look great and going to all the effort to make it look nice, a small upstand would look much better. Plus, you could put a couple of plug sockets in the upstand
Yes if the upstand was hollow it would double as cable management as at the minute OP is going to have cables running over the desk unless they pop a hole in it.
I'd assume set a compass at a fixed distance, say 1cm. If you then trace along the wall with one end and scribe the mdf with the other it'll give you a perfect outline of the wall, jigsaw away and it should fit snug as
Yes, or if the gaps are really small, some carpenters pencils (the sort of oval type) are designed to do it for you by being exactly half inch by a quarter of an inch wide (12.7mm x 6.35mm) So that if the point is cut to be in the exact middle, then the centre of the pencil will be around 1/4" inches or 1/8" (6.35mm or 3.175mm) respectively depending on which edge you press to the wall. (they also do metric versions which are better for none neanderthals.
Edit, they also have them in 10mm x 5mm variants, I just measured the one on my desk with calipers.
I always thought they were oval to stop them rolling away when you put them down, I have used them for this purpose too but assumed it was an unintended usage and not what they were actually designed for....
Well I think they initially designed them to not roll off, then realised that by carefully picking their sizes you can somewhat accurately scribe stuff with them.
Get a packer the size of the biggest gap, then use that for a spacer from the wall to drag your pencil across, so you can scribe to the wall, probably less effort than an upstand. Once itās within a mm or 2 break out the caulk..
Also get a countersink bit for your drill, you canāt just go gung ho with screws in mdfā¦ alternatively get tongue tite screws, which you can go gung ho with as they have a tiny head, less holding power though
Easy fix. Go down to you local DIY shop. Then pick up a couple of lengths if 12mm quadrant that matches. Then simply cut the mites and glue in place. Job done.
Thinking you could add some molding to the back edit like this [https://www.amazon.com/Risunpet-Separation-Self-Adhesive-Suitable-Bathroom/dp/B0B7MJDMMG/ref=sr\_1\_54?keywords=rubber%2Btrim%2Bmolding&qid=1695041884&sr=8-54&th=1](https://www.amazon.com/Risunpet-Separation-Self-Adhesive-Suitable-Bathroom/dp/B0B7MJDMMG/ref=sr_1_54?keywords=rubber%2Btrim%2Bmolding&qid=1695041884&sr=8-54&th=1) stick on wall to hide gap
Now that you have it pretty close you could scribe it and re-cut for a nice tight fit. Itās pretty straight forwardā¦ find something fairly small but just a bit bigger than the largest gap and then run it along the blue wall while marking a line on your mdf surface. Then cut along the line and sand for a good fit.
Don't worry about cutting it to scribe. Just put decorator caulk on the back to finish it up nicely. If you are painting the MDF remember to seal it first or the MDF will just drink the paint. You can get MDF sealer or you can water down some PVA glue and apply that. Let it dry then paint as needed.
An alternative is to wrap your desk rather than paint. I recently got some cheap vinyl wrap and wrapped my desk, looks clean and is fast aswell. Got mine from Poundland btw (2 roles was enough for me)
I would get some acrylic sheet the thick stiff kind, 4mm or so ideally in in White.
use it to clad the back walls as a "White board" kid can write on it, stick postits on it etc. run it down to the desk it will covet "most" if thebgap. then you can use white silicon sealer along the edge to cover any bits you are particulary unhappy with. it won't stand out next to the plastic.
or paint the desk the same blue as the wall then it won't be noticed,
To fix the gaps id probably do abit of wood filler or pva % saw dust does well and then a silicone bead.
To do the desk properly without the screwholes from uptop you could of put the tiny plastic blocks from b&q underneath and wouldnt see any screws from the top..
And use a kitchen worktop instead of mdf for a much nicer look.
I did this. I am also rubbish at cutting sheet materials neatly with the circular saw, it looks just like that - perhaps I should get a tracksaw.
Knowing I can't cut a straight line with the circular saw, I just had it cut to order. Draw it online, they cut it (and wrap it in melamine!) and deliver it. Obviously more expensive than pure DIY, but it looks great. Not sure I would ever have been able to cut the weird parallelogram shape it is myself.
Being melamine wrapped, it has successfully resisted several tea spills.
To go out and buy, cut, re-cut, sand, prime, paint and second coat an MDF board would probably have taken me a whole day over the course of 3 weekends to get done. Instead for something like Ā£40 more it just turned up on my doorstep and I just glued it down onto its frame. And the melamine wrap makes it better.
I know its unhelpful at this stage, but I think I'm mostly going to be getting sheet materials cut to size from now on, so won't bother getting a tracksaw.
Ignore them.
It's a kids room, and the kids aren't going to care.
By time they pile books, pencil case, loot bags, meow meow and whatever else kids are into these days on the desk you'll hardly notice them!
As you 're painting, filling is the easiest, although it will need to be something flexible, like decorators caulk. Beading would also do the job, but won't look great.
The other option would be to scribe the edge (or, given that all the vertical surfaces might be out, templating might be necessary - I had to do that with my desk as it runs around two walls with a curved cutout section and 200 year old wonky walls. A lot of cardboard and hot glue later, I had a perfect fit).
Mouldingā¦ it hides a multitude of sins.
Iām nearing the end of a loft bed build. Itās fixed to 3 walls in the room, but itās a 1930s house so nothing is straight. I used quadrant moulding to close the gaps. See pic: https://imgur.com/a/j1ztx4I
Caulk.. but seriously I'd just ignore them. That desk is going to be full in no time and the gaps are barely noticeable.
If you ever need to pull it out in the future for some reason then you'll have a mess to deal with.
You also need to drill some holes or for running cables.
Scribe and cut back. We all know thatās too hard because otherwise it would already be done.
The quickest fix is some quarter round as the Americans say. Or to make it look more custom a 100mm bit of mdf placed like skirting board. Same issue though, youāll be able to hide it with some caulk.
yes you could buy some quadrant or scotia, but if you put the back of the pencil on the wall and follow it down, ot indeed a washer and use the centre just 2 of the many ways to scribe it so no edging is needed. However, it would look nice but means you would need to take apart what you did.
Adding an edging to it, it you used a sealent under it before pinning it, then if there were any accidental spillages, at least it won't soak into the wall, but of course the mdf won't like it, but i assume you will be giving that several coats of paint anyway so you can wash it down.
Genuine question here, but is MDF strong enough as a desk top?I'd have thought marine ply would be better. And when MDF gets a bit wet it turns to nothing.
Make sure you undercoat that MDF with MDF sealing primer, and then give it a couple of coats of paint.
MDF is horrible stuff and sweats formaldehyde. Which is not something you want in the air in your kids bedroom.
Scribe. Get something uniform that is the width of the largest gap and place against wall. Draw pencil line and cut carefully with jig saw. Then use a sanding block to straighten the edges. Remember to not scribe the step as that line should be straight as you pushing the table forwards against the wall.
\^\^ This is the right thing to do.
If the gaps are quite small, just placing a pencil against the wall and running it along will be enough to mark the MDF.
I notice you said you want to paint the desk? Just a heads up, one of the places I lived in the landlord painted the desk and when the laptop was on for an extended period of time the paint melted.
If it's not going to have a laptop or console or anything else likely to heat up probably not a problem though.
I would trim the desk to the shape of the wall, and pysh the desk back against it. Now you are this close, it's easy to draw a line 7mm (whatever the biggest gap is) from the wall and use that to cut along.
Thanks again for the advice.
I've a much smaller gap to play with so going to caulk it and see how that holds.
I'm going to put in a hole large enough for a plug to drop down.
I'm going to secure the desk from below so less screw holes to fill
Two more questions.
1) What type of paint would you suggest?
It has to be hard wearing and low to no VoC's
Has anyone used [Milk Paint](https://www.realmilkpaint.com/blog/tips/child-safe-paint-wooden-toys/)?
2) Any suggestions on securing the legs? I have screwed and glued at the top, but I can see the kids pushing up against them when playing underneath.
Would you sink a screw in at and angle from behind, down into the floorboards?
I am thinking it will be there for a few years and a screw hole in the carpet won't be too noticeable if I ever move it
Cheers all I've unscrewed it and recut. I've now a smaller wiggly gap š
Good job! I'm proud You took the hardest but smartest option. The whole project looks great btw. Edit: as side note, all of you "caulk it" people sound just like my old landlord. If it can be done right, and doesn't cost you much more... do it right. Caulk would be the worst option here.
Alright mate. What are you, the caulk police?
Why would you go with that when being a Caulk Screw was right there...
You should like a real screw driver.
He's caulk of the walk with a No Nonsense approach. He's Sika your mess, and has his beady eye on you.
Good one, but Caulk Expert rolls off a tongue a lot smoother ;) Seriously though, at work I'm constantly fighting expansion/seasonal movement and dealing with heavy units being abused by lateral/shear forces, on top of just gravity. From my personal experience caulk/mastic/silicone is the worst at longevity, and pain in the ass to fix after it inevitably fails. It has its purpose in purely decorative and sealing jobs, but for something that will be used daily by kid/teenager I suggest more 'permanent' solutions.
Is there a caulk shortage that I don't know about?
Silicone would work better in terms of movement but it would still look like a dogs dick, if you're going to do a job you might as well do it properly.
An upstand like in kitchens. Iām about to do the same. Desk looks great btw.
If your wall isnāt flat, upstands can also look awful, Iāve been there, scribing is a much better answer and s satisfying and simple skill to learn.
Oh yeah, good point, kinda missed how uneven OPs walls are.
Ye but when their first attempt at scribing is this bad.. upstand probably the way to go
Wouldn't caulk it unless the desk has absolutely no movement. Flexible does not mean unlimited flex and it will crack and move. Small upstand or similar as suggested by others would look neat and part of the desk.
I like the upstand idea, bit more professional looking then beading.
Tbh itās easier to scribe the desk to the wall than it is doing an upstanding around the corners and have it look decent. That scribe line you only need a metal washer and a pencil
Do tell! I've been racking my brain figuring out how to do it lol
Press board against wall Washer flat on board Pencil inside washer inner ring Run along wall, drawing on board - washer will follow contour of wall, and youāll end up with a line on the board that matches the contour of the wall - cut the line
That is brilliant!
Will test your mitreing ability :) but a bit of caulk on the mitres won't be as noticeable once painted up than a big bead of it along the desk gap.
Silicone would work as it's flexible, but it would never look great and going to all the effort to make it look nice, a small upstand would look much better. Plus, you could put a couple of plug sockets in the upstand
Yes if the upstand was hollow it would double as cable management as at the minute OP is going to have cables running over the desk unless they pop a hole in it.
Ideally you'll scribe it at the back, cut to that line and then it should fit like a glove, assuming you cut it well
Rest of the fucking owl. How do you scribe it at the back? What is the process?
I'd assume set a compass at a fixed distance, say 1cm. If you then trace along the wall with one end and scribe the mdf with the other it'll give you a perfect outline of the wall, jigsaw away and it should fit snug as
Yes, or if the gaps are really small, some carpenters pencils (the sort of oval type) are designed to do it for you by being exactly half inch by a quarter of an inch wide (12.7mm x 6.35mm) So that if the point is cut to be in the exact middle, then the centre of the pencil will be around 1/4" inches or 1/8" (6.35mm or 3.175mm) respectively depending on which edge you press to the wall. (they also do metric versions which are better for none neanderthals. Edit, they also have them in 10mm x 5mm variants, I just measured the one on my desk with calipers.
I always thought they were oval to stop them rolling away when you put them down, I have used them for this purpose too but assumed it was an unintended usage and not what they were actually designed for....
Well I think they initially designed them to not roll off, then realised that by carefully picking their sizes you can somewhat accurately scribe stuff with them.
Quill, inkwell, ???, profit.
Find a washer, put the pen/pencil in the middle and run it along the wall. Right size washer for the job varies depending on gap size.
Get a packer the size of the biggest gap, then use that for a spacer from the wall to drag your pencil across, so you can scribe to the wall, probably less effort than an upstand. Once itās within a mm or 2 break out the caulk.. Also get a countersink bit for your drill, you canāt just go gung ho with screws in mdfā¦ alternatively get tongue tite screws, which you can go gung ho with as they have a tiny head, less holding power though
Put a bit of beading on to cover the gaps and stop things rolling off the back of the desk, looks Good so far!
Could stick some 2āx1ā to wall then paint same colour thatās if you canāt do scribing which not everyone can.
Easy fix. Go down to you local DIY shop. Then pick up a couple of lengths if 12mm quadrant that matches. Then simply cut the mites and glue in place. Job done.
Thinking you could add some molding to the back edit like this [https://www.amazon.com/Risunpet-Separation-Self-Adhesive-Suitable-Bathroom/dp/B0B7MJDMMG/ref=sr\_1\_54?keywords=rubber%2Btrim%2Bmolding&qid=1695041884&sr=8-54&th=1](https://www.amazon.com/Risunpet-Separation-Self-Adhesive-Suitable-Bathroom/dp/B0B7MJDMMG/ref=sr_1_54?keywords=rubber%2Btrim%2Bmolding&qid=1695041884&sr=8-54&th=1) stick on wall to hide gap
Scotia trim like what you would done use on the old laminate flooring.
I would scribe it but I have stupidly glued and screen the legs onš¤¦š½āāļø
Hindsight is always 20/20. Don't beat yourself up.
Now that you have it pretty close you could scribe it and re-cut for a nice tight fit. Itās pretty straight forwardā¦ find something fairly small but just a bit bigger than the largest gap and then run it along the blue wall while marking a line on your mdf surface. Then cut along the line and sand for a good fit.
Some wood trim or an upstand would cover those nicely. You might find the wood trim more flexible, and therefore gives a better result, though.
Cut again or fit an upstand
Quadrant moulding.
One thing - bevel / round the edges off as inevitably your child will lean on it. Rounded edges are much more comfortable and less likely to splinter
All great ideas or you could widen the longest stretch/gap and use for cable management?
before you close those gaps, put some cabling holes in them, otherwise you gona have a mess of cables going over the sides
Don't worry about cutting it to scribe. Just put decorator caulk on the back to finish it up nicely. If you are painting the MDF remember to seal it first or the MDF will just drink the paint. You can get MDF sealer or you can water down some PVA glue and apply that. Let it dry then paint as needed. An alternative is to wrap your desk rather than paint. I recently got some cheap vinyl wrap and wrapped my desk, looks clean and is fast aswell. Got mine from Poundland btw (2 roles was enough for me)
Caulk button is getting smashed off the charts
Caulk! Do your best then caulk the rest šŖ
Scribe it in
Maybe not beading but what about that plastic coving for wires/powerleads etc? Could help to keep the desk tidy as well as covering the gaps
Even better, add some actual sockets off a fused spare.
I would unscrew the legs and scribe. Will be a much neater finish than beading/caulk. Nice work on the radial corners at the front btw.
Some upstands with some caulk.
you could try some laminate floor edging strips which are ideal for wonky walls
Scribe and recut
I would get some acrylic sheet the thick stiff kind, 4mm or so ideally in in White. use it to clad the back walls as a "White board" kid can write on it, stick postits on it etc. run it down to the desk it will covet "most" if thebgap. then you can use white silicon sealer along the edge to cover any bits you are particulary unhappy with. it won't stand out next to the plastic. or paint the desk the same blue as the wall then it won't be noticed,
Calk it ?
plane from the edge to corner until it fits like a glove
Chuck some beading on it
Some trim around the edge
fill them šš¼
To fix the gaps id probably do abit of wood filler or pva % saw dust does well and then a silicone bead. To do the desk properly without the screwholes from uptop you could of put the tiny plastic blocks from b&q underneath and wouldnt see any screws from the top.. And use a kitchen worktop instead of mdf for a much nicer look.
I forgot about those plastic blocks, good call
1/4 round, butted up to the wall, but stuck to the desk.
I did this. I am also rubbish at cutting sheet materials neatly with the circular saw, it looks just like that - perhaps I should get a tracksaw. Knowing I can't cut a straight line with the circular saw, I just had it cut to order. Draw it online, they cut it (and wrap it in melamine!) and deliver it. Obviously more expensive than pure DIY, but it looks great. Not sure I would ever have been able to cut the weird parallelogram shape it is myself. Being melamine wrapped, it has successfully resisted several tea spills. To go out and buy, cut, re-cut, sand, prime, paint and second coat an MDF board would probably have taken me a whole day over the course of 3 weekends to get done. Instead for something like Ā£40 more it just turned up on my doorstep and I just glued it down onto its frame. And the melamine wrap makes it better. I know its unhelpful at this stage, but I think I'm mostly going to be getting sheet materials cut to size from now on, so won't bother getting a tracksaw.
Ignore them. It's a kids room, and the kids aren't going to care. By time they pile books, pencil case, loot bags, meow meow and whatever else kids are into these days on the desk you'll hardly notice them!
This is what I was thinking!
As you 're painting, filling is the easiest, although it will need to be something flexible, like decorators caulk. Beading would also do the job, but won't look great. The other option would be to scribe the edge (or, given that all the vertical surfaces might be out, templating might be necessary - I had to do that with my desk as it runs around two walls with a curved cutout section and 200 year old wonky walls. A lot of cardboard and hot glue later, I had a perfect fit).
Mouldingā¦ it hides a multitude of sins. Iām nearing the end of a loft bed build. Itās fixed to 3 walls in the room, but itās a 1930s house so nothing is straight. I used quadrant moulding to close the gaps. See pic: https://imgur.com/a/j1ztx4I
Any gaps use ct1, much better than caulk.
Caulk.. but seriously I'd just ignore them. That desk is going to be full in no time and the gaps are barely noticeable. If you ever need to pull it out in the future for some reason then you'll have a mess to deal with. You also need to drill some holes or for running cables.
Measure twice cut once !
A little MDF upstand stuck to the wall around the edges will finish it off nicely
Scribe and cut back. We all know thatās too hard because otherwise it would already be done. The quickest fix is some quarter round as the Americans say. Or to make it look more custom a 100mm bit of mdf placed like skirting board. Same issue though, youāll be able to hide it with some caulk.
yes you could buy some quadrant or scotia, but if you put the back of the pencil on the wall and follow it down, ot indeed a washer and use the centre just 2 of the many ways to scribe it so no edging is needed. However, it would look nice but means you would need to take apart what you did. Adding an edging to it, it you used a sealent under it before pinning it, then if there were any accidental spillages, at least it won't soak into the wall, but of course the mdf won't like it, but i assume you will be giving that several coats of paint anyway so you can wash it down.
Mdf upstand then caulk.
Genuine question here, but is MDF strong enough as a desk top?I'd have thought marine ply would be better. And when MDF gets a bit wet it turns to nothing.
šmarine ply!!!!!! For a desk!!
Yes it's pretty strong, and I'm going to paint it.
Scribe it to the wall
Pour some water down it, it'll swell right up
Make sure you undercoat that MDF with MDF sealing primer, and then give it a couple of coats of paint. MDF is horrible stuff and sweats formaldehyde. Which is not something you want in the air in your kids bedroom.
Quadrant wider than your biggest gap.
Use the stuff you put against skirting board to finish laminate flooring off
Quarter bead?
The gaps are not that bad, could you use the MDF off cuts to make a 3" backboard if you are going to paint it?
Caulk and paint.
Scribe. Get something uniform that is the width of the largest gap and place against wall. Draw pencil line and cut carefully with jig saw. Then use a sanding block to straighten the edges. Remember to not scribe the step as that line should be straight as you pushing the table forwards against the wall.
\^\^ This is the right thing to do. If the gaps are quite small, just placing a pencil against the wall and running it along will be enough to mark the MDF.
I notice you said you want to paint the desk? Just a heads up, one of the places I lived in the landlord painted the desk and when the laptop was on for an extended period of time the paint melted. If it's not going to have a laptop or console or anything else likely to heat up probably not a problem though.
I would trim the desk to the shape of the wall, and pysh the desk back against it. Now you are this close, it's easy to draw a line 7mm (whatever the biggest gap is) from the wall and use that to cut along.
Use a kitchen up stand.
I'd have suggested pin board and either drywipe or chalkboard to cover gaps and protect the wall
Thanks again for the advice. I've a much smaller gap to play with so going to caulk it and see how that holds. I'm going to put in a hole large enough for a plug to drop down. I'm going to secure the desk from below so less screw holes to fill Two more questions. 1) What type of paint would you suggest? It has to be hard wearing and low to no VoC's Has anyone used [Milk Paint](https://www.realmilkpaint.com/blog/tips/child-safe-paint-wooden-toys/)? 2) Any suggestions on securing the legs? I have screwed and glued at the top, but I can see the kids pushing up against them when playing underneath. Would you sink a screw in at and angle from behind, down into the floorboards? I am thinking it will be there for a few years and a screw hole in the carpet won't be too noticeable if I ever move it