Ikea Desks

February 9, 2004 9:23 AM

I've got a chance to buy an Ikea Jerker computer desk locally for a good price (the closest Ikea store is in Houston, we're in Austin). How sturdy are they? I'm used to early-80s solid-steel welded Steelcase desks, and am wondering if the Jerker will be solid enough for a 19" monitor and Mac G4 tower.

Pictures of the exact desk in question are here.

posted by mrbill to shopping (12 comments total)

I have the long version of the Jerker, and I have 2 monitors, camera equipment and stacks of books on mine...it holds up pretty well. I wish I had bought the version with the extensions - like the one you show. But damn is the thing heavy.
posted by plemeljr at 9:31 AM on February 9, 2004

You should know that most of the furniture Ikea sells is made of particle board. Heavier than hardwood, but more apt to disintegrate.
posted by crunchland at 9:52 AM on February 9, 2004

What the hell, mrbill?
posted by Danelope at 9:55 AM on February 9, 2004

Danelope: okay, call me old and decrepit, I'd not remembered that I"d posted a similar question already. d'oh.
posted by mrbill at 9:57 AM on February 9, 2004

I take it you aren't keeping the steelcase? >:-D

You'll be sorry!

BTW: Don't get the particle board wet. Why?

It's more fun if you do and find out what happens! SMUSH.
posted by shepd at 10:36 AM on February 9, 2004

I'd never buy another particle board computer desk. The one I got from Ikea, although not the ahem Jerker desk, has started to have the beech foil covering its surface wear away where my left forearm usually rests, exposing the particle board underneath.

Hardwood desktops only, for me in the future.
posted by Blue Stone at 10:48 AM on February 9, 2004

shepd: I'll be giving the steelcase away to whomever will come and haul it off (Austin, TX).

I know about MDF/particleboard and water. 8-) Had a string of el-cheapo Wal-Mart desks in high school. Left a window next to my desk open one morning, came back that afternoon to a noticeable slant to one side....
posted by mrbill at 10:49 AM on February 9, 2004

ps. The degredation was visible after about a year and a bit of use.
posted by Blue Stone at 10:49 AM on February 9, 2004

ikea stuff is mostly ok as long as you don't plan on moving it ...

At my old office, when we moved, there was absolute carnage with the IKEA desks -- I'd say 75% of them "broke" instead of "breaking down". Of course, whoever took them apart was pretty incompetent, so that might explain things a bit too.

If you are taking IKEA stuff apart to move it, be gentle. A lot of the points where it fastens seem to be susceptible to breaking, especially those pieces of furniture where stuff's cantilevered.
posted by fishfucker at 11:53 AM on February 9, 2004

I've got the Jerker. Works great for me, med student at large.
posted by gramcracker at 3:33 PM on February 9, 2004

I have one of those as well. It's definitely the strongest and heaviest of any IKEA furniture I've ever owned, and probably the only one I would buy again. I have a huge monitor and rack of audio equipment sitting on top of it, as well as heavy speakers (on extension shelves on the sides), and it doesn't so much as bend. Never noticed any problems with the veneer coming off, either.

(It also can be taken apart and reassembled without breaking anything -- it's all held together with long metal screws going through metal supports, not those flimsy little screws going into receptacles in particleboard.)
posted by xil at 5:28 PM on February 9, 2004

Thanks to everyone - I picked up the desk a couple of days ago, and am currently in the adventure of reassembling it at my house. Definitely sturdier than it looks in photos.
posted by mrbill at 6:57 AM on February 17, 2004