DIY Wall-Mounted Folding Table With Folding Brackets: Plans, Cut List, Mounting

What you build and how long it takes

The result is a top that opens on two folding steel brackets and hangs flat against the wall when you release the latches. It is the same principle as a ready-made bracket table such as the VIVO workbench, only with a top cut to your wall. Neither Sugatsune nor Hardware Source gives a time for the job; plan extra time if a ledger board is needed.

If you are still deciding between building and buying, the comparison brackets or a ready-made table weighs both. This page assumes you build. Mounting a bought table is covered in the guide on how to install a wall-mounted folding table.

Tools and material

• Two folding shelf brackets, arm length close to the planned depth of the top
• A flat, stiff board for the top (plywood, solid wood or a laminated panel)
• Wood screws for the studs, long enough to reach well into the wood; short screws to fix the top to the arms
• Optional: a ledger board, if the brackets cannot both land on studs
• Stud finder, tape measure, pencil, level, drill with bits, saw, sandpaper

Check whether your brackets come with screws. Hardware Source, for example, says its folding supports take eight #10 (small) or #12 (large) screws each and that screws are not included. Sugatsune only says to choose screws or wall plugs suitable for the intended load. The screws that ship with cheap brackets are not matched to your wall.

Plan the top around the studs

This is the step that decides whether the table holds. Do it before you buy wood.

Stud spacing. Wood studs are 16 or 24 inches on center. The residential code table for wood studs (IRC Table R602.3(5)) lists 24 inches as the maximum for 2x4 studs carrying only a roof and ceiling and 16 inches when they also carry a floor. Measure your wall; do not assume.

Bracket spacing. Each bracket has to sit on a stud, so the distance between the two brackets is a multiple of the stud spacing. If that does not work for the top you want, screw a ledger board across at least two studs and fix the brackets to the board. The question can you mount a folding table on drywall without studs explains why anchors in drywall are no substitute.

Bracket length. As a rule of thumb, choose arms close to the depth of the top; we found no published standard. A shorter arm leaves more of the top unsupported, and the further out a load sits, the harder the upper screws are pulled out of the wall. The folding shelf brackets guide sorts the lengths and their listed load figures.

Example cut list

These are planning examples derived from stud spacing and the bracket rule of thumb above, not tested plans.

Keep the overhang equal on both sides so the load is shared by both brackets. None of our sources says that a third bracket raises a rating, so do not count on it.

Step by step

1. Find and measure the studs

   Run a stud finder along the wall, mark both edges of each stud and measure the distance between the centers. Note any outlets or switches in the zone below the top: the brackets fold down there.

2. Plan bracket spacing and top size

   Choose two studs the right distance apart and mark the bracket centerlines on them. Cut the top to the planned width and depth, sand the edges and apply a finish if you want one.

3. Mark the height

   Decide where the finished top edge goes. For meals and seated work, about 29 to 30 inches above the floor is usual, inside the 28 to 34 inches the 2010 ADA Standards set for dining and work surfaces. Sugatsune measures from the floor to the underside of the table, so subtract the thickness of your top from the top edge and draw a level line there. The guide to mounting height covers bar and laundry heights.

4. Screw the brackets into the studs

   Unfold the brackets so they lock. Hold each wall plate on its stud with the top of the arm on the line, check it with the level, mark the holes, drill pilot holes and drive the screws into the center of the stud. VIVO's manual for its ready-made bench, for comparison, uses three holes per bracket in the center of a stud, drilled 3 inches deep.

5. Fix the top to the bracket arms

   Lay the top on the open arms. Leave a gap to the wall: Sugatsune notes the top must be lifted slightly to fold the bracket, and VIVO asks for at least 3/8 inch (10 mm) between the back of its top and the wall. Screw the top to the arms with screws shorter than the top is thick.

6. Check the fold and the latches

   Fold the table down and raise it several times. Both brackets must lock fully each time. Sugatsune says to lift the top slightly to take the load off before releasing the lock and to lower it carefully.

Typical mistakes

1. Planning the top first, the studs second. The bracket spacing is set by the wall, not by the middle of the top.
2. Brackets much shorter than the top. More overhang means more leverage on the upper screws.
3. Forgetting the weight of the top. Sugatsune's guide says the weight of the table itself counts against the bracket capacity.
4. Reading a bracket figure as what the table holds. Hardware Source rates its pair at 750 lb only when properly attached to the wall, and says proper attachment depends on the wall – wood studs, masonry and so on. Many listings do not even say whether a figure is per bracket or per pair. Why the fixing usually limits the load is explained on the page about weight capacity.
5. No gap to the wall. Without it, the top binds when you try to fold it.

Safety

A falling top can injure. Screw into studs, a ledger board on studs or solid masonry, never into drywall alone. Do not exceed the bracket maker's rating, and keep children from hanging on an open top. Walls can hide cables and pipes; check before you drill, and ask a carpenter if you are unsure about screws or the wall.

Brackets or hinges – and the ready-made option

The brackets in our data are listed by sellers only, without a maker spec sheet: for a 24-inch-deep top the CLT 24 in stainless brackets^*, whose listing tells buyers to mount them on studs, and for 16- to 18-inch tops the 16 in stainless brackets^*. A drop-leaf with a fixed strip on the wall is built with hinges instead; see hinges for fold-down tables. A garage bench follows the same steps with a deeper top – the plan for that is the DIY folding workbench.