$125 16
foot folding workbench with pegboard
This was a project that I came up with
last week to help organize the garage in our new house. The idea was
to provide a large surface area for organization and projects that
could be moved out of the way when needed. Below is the parts list
with approximate big box store prices.
1 box of 2.5 inch drywall screws $6
1 box of 1.5 inch finish nails $5
1 sheet of 3/8”x4'x8' plywood $20
1 sheet of 4'x8' pegboard $17
8 2x3 pine studs $15
8 1”x2”x4' lathe $3
2 2”x6”x8' pine studs $ 8
1 can white semigloss exterior
paint (opt) $10
6 door hinges $20
In my case, I could suspend the work
benches using chain and eye bolts to the ceiling. The additional cost
for 16 feet of 350lb rated chain was about $15, and an additional $7
or so for eye bolts to mount to ceiling and sides of each table.
Less expensive is using two more studs
with hinges as legs. That cost is about $8 for the studs, and another
$8 for hinges.
The following directions will give you
a sense for how I put this together.
1. Rip the plywood and the pegboard to
24” by 8'. If you do not have a circular saw or table saw to do
this, consider having it done at the store that you bought the
plywood and pegboard from. Home Depot and Lowes will cut lumber for
you.
2. Locate the wall studs in your garage
in the area that you want the workbench located. If your garage is
drywalled, you will need a stud sensor for this purpose. Alternately,
you may be able to see the nail heads for the attached drywall.
3. Attach four of the lathe strips
horizontally at the height that you would like the top of the
pegboard to be. This is what you will be hanging the pegboard from.
For my purposes, I hung it about six and a half feet high. Use a
level as you attach them to assure that you have a straight and level
surface. The lathe acts as a spacer so that there will be room to
attach the pegboard clips without interfering with the wall.
4. Attach the pegboard to the lathe
that you just installed. For me it was easiest to simply use finish
nails to attach, and then come back with drywall screws later for a
more permanent mean of attaching to the studs.
5. Once that the top of the pegboard is
attached, cut a few small pieces of lathe to nail behind the
pegboard near the middle to keep a reasonable space for the pegboard
to be away from the wall.
6. Line up two more lathe sections
beneath the lower edge of the pegboard and attach to the pegboard and
studs..
7. I wanted a shallow shelf at the
bottom of my pegboard to place small item on, and create an
attachment point for tools and odds and ends. Using the drywall
screws, I attached a 1”x3”x8' to the bottom of the pegboard.
8. Next I attached both of the 2”x6”x8'
boards horizontally below the pegboard. These were screwed into the
studs to provide a place to attach the work tables.
Height is not really a consideration
here, but more matter of what fits your work style. In my case, the
surface was roughly 41” from the floor, so that I could easily use
bar stools in the work area. Other work benches that I have seen have
a surface height of around 36”. Think about what height you are
most comfortable with working in the kitchen for instance, and then
adjust accordingly.
Another note: Our garage floor is
sloped. The difference from the front of the garage to the back is
probably 5-6” all told. For this reason, you might consider
measuring the height from the bottom of the pegboard that you just
hung, so as to make certain that your table surface will be level.
This probably isn't as much of an issue if you are installing against
the back wall of your garage.
9. Attach three door hinges to the
bottom of the 2x6 that you just installed. The hinged portion should
be placed just below the bottom of the 2x6. Space the hinges fairly
evenly across the eight foot board. I measured in 18” from each end
and marked this as the center of the hinges. For the third, I used
the center of the board (48”) as the center of the third hinge.
10. Assemble the tabletops. Place two
2x3x8 studs parallel on a surface roughly 24”apart. Place the
24”x8' plywood sheet on top of the studs. Line up the studs so that
they are at the edge of each the plywood. You may want to lift up the
plywood and apply some wood glue to the studs at this point. Attach
the plywood to the studs using finish nails. I found that a nail
every six inches or so worked well.
11. Flip the plywood over and measure
the distance between the studs. This should be 21 and 1/8th inches,
but verify that for yourself. Now cut three pieces of 2”x3” to
this length. Two pieces will be used at each end, and another at 48”.
You can also add another piece or two if you wish to better reinforce
the plywood.
12 Line up the pieces and attach them
using the drywall screws.
Note: I pre-drilled all of the holes
before screwing the drywall screws in. I did the same everywhere that
I used these screws. My experience in the past has been that doing so
reduces the possibility of having the the boards split.
13. Flip the plywood back over and use
the finish nails to attach the three pieces to the top.
14. Move your completed top underneath
the hinges attached to the 2”x6” on the wall. You will probably
need two people for this next step. Line up the edge of the table
with the edge of the 2x6. It might help to draw a line on the wall
vertically at the edge of the 2x6. Lift the top up so that you can
attach it to the hinges using screws.
15. You have two choices for holding up
your table. The first is to cut legs to the proper size to reach the
floor. Again, if your floor is not level, you will need to cut the
legs to individual sizes. Cut the legs to the appropriate size, and
then using 2” hinges, attach the legs so that they fold into the
bottom of the table top. Alternately, if you wish to hang the table
top from the ceiling, use chain and hooks attached to the front of
side of the table for this purpose.
You now have sixteen feet of work table that can be opened or closed as separate eight foot surfaces. The tables fold down against the wall so that they do not take up space in the garage.
Notes: This whole project took about
eight hours time. In my case, I bought white semi-gloss exterior Behr
paint and finished everything but the work surface with it. That made
for a very clean looking installation. I also used a sander to smooth
the surface of the plywood edges and the roughest areas of the studs.
Not critical, but I hate splinters. I also pre-drilled everything.
I used the following tools:
Ryobi 12v drill with a Philips Head bit
Drill bit 1/16th smaller than the
diameter of the screws
Hammer
Ryobi circular saw with laser
Crosscut handsaw
Ancient Craftsman electric sander
$1.15 2” paintbrush from HD
Tape measure
Level
2 sawhorses
I was actually surprised at how easy
this project was to complete, which is why I am going to the trouble
of writing it all down. I would say that someone with the tool and
virtually no experience with this sort of thing could finish the
project up in a weekend. It is easier still if you have Home Depot or
Lowes cut the plywood and pegboard for you. That would eliminate the
need for the circular saw entirely, and most definitely make for
better cuts than I could do with the circular saw.
Additionally, I was looking for
something that could fold out of the way. You could eliminate the
need to buy hinges if you simply screwed the tabletops into the wall
and screwed the legs into place.
I would suggest that if you are going
to be putting anything really heavy on the surface, you cut a third
leg for each 8' section to place underneath the middle of the table
for additional support.
