Great suggestion. And I don't doubt that this would be plenty strong enough. My last house was ballon framed, with joists resting on 1x4s let into the 2-story tall studs. Problem is that it's an exterior wall, already well insulated and drywalled, so I don't want to dig around. I suspect I'll need to put a support in at the center of the bench, but other than that, I should be okay.
Hey, Jeff:
Yeah, I'm glad balloon framing isn't used anymore.
But while your bench uses similar construction it isn't balloon framing, really. As for "digging into the wall", I wouldn't hesitate doing so if it results in the "floating" appearance you desire.
Decide on where the bench is to be located. Carefully mark out on the wall the area where the bench is to be installed. Then scribe the drywall with a good straight edge and sharp knife. Then using a drywall saw (or one of those multi-tool things, if you have one), cut up to, but not past the line and remove the resulting strip of drywall. More than likely you can just push the insulation out of the way while you install the lookouts. After they're in, and you're happy with level-ness and such, restore any damaged insulation, vaporbarrier, etc, and build the torsion box on the lookouts. The finished bench will cover the hole and no one's the wiser.
I'm attaching a drawing that shows my idea. Hope this helps.
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