A Drop-Leaf Counter for Dummies

This is a drop-leaf counter, Shaunta

As is often the case of the old, re-niched content from eHow,com we find scattered around Leaf Group's world, today's DotD nominee is a post written by someone who  decided she knew what the person who asked the question wanted better than that person did. Well, you can't be certain: it might well have been that Shaunta Alburger simply didn't understand the question. Whatever explanation you favor, she didn't exactly inspire confidence with her plans for "How to Make a Drop Leaf Counter" at HomeSteady.com.

For reasons we don't quite understand, Alburger decided that the OQ didn't want an extension of a counter; instead Shaunta decided that the solution was a wall-mounted drop-leaf table. That would have been well and good if first, Shaunta didn't screw up her instructions and second, that was what the OQ wanted
We suspect that the OQ actually wanted to extend a counter (in the kitchen, laundry room, workshop, wherever [see image above]) by a couple of feet to provide an on-demand increase of the available work surface. If one is not too picky, all that takes is a sturdy section of something that matches the counter, a piano hinge, and either locking brackets or a gate-leg style prop. Alburger went for the folding brackets, FWIW.

Her problem was that... she had no idea what she was talking about. Here's why we say that:

• She wants you to buy a 20-by-30 table and discard the legs and apron. That's a pretty specific (and unlikely) table size.
• To "mount" the table, Shauna says to, "[Draw] a line 30 inches along its length where you will hang the counter. Mark two additional spots, 6 inches in from each side." Nope, no mention of locating studs or setting a ledger.
• Instead, you're supposed to "Use self-drilling anchors to attach the folding shelf brackets where you have marked..." Yeah, like that's gonna hold anything.
• And finally, you need to, "Lay the table top over the brackets. Use a drill to attach the brackets to the table top." Uh, Shaunta, you don't attach things with a drill; you attach things with screws or other fasteners.

In short, our Dumbass of the Day concocted some moronic plans for a sloppy-looking hunk of wood that isn't a counter top (it's a fold-down table) and would fall down the first time you put anything heavier than a glass of water on it.

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