We had to have an 8"x18" hvac duct run through our closet. Previously there was a plywood shelf sitting on the ledger and below that a hanging rod. See attached images. I'm going cut an 8x18" notch out the shelf to go around the ducting and hang the rod as before. I'm planning on making lemonade out of lemons by setting shoes onto the horizontal part of the hvac duct. My question is what is the best way to "frame in" the ducting? I'd like to minimize the space taken up. I was pondering if I could box it in with 1/2" plywood right up against the ducting. Nail the pieces together to form a 90 degree. Around the horizontal hvac run I could toe nail into the studs and wood floor but I'm not entirely sure the best way to secure the vertical. Screwing sheetrock directly to the duct is a bad idea, temp changes will rust the screws plus I just don't like the idea of putting holes into the duct. The only other other way I can think of is to construct some kind of wood frame around the ducting out of say 1x2 and then sheetrock or plywood onto that but as I said, I was hoping to take up as little space as possible as the duct has already eaten up a chunk. Advice greatly welcomed. If there is a better forum here, please feel free to move.

I'm building a two tiered bench in a trailer using 2x4's and 1x4's. I had planned to do one row of 2x4's on a 1x4 (so the 1x4 could be screwed into the floor) and a smaller 2x4 piece would connect inside between two rows of 2x4's. Here is how it was starting to look a couple days ago. I've made some more progress not photographed: [url=https://i.imgur.com/270OGwY.jpg]Image[/url] I was originally using a plan for a bench I saw online that had the 2x4's inside (between rows) connecting "sideways". Not on top of the 2x4. I was also planning to use brackets (you can see two in the photo) to strengthen the build. [b]The problem I'm foreseeing now is once I screw the plywood seating down, the screws inside the 2x4's are likely to start mashing into one another and having a field day inside the wood. Also I'm now questioning the weight stability[/b] of side screwing 2x4's like this: [url]https://www.diydata.com/techniques/timber_joints/frame_joints/butt2.gif[/url] ... vs one on top of the other like you see here (2x4 resting on top of another): [url]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQRqEUT-DL0_6RGRX5AV8XbIGw1YZq0Cz2l19xAygX0QvSczQNB[/url] So I'd like some recommendations and advice here. This bench is going to be the full length of the trailer. Each 2x4 is spaced roughly 16". I was hoping that with that amount of spacing and a 3/4" plywood seat, it would hold the weight of a dozen people across the length. Thoughts?