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This brilliant workshop build began with new interior plywood walls attached to timber uprights and includes loads of tool storage.
The project
I recently moved into my new place and, apart from a lot of other things needing attention, I thought I would start off by making a workshop in the garage.
The garage wasn't quite square, so to achieve this I built out from the walls slightly by using a number of 100mm x 100mm uprights cut to 2.4m and bolted to the concrete via stirrups and DynaBolts. There are a total of eight uprights on the back wall, and three on each of the side walls.
I then put in four horizontal cross members on each wall using 90mm x 45mm timber. Once all that was braced and square I lined the walls with 2.4m x 1.2m x 19mm CD plywood sheets and screwed them on and then painted them black.
The flooring is simply just gym floor mats that I stuck to the concrete floor. They are easy to replace, add some protection should I drop any tools, and are easy to clean and fairly cheap.
The workshop is also close to the opening of the double garage, so there is plenty of air flow. Obviously in summer it still gets hot but I have a couple of standalone fans that I set up to help.
The only issues I've had was that the 100mm rough-cut uprights bolted to the concrete were still quite "wet" when I received them, so as they dried out there was a little bit of movement. I've had to rebrace a few things to keep them aligned, but nothing major. Something to be wary of though.
I used 19mm CD structural plywood for the top of the workbench and for the bottom shelf.
I mounted the bottom shelf as low as I could go, almost to the floor, so I had maximum space underneath to fit larger objects and materials. I glued and used pocket holes to join all timber. I gave the benchtop a stain with a hardener in it. It protects it from spills, glue, and light scratches.
The blue pipe on the left-hand side of the bench is a Park Tool bench mount bicycle repair stand. It looks different because I've taken the clamping jaws out of it because I kept walking into them.
Before and after
This is what it looked like when I did my final inspection just before I moved in:
And this is the final product:
How to build a workbench
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Bunnings Workshop members have been extremely creative when it comes to garage and shed projects. Check out some of our favourites in our collection of Tool storage projects and our Top 10 most popular garage and shed projects.
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