There's a lot of talk at the moment in the office furniture world about office desk strength, with many different opinions on the matter being voiced. Some suppliers are opting to reduce the thickness of the desk tops on the office desks they offer from 25mm to 18mm. Other suppliers are dead against this course of action claiming it will compomise quality. So who is right?
Well firstly there is no debate; an 18mm thick top is not as strong as a 25mm thick desk top. When you reduce the thickness by around 30% there is definately a reduction in the strength of the desk top. But the question is, is it a problem? How strong does an office desk need to be?
Well to answer this we need to look at the possible stresses and strains an office desk may be put through during it's lifetime. Certainly in your average office desks are moved around every couple of years as offices are re-arranged. This puts a lot of strain on the desks and there have been alarming reports of tops showing cracks after being dragged around an office.
Next is the issue of people sitting on desks. At my workplace almost every day someone comes in to talk to you and they sit on the edge of a desk. Now if you have someone who maybe hasn't been treading enough mill of late and is packing a few extra pounds this could actually be a problem. 25mm thick desk tops have been show to be strong enough to support a 20 stone man on the edge of them.
We can use heresay and rumours to answer these questions in part but for me where the debate really ends is when you look at the professional tests carried out by organisations like FIRA on 25mm and 18mm thick office desks. The desks with 25mm thick tops score much better on strength and durability, and for me given the very small differences in price between 25mm thick desks and 18mm thick ones I'd choose the 25mm thick desks every time. If your office furniture supplier is looking to cut costs by cutting quality you may want to take your business elsewhere.