Garage Bench
Building A Great Place For Projects
If you plan to do any kind of projects in your garage then you must have some sort of a work area on which to lay things out at waist level so you can keep your project organized and you can easily see what you are doing. A garage bench along one wall or on the back wall can give you a very good area for doing all kinds of repairs and projects.
The first choice you need to make is whether the work bench can be a permanent fixture or if it will need to be removed after the project, so you have room to park your car. It used to be that garages were build big enough to allow for some storage and work space even with the car parked inside but now that homes are being downsized this is no longer the case. You often times don’t have any room left on the back wall or the side walls for a bench that is permanent. If this is the sorry state of affairs that you find yourself in, then you will want to either build a bench that folds out of the way or use a portable work table that can be brought out, set up, and used when the need arises.
There are several different ways to build a folding bench. The best way is to build your work table on the ground and then use hinges to attach it to the wall so it can fold out of the way against the wall. When the bench is folded out you will need a way to support the side away from the wall. This can be done either with chains that hang from the ceiling or legs that are attached to the bench with more hinges. I prefer the legs because if you used chains or cables they will invariably get in the way when you are trying to work. If the legs are on hinges then they will just fold up when you lift and secure the bench surface.
If you have the floor space then a bench that can stay up will be the best choice. I like to make my work benches stout because you never know when you may want to do something like driving out a wheel bearing for a car repair, or hammering together a wood project. For a fixed bench, the top that I prefer is made of 4″ X 12″ boards in the length you desire. These do not generally need to be treated because they are inside the enclosure of the garage space. A very good item to add to this kind of a work surface is a vise. Often times when you are doing a project you need a third hand to hold something. I don’t know about you, but getting the wife involved in a project never seems to work out to well. So, I use my vise a lot to hold what I am working on.
Another plus to having a work bench that can stay up all the time is the storage options above the bench and below. Shelves below work well and then you can get cheap garage cabinets to go above. Both of these areas can be made lockable which is great for protecting your tools.
No house should be without some kind of garage bench to do small projects on because there always seems to be something on the honey do list that needs repairing.
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