Hi folks,

This might be kinda off topic, but I'm designing a computer desk or
room layout for my home office... and I'd like suggestions of others
who have tackled this.

I do web programming, so I have 3 computers with 4 monitors plus a
laptop. The room is 16 feet by 16 feet, and I have two closets.
Idealy the desk will take-up almost two full walls (including corner)
with desk space plus shelves. I also want to pull-up the carpet and
put-in a wooden floor so my chair will roll easier.

Can someone suggest a book or website that covers such projects? Or
if someone has done something similar, can you send suggestions or
photos?

I can do the wood work myself, but the planning is what I'm having
trouble with. Thanks in advance, and take care,

Alex.

On 20 Feb 2004 08:01:35 -0800, Alex wrote:

I do web programming, so I have 3 computers with 4 monitors plus a
laptop.

Sheeze! You should really get a KVM switch or something. Would save you
a *ton* of space.

Grey

--
The technical axiom that nothing is impossible sinisterly implies the
pitfall corollory that nothing is ridiculous.
- http://www.greywyvern.com - Orca RingMaker: PHP web ring creation and
management

Having a number of computers an monitors hooked up in my home office, I went
with two 8' long fold-up type tables in an L shape against two walls. Now I
can roll my chair along the length of the two tables since underneath is all
open space. I have 3 full size tower systems (server, workstation, test
bed) and I positioned them at the ends and one where the tables form the L
(in the corner). Lots of workspace (which is always full of something) and
lots of room on top for 19" monitors and keyboards. I also have a KVM
switch and it's laying over in the corner someplace since it tended to
create more problems than it solved.

You can get these tables (brown colored tops) at Office Supply stores (or
variants of them) at other places for around $50. Now make yourself a real
desk and plop it in the middle of the room for your "thinking spot". Get
WiFi for the network and your laptop and you're in tall grass!

Bob S.


"Alex" wrote in message
om...
Hi folks,

This might be kinda off topic, but I'm designing a computer desk or
room layout for my home office... and I'd like suggestions of others
who have tackled this.

I do web programming, so I have 3 computers with 4 monitors plus a
laptop. The room is 16 feet by 16 feet, and I have two closets.
Idealy the desk will take-up almost two full walls (including corner)
with desk space plus shelves. I also want to pull-up the carpet and
put-in a wooden floor so my chair will roll easier.

Can someone suggest a book or website that covers such projects? Or
if someone has done something similar, can you send suggestions or
photos?

I can do the wood work myself, but the planning is what I'm having
trouble with. Thanks in advance, and take care,

Alex.

On 20 Feb 2004 08:01:35 -0800, (Alex) scribbled:
Can someone suggest a book or website that covers such projects? Or
if someone has done something similar, can you send suggestions or
photos?

I just moved my home office into a bedroom of what used to be a
basement apartment. I don't have as many computers as you do, and the
room is about 10X10'. L-shaped desk surfaces. The first is 42X18" and
holds the printers and has shelves underneath for paper. The second is
a corner unit, cut out of a 42X42" panel, with a 45-degree cut,
leaving about 35" in the front for the keyboard and monitor. The third
is a bigger worktable 32X72". Here is an ASCII plan. Note that the
angles are at 45-degrees rather than whatever the slashes are.
__________________________________________________ _______________
| 42" | ~72" |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |3
| | |2
| | |"
| /\ |
|4 / \ |
|2 / \~17" |
|" 36" / \ |
| / \______________________________________|
| /
| /
|____________/
| 18" |
| |
| |
| |
| |4
| |2
| |"
| |
| |
| |
|____________|


The surfaces are 3/4 melamine covered particle board edged with
purpleheart. The edging was relieved with a 1/8" roundover router bit.

I hate working with that ****, both melamine and purpleheart. Melamine
is heavy, sags a lot and chips easily when cutting, but it's easy to
clean and doesn't need finishing. I really wanted to use hardwood ply,
but the finishing process would have taken too long. Purpleheart has
all the worst characteristics - it splinters worse than doug fir, the
splinters hurt more than red cedar, it's harder than oak and maple,
and dulls your tools as fast as teak. But the colour is purty and I
had a bunch of narrow stuff left over from another project.

To hold up the tops at the back, I used 1X3 cleats screwed into the
wall. The melamine is screwed into the cleats. The printer cabinet and
the corner unit are held up by 18X28 melamine panels, edged with
purpleheart. As the floor is not level, I put in 2 t-nuts and a
carriage bolt on the bottom edge of the panels to level them. The
joinery between the side panels and the tops is small iron angles
screwed into the melamine.

The big table is held up at the front with two purpleheart tapered
legs. The legs are made of 3 pieces of 3/4" purpleheart laminated and
then tapered on the table saw, scraped and the corners rounded off. I
biscuited a 5x5" piece of purpleheart the top of the legs, and that is
screwed to the melamine top.

Not elegant furniture, by far, but it was quick (the main
requirement), rigid and looks pretty good. I did not use any finish on
the purpleheart (again, time)

Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email address

"Alex" wrote in message
om...
Hi folks,

This might be kinda off topic, but I'm designing a computer desk or
room layout for my home office... and I'd like suggestions of others
who have tackled this.

I do web programming, so I have 3 computers with 4 monitors plus a
laptop. The room is 16 feet by 16 feet, and I have two closets.
Idealy the desk will take-up almost two full walls (including corner)
with desk space plus shelves. I also want to pull-up the carpet and
put-in a wooden floor so my chair will roll easier.

Can someone suggest a book or website that covers such projects? Or
if someone has done something similar, can you send suggestions or
photos?

I can do the wood work myself, but the planning is what I'm having
trouble with. Thanks in advance, and take care,

You might want to check out the "cheap jewel case" section of your local
software store (or big electronics store if they have one) and look for some
of the cheap CAD programs out there (usually run you less than $15)

You can then pretty much enter the dimensions of your room, closets, where
windows and sockets are placed, etc... and then work on a layout using
different sizes/shapes of desks, filing cabinets, etc

Without knowing exactly what you do, its hard to suggest too much...

You can save alot of space by getting a switch for your monitors... if you
do most of your work on the laptop and use the PCs for hosting and running
applications then you probably just need 1 monitor and a switch that will
let you view all 4 screens at once (the 3 PCs and the 1 laptop) and then if
you need to, you can switch to a specific monitor if that computer needs
your attention.
If you do most of your work on a PC, use the laptop for presentations and
the other 2 PCs are used as servers, then you probably just need to set up
the server PCs on a switch so you can monitor them, keep the laptop aside on
a shelf for when you need it and then another monitor for your actual work.

By using either 1 monitor and the laptop, or 2 monitors and putting the
laptop aside, you can save alot of desk space and so you would only need a
desk that is 6' wide at the most (maybe more if you have a bunch of desktop
folder items, lamp, etc) and then everything else you can pretty much put on
shelving in the corners or closet.

(Alex) wrote in message . com...
Hi folks,

This might be kinda off topic, but I'm designing a computer desk or
room layout for my home office... and I'd like suggestions of others
who have tackled this.

I do web programming, so I have 3 computers with 4 monitors plus a
laptop. The room is 16 feet by 16 feet, and I have two closets.
Idealy the desk will take-up almost two full walls (including corner)
with desk space plus shelves. I also want to pull-up the carpet and
put-in a wooden floor so my chair will roll easier.

Can someone suggest a book or website that covers such projects? Or
if someone has done something similar, can you send suggestions or
photos?

I can do the wood work myself, but the planning is what I'm having
trouble with. Thanks in advance, and take care,

Alex.

Alex,

Take your digital camera to Staples or Officemax and snap away. Tell
them you wanted to take some pictures so your wife can give her
opinion before you buy. They won't hassle you at all.

I didn't do this when I BOUGHT my office desk and I've regretted it
every since. SWMBO thought I had too many projects going and pushed
me to buy instead of making it myself. I bought an O'Sullivan and it
is total crap, but I did realize when it eventually breaks or cracks
or whatever, I will have an excellent template for the new one.

Chuck

Alex wrote:
Hi folks,

This might be kinda off topic, but I'm designing a computer desk or
room layout for my home office... and I'd like suggestions of others
who have tackled this.

I do web programming, so I have 3 computers with 4 monitors plus a
laptop. The room is 16 feet by 16 feet, and I have two closets.
Idealy the desk will take-up almost two full walls (including corner)
with desk space plus shelves. I also want to pull-up the carpet and
put-in a wooden floor so my chair will roll easier.

Can someone suggest a book or website that covers such projects? Or
if someone has done something similar, can you send suggestions or
photos?

I can do the wood work myself, but the planning is what I'm having
trouble with. Thanks in advance, and take care,


Dump any servers, routers, switches into the garage or under the stairs.
You don't need to sit by them and you can remote if necessary.

Run 3-compartment plastic trunking along the walls - either over or under
your desk - into this run a clean power supply and your network cables.
Install about 3 times as many power sockets as you think you will need and
at least twice as many network sockets.

You will need holes in the desk for cables - best size in the uk is 63.5mm -
at roughly 1m intervals.

The only tricky bit is connecting your office area to the server area, but
it sounds like you have practical skills.

Office chairs will wreck a wooden floor in no time - use a stronger covering
if you want to keep it nice.

--
William Tasso

I live and breathe with computers as tools for my work, but I do not
program. We've been living with furniture called "computer desks" from the
mid-80's when a PC was a major expense, monitors were big, and the CPU box
was big. Therefore, everything was built around it. I find that I no longer
want my computer to be the center of my desk. I want some broad and wide
horizontal space (sounds like a workbench, eh?). I sold my mega-sized
corner computer desk and replaced it with a large executive desk. Next up is
replacing the 19" monitor with an appropriate LCD panel.

Lastly, something I did a few years ago was get rid the contraption called a
keyboard drawer. They are ergonometrically unsound and inconvenient. I
discovered an articulating keyboard tray that tilts and adjusts height
without any knobs to tighten or loosen. You just grab the front edge of the
tray, tilt back slightly and you can raise or lower it, slide it in or out,
or even fold it up under the desk. It will bolt to the underside of any desk
or table and it leaves the desk top complete free and clear for paper work.
I'm 5'11". I adjust it for me. My wife is 5" 1". She can sit down and
quickly move the tray to her height in 3 seconds.

Using LCD panels and the keyboard tray I mentioned, you don't need to design
a computer specific desk or work area. Just bolt the tray on and sit the LCD
panel in front.

Here is a link to the tray I mention. http://tinyurl.com/2gxax

The actual mechanism is available from Rockler at http://tinyurl.com/2kzos.

Bob


"Alex" wrote in message
om...
Hi folks,

This might be kinda off topic, but I'm designing a computer desk or
room layout for my home office... and I'd like suggestions of others
who have tackled this.

I do web programming, so I have 3 computers with 4 monitors plus a
laptop. The room is 16 feet by 16 feet, and I have two closets.
Idealy the desk will take-up almost two full walls (including corner)
with desk space plus shelves. I also want to pull-up the carpet and
put-in a wooden floor so my chair will roll easier.

Can someone suggest a book or website that covers such projects? Or
if someone has done something similar, can you send suggestions or
photos?

I can do the wood work myself, but the planning is what I'm having
trouble with. Thanks in advance, and take care,

Alex.

Bob S. wrote:

Having a number of computers an monitors hooked up in my home office, I went
with two 8' long fold-up type tables in an L shape against two walls. Now I
can roll my chair along the length of the two tables since underneath is all
open space. I have 3 full size tower systems (server, workstation, test
bed) and I positioned them at the ends and one where the tables form the L
(in the corner). Lots of workspace (which is always full of something) and
lots of room on top for 19" monitors and keyboards. I also have a KVM
switch and it's laying over in the corner someplace since it tended to
create more problems than it solved.

You can get these tables (brown colored tops) at Office Supply stores (or
variants of them) at other places for around $50. Now make yourself a real
desk and plop it in the middle of the room for your "thinking spot". Get
WiFi for the network and your laptop and you're in tall grass!

That kinda reminds me of my old setup: Pre-formed laminated countertops
supported by file cabinets (standard and/or wide), with a rolling oak
desk chair to move from one station to another. I used cinder patio
blocks and 12" wide shelving to house my books and software and had TONs
of storage space. If you go to a RE store, you can pick up the counters
cheap ... but you didn't say if you wanted cheap or flush so YYMV.

Judy

On 20 Feb 2004 08:01:35 -0800, (Alex) wrote:

Hi folks,

This might be kinda off topic, but I'm designing a computer desk or
room layout for my home office... and I'd like suggestions of others
who have tackled this.

I do web programming, so I have 3 computers with 4 monitors plus a
laptop. The room is 16 feet by 16 feet, and I have two closets.
Idealy the desk will take-up almost two full walls (including corner)
with desk space plus shelves. I also want to pull-up the carpet and
put-in a wooden floor so my chair will roll easier.

Can someone suggest a book or website that covers such projects? Or
if someone has done something similar, can you send suggestions or
photos?

Depth, 32 inches, 36 inches if 19" or larger monitors. Desk top 29.5
inches off floor. Cabinets with doors (30" kitchen cabinets are fine)
26 inches above desk. Rolling file cabinets. Underdesk computer
mounts (cyberguys.com, about $30). Articulated keyboard support.
Undercabinet halogen or rope lights, indirect ceiling lighting.
Rubber wheels on that chair.

Better is switch to rack mount CPU units, a KVM switch and 21" LCD
display. Wireless keyboard/mouse/speakers and wireless network.

Jeff

Alex:

I work from home and have 3 laptops and 3 Desktops in a small office. When
I first moved into my office I used the Home Cheapo countertop propped up on
a couple of cheapo cabinets. It looked ugly and really stunk. Here is what I
did.

My office is a small room that is off our MBR. It is the area that would
normally be an open Foyer. We decided against an open Foyer when we built
our house. It is about 60" wide and 13 feet long and opens
up a bit by the door. I have a big arched window facing north which lets in
the light but not the glare.

Because I could not find a desk that fit for this space and was constrained
I designed my own. I designed a L shaped desk and took the measurements to a
local countertop shop. I picked out a Dark Wood Cherry laminate. It is
durable and pretty good looking. I chose this over wood because of all my
equipment and it was cheaper. For the support I had them make side panels 1
1/2" thick laminated. I can then rest the top on the two sides secured by
"L" brackets underneath. Along the wall in the back I used these Heavy duty
metal brackets for additional support. This desk is strong !!! I also cut
out a couple of holes and put cable grommets.

For storage I went out to staples.com and purchase 3 - 3 drawer HON mobile
file cabinets. I chose to make the height of my desk 4" higher than the
cabinets because I have my gigswitch and Netdisks stashed on top of them
still accessible. Because they are Mobile and on wheels I can pull them out
and clean every couple of months. Dust accumolates back there!!. It also
gives me flexability in re-arranging my space.

The other thing I did was a built a Ton of shelves and secured them with
adjustable brackets. I have so many manuals and books for my job I have to
keep them some where and their always within reach. To reduce clutter for
all of the software and cables, and computer sh%# I use gallon size ziploc
plastic bags and caztegorize the and store them in White FileFolder storage
bocs that I bought at Staples. It help reduce the clutter sooooo much. I
have started using this technique in my shop with manuals and such. It helps
keep out the dust and I know where to find stuff when I need it.

If I had to do anything different I would have made a U shaped desk/cockpit
and would suggest you entertain that idea because of the amount of computer
equipment. It always gets in the way. I always find I do not have a good
area to spread out papers and such because of the computers. I have been
looking at moving my office to a finished room in the basement because of
more room and also it would allow me to make a server room under the stairs.
My office has carpeting and I use those plastic mats to roll around on. I
recently bought some laminated flooring and secured it to a 1/4" piece of
Luan and edged it. It is more durable looks good with the cherry. I got the
idea from the skymall catalog. They wanted 350 bucks I built it for about
60.

Good Luck

Rich




"Alex" wrote in message
om...
Hi folks,

This might be kinda off topic, but I'm designing a computer desk or
room layout for my home office... and I'd like suggestions of others
who have tackled this.

I do web programming, so I have 3 computers with 4 monitors plus a
laptop. The room is 16 feet by 16 feet, and I have two closets.
Idealy the desk will take-up almost two full walls (including corner)
with desk space plus shelves. I also want to pull-up the carpet and
put-in a wooden floor so my chair will roll easier.

Can someone suggest a book or website that covers such projects? Or
if someone has done something similar, can you send suggestions or
photos?

I can do the wood work myself, but the planning is what I'm having
trouble with. Thanks in advance, and take care,

Alex.

Alex wrote:
Hi folks,

This might be kinda off topic, but I'm designing a computer desk or
room layout for my home office... and I'd like suggestions of others
who have tackled this.

I do web programming, so I have 3 computers with 4 monitors plus a
laptop.

Me too. Except I have one more computer within arm's reach. g Aren't
multi monitors great? Look through this gallery for photos of how others
have done it. One of my all-time favorites:
http://www.realtimesoft.com/multimon...wse.asp?ID=145

The room is 16 feet by 16 feet, and I have two closets.
Idealy the desk will take-up almost two full walls (including corner)
with desk space plus shelves.

I have a U-shaped $100 computer table that has the laptop, 3 monitor
desktop, and the server. It has a birch plywood top with a 2x4 pocket
screwed along the bottom -- the weight of the monitors caused the pressboard
original top to eventually fail.

The key thing is that it is *away* from the wall about 1.5 feet. This lets
me get behind it for cabling etc. Last night I made many trips to the back
of the desktop: trying a fairly new USB hub on 3 ports (1.1 & 2.0) to
confirm it is indeed dead, and getting my MS mouse to work left-handed and
my Logitech trackball and Wacom PenPartner to work right handed.

I wish it were 2' from the wall. 1.5' is a little too close now that all
the cables have snarled back there.

I also want to pull-up the carpet and
put-in a wooden floor so my chair will roll easier.

I laid down three sheets of 4x8' pressboard over the top of the carpet. A
joint is unfortunately right under my chair, and I got tired of the bump
going across it. Drywall screws took care of that. g Doing it again I'd
lay down two layers, opposite directions, and I don't think there would be
problems. If there were, I could just screw the pressboard layers to each
other and not have to screw into the floor.

Can someone suggest a book or website that covers such projects? Or
if someone has done something similar, can you send suggestions or
photos?

I'm borrowing a camera from a friend next week and should have some shots
for you by Friday. Ok?

I'll put a shot on abpw of my office when it was in another, smaller room of
the house. It shows the old top, just before it started crumbling from the
weight.

I can do the wood work myself, but the planning is what I'm having
trouble with. Thanks in advance, and take care,

Alex.

A good setup helps productivity. ;-) Just like in the shop.

-- Mark

GreyWyvern wrote:
On 20 Feb 2004 08:01:35 -0800, Alex wrote:

I do web programming, so I have 3 computers with 4 monitors plus a
laptop.

Sheeze! You should really get a KVM switch or something. Would save
you a *ton* of space.

You should sell your table saw, lathe and drill press and get a ShopSmiith.
Would save you a *ton* of space.

Exactly the same thing. Bitdorking & wooddorking. Setup & switching is the
timewaster.

-- Mark

Exactly the same thing. Bitdorking & wooddorking. Setup & switching
is the timewaster.

For example I test web pages in several browsers: IE5, IE6, Opera &
Netscape. It's critical to be able to *see* them all at the same time to
observe the differences in browser rendering. A KVM is useless for this.
They have to be "user sized," side-by-side.

For me the most monitor intense activity is the user documentation phase of
a Windows application. I'm using all these applications *at the same time*:
- Programming environment
- Help file writer
- Source code version control
- Screen capture
- Image editor
- Image catalog
- Text file of help link topics and numbers
- www.dictionary.com My help file writer's spell check is weak
- Testing the program to make sure the help links are correct
The last time I did this I had a 4-monitor desktop. I wasted a lot of time
because it wasn't a 6-monitor desktop.

-- Mark

FWIW Tom Plamann knows the value of having the right tools for the job. bg

http://plamann.com/sys-tmpl/pictures...ures&UID=10047
http://plamann.com/sys-tmpl/scrapboo...book&UID=10002

-- Mark

Another alternative you might consider is getting a large polycarbonate
chair mat. It is ridgid so chairs roll as easily as a hard surface, and it
will not crack, chip or break. Its expensive, but it will last a lifetime
and be the last chairmat you ever have to buy. My wife is a professional
artist. I had a custom 8' x 6' mat made for her. She stands on it to paint,
along with her easel and supply cabinet. You won't find polycarbonate
stocked anywhere. You have to have the matts custom made.

Bob


"Alex" wrote in message
om...
Hi folks,

I also want to pull-up the carpet and
put-in a wooden floor so my chair will roll easier.

On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 04:32:44 GMT "Bob Davis"
broke off from drinking a cup of tea
at EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net to write:

You have to have the matts custom made.

Indeed you do. We are quite unique, not off-the-shelf like a "John".

Matt


--
A massive matrix of concise, interlinked encyclopaedia information.
For when you just want to know, quickly and easily.
http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com

Matt Probert wrote:
On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 04:32:44 GMT "Bob Davis"
broke off from drinking a cup of tea
at EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net to write:

You have to have the matts custom made.

Indeed you do. We are quite unique, not off-the-shelf like a "John".

Matt

You have a John on the shelf? bizarre ;o)

--
William Tasso

On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 15:52:32 GMT, "Mark Jerde"
wrote:

Exactly the same thing. Bitdorking & wooddorking. Setup & switching
is the timewaster.

For example I test web pages in several browsers: IE5, IE6, Opera &
Netscape. It's critical to be able to *see* them all at the same time to
observe the differences in browser rendering. A KVM is useless for this.
They have to be "user sized," side-by-side.

Large monitor and remote desktops...

Jeff

On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 09:57:22 -0000, "William Tasso"
wrote:

Matt Probert wrote:
On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 04:32:44 GMT "Bob Davis"
broke off from drinking a cup of tea
at EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net to write:

You have to have the matts custom made.

Indeed you do. We are quite unique, not off-the-shelf like a "John".

Matt

You have a John on the shelf? bizarre ;o)

With all those monitors it was probably the only place left...

Jeff

On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 09:57:22 -0000 "William Tasso"
broke off from drinking a cup of tea at a
href=" http://www.WilliamTasso.com/" William Tasso /a to write:

Matt Probert wrote:
On Sun, 22 Feb 2004 04:32:44 GMT "Bob Davis"
broke off from drinking a cup of tea
at EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net to write:

You have to have the matts custom made.

Indeed you do. We are quite unique, not off-the-shelf like a "John".

Matt

You have a John on the shelf? bizarre ;o)


Old house...... g

Matt

--
A massive matrix of concise, interlinked encyclopaedia information.
For when you just want to know, quickly and easily.
http://www.probertencyclopaedia.com

Jeff Cochran wrote in message . ..
On Sat, 21 Feb 2004 15:52:32 GMT, "Mark Jerde"
wrote:

Exactly the same thing. Bitdorking & wooddorking. Setup & switching
is the timewaster.

For example I test web pages in several browsers: IE5, IE6, Opera &
Netscape. It's critical to be able to *see* them all at the same time to
observe the differences in browser rendering. A KVM is useless for this.
They have to be "user sized," side-by-side.

Large monitor and remote desktops...

Jeff

Hi... KVM boxes won't work for me. I do web design, and I like to
see my code, browser preview, and database layout all on seperate
monitors. On the DB Layout screen I also have Photoshop and other
tools available. It works great, but my current layout stinks.

THanks for the comments,

Alex.

"Mark Jerde" wrote in message ...
Alex wrote:
Hi folks,

This might be kinda off topic, but I'm designing a computer desk or
room layout for my home office... and I'd like suggestions of others
who have tackled this.

I do web programming, so I have 3 computers with 4 monitors plus a
laptop.

Me too. Except I have one more computer within arm's reach. g Aren't
multi monitors great? Look through this gallery for photos of how others
have done it. One of my all-time favorites:
http://www.realtimesoft.com/multimon...wse.asp?ID=145

The room is 16 feet by 16 feet, and I have two closets.
Idealy the desk will take-up almost two full walls (including corner)
with desk space plus shelves.

I have a U-shaped $100 computer table that has the laptop, 3 monitor
desktop, and the server. It has a birch plywood top with a 2x4 pocket
screwed along the bottom -- the weight of the monitors caused the pressboard
original top to eventually fail.

The key thing is that it is *away* from the wall about 1.5 feet. This lets
me get behind it for cabling etc. Last night I made many trips to the back
of the desktop: trying a fairly new USB hub on 3 ports (1.1 & 2.0) to
confirm it is indeed dead, and getting my MS mouse to work left-handed and
my Logitech trackball and Wacom PenPartner to work right handed.

I wish it were 2' from the wall. 1.5' is a little too close now that all
the cables have snarled back there.

I also want to pull-up the carpet and
put-in a wooden floor so my chair will roll easier.

I laid down three sheets of 4x8' pressboard over the top of the carpet. A
joint is unfortunately right under my chair, and I got tired of the bump
going across it. Drywall screws took care of that. g Doing it again I'd
lay down two layers, opposite directions, and I don't think there would be
problems. If there were, I could just screw the pressboard layers to each
other and not have to screw into the floor.

Can someone suggest a book or website that covers such projects? Or
if someone has done something similar, can you send suggestions or
photos?

I'm borrowing a camera from a friend next week and should have some shots
for you by Friday. Ok?

I'll put a shot on abpw of my office when it was in another, smaller room of
the house. It shows the old top, just before it started crumbling from the
weight.

I can do the wood work myself, but the planning is what I'm having
trouble with. Thanks in advance, and take care,

Alex.

A good setup helps productivity. ;-) Just like in the shop.

-- Mark

Hi Mark - and everyone else,

The link to Realtimesoft is GREAT! I got some excellent ideas from
there. I'll be planning my office over the next month or two, and
early this summer I'll start construction.

Take care,

Alex.