Measuring for Desk Re-Tops and Resizing: What a Maker Needs

To re-top or resize a desk you need six measurements: the frame's outer length and depth, the frame height, and the existing top's length, depth and thickness, plus the position and type of the fixings that hold the top on. Add photos of the underside and a note of any cable cut-outs, and a maker can draw a new top that fits first time.

REFRAME re-tops and resizes desks as part of its rework service for London offices, and the drawings start from exactly this information. This guide explains what to measure, why each number matters, and what happens after you send it. The step-by-step version is at the end.

Start with the frame, not the top

The frame is what stays, so the frame sets the rules. Measure the outer length and depth of the frame at the top rails — in two places each, because frames are not always square after years of moves — and the height from the floor to the top of the frame. Note whether the feet are adjustable and whether the frame rocks.

Then record the frame type:

• Fixed height. A fixed frame such as REFRAME's Recon has set widths (1,200, 1,400, 1,600 and 1,800 mm) and depths (600, 700 and 800 mm) with a finished desktop height of 740 mm (including the top). Measure the bare frame separately when specifying a replacement top; other fixed systems have their own set of sizes, and the new top has to respect the frame's span.
• Sit-stand. A telescopic beam, such as the 1,000–1,800 mm beam on R!se, can be widened or narrowed to suit a new top; a fixed-width sit-stand beam cannot. Note the load rating on the frame's label, because a heavier top counts against it.
• Bench or linked frames. Record how the frames join — shared legs, link kits, a continuous beam — because splitting or re-joining a bank changes what each top has to span.

Measure the existing top

Measure the top's length, depth and thickness at the edge, and how far it overhangs the frame on each side. Note the edge type — MFC tops usually carry an ABS edging — and the corner radius, so the new top matches anything you are keeping. A top that is thicker or heavier than the old one changes the fixings and, on a sit-stand frame, the load, so say if you want to change material.

If the plan is to cut the existing top down rather than replace it, note where the damage and the old cut-outs are: a top can only be cut down if the surviving area is clean and the edge can be re-applied.

Find and photograph the fixings

Turn a desk over or look underneath with a torch. Tops are typically held by:

• bushed metal inserts in the underside of the top, into which the frame bolts (Recon uses these);
• brackets or plates screwed up into the top;
• clips or clamps that grip the top's edge.

Photograph the fixings with a tape measure in shot and note the spacing between them. The new top is pre-drilled or fitted with inserts to match the frame, so it goes on without anyone drilling on site. If several desks are the same model, one clear set of photos covers them all.

Cable cut-outs, power and screen arms

New floor boxes rarely land where the old ones were, so this is the moment to sort cable management. Record:

• the position and size of existing grommets and cable cut-outs, and where the new ones should be;
• whether a cable tray clips to the frame (Recon's optional steel tray does) or fixes to the top;
• where screen arms clamp, because a clamp needs a clear, uncut edge and a top that will take the load;
• modesty panels and umbilicals that attach to the top or the frame.

Grommets and trays are cheap relative to a new desk, and they are the difference between a reworked desk that looks new and one that trails cables.

Decide the new size

The new width and depth come from the floorplan, not the old desk. A denser plan may want 1,400 mm positions where the old office had 1,600 mm; a smaller floor may want single-sided runs instead of back-to-back. Options, in rough order of cost:

1. Cut down and re-edge the existing top, where the material and edge allow.
2. New top, same frame in the new size and finish.
3. New top on a re-joined bank, where benches are being split or merged.

A telescopic sit-stand beam adjusts to the new width; a fixed frame sets a practical limit to how far a top can grow, and the drawing will tell you where that limit is.

What to send, and why it matters

Scroll across to compare all columns →

What happens next

REFRAME turns the measurements into drawings, confirms anything unclear with a site visit where the quantity justifies it, and sends an itemised quote covering design, manufacture and fitting. Tops are cut and edged by vetted UK partners off-site, typically 2–4 weeks from drawing sign-off, and fitted around your occupation or your move. Every drawing is archived, so the next resize starts from the file rather than from a tape measure. If a frame is not worth re-topping, the survey says so; the refurbishment guide explains how that judgement is made.