Built in window seat

[tvgordon]

Hi guys,

A friend of mine wants me to build him a window seat. He wants it to be 8 feet long with half of it being storage for blankets and the other half will hold firewood.
He also want it to have a toe kick (like kitchen cabinets), be red oak frame and panel to match his cabinets and, as he is well over 6 foot tall and a large build, built sturdy to hold up for a long time.

I don't have experience with built ins. Would it be better to built 2 four foot boxes out of 3/4" plywood then attach the oak frame and panel to the boxes or build it out of the oak and line it with thinner plywood?  I'm not too worried about the blanket side but would like to protect the oak from the firewood. Also, would 3/4" oak be sufficient for the top or should I use thicker boards?

Thanks for your help,
Tom

 

[Kev]

I'll confess to being a bit confused ... to me a window seat becomes a fair part house frame in structure. Are you building a window seat or a seat "in front" of  a window?

 

[Tyler Ernsberger]

I would build a box out of a 3/4 plywood and the face/panels can be red oak.  The top can be 3/4in as long as it's supported from the underside you will be fine. 

 

[peter halle]

Personally I haven't built one so I won't give advice on the construction but I will point out that technically if you build in a window seat in front of windows and then the seat is within 18" of the glass there is a requirement for either laminated or tempered glass in the windows.

I would venture a guess that rarely happens in a case like yours but checking out the requirement in the applicable locality might be prudent.

Peter

 

[tvgordon]

Thanks,

The window seat will be attached to the wall and possibly the floor.

The seat will be up to the windows.  I will give my buddy the info and see if he want to look into the codes.

Tyler, that's the way I was thinking of going.  I tend to overthink things, but I was going to join the sides with dominos and maybe a few screws. 

Tom

 

[Hneuwirth]

Precisely on point is an article in this month's fine homebuilding: make a breakfast nook

He answers your specific questions about boxes and toekicks and has some fairly sophisticated ideas regarding seat backs and fitting.