Garage Workbench

A garage workbench is essential to most well-utilized home garages. They allow home projects and maintenance to be faster and easier. You don't HAVE to have a workbench, but having one will certainly make your garage more useful. Garage workbenches are usually made out of wood, but they can also be steel or plastic. You should consider the type of work you’ll most often be doing in your garage. This will help you determine what kind of workbench you need.

If you’ll mostly be using your workbench for light household projects, then a plastic or wooden bench will do the trick. However, it’s important to keep in mind that a heavy-duty bench is going to give you the most stability as well as the longest life. Unless you plan on welding, a steel workbench probably isn’t necessary. Steel workbenches are definitely the strongest of the bunch, but they’re also bulky and difficult to move.

If you’d like to build your own garage workbench, then you’ll have the advantage of a custom fit in your garage. You should also consider building a stand-alone workbench versus one that’s fastened to any of your garage walls. A stand-alone workbench doesn’t transfer any energy to the wall when you strike things on it with a hammer. This means you won’t be damaging your wall studs over time, and you’ll make less noise that can be heard from inside the house.

It’s very important to consider the size and position of your garage workbench. A good rule of thumb is to make sure you’ll always be able to house your vehicles in your garage. So, unless you have a 1000 square foot garage (which most of us don’t), it doesn’t make sense to install a 4 foot by 8 foot workbench. When you position it, think about some of the longer materials you may be working with in the future like a 12 foot long 2 X 4, or a 10 foot long piece of conduit or copper pipe. Make sure to leave enough room for the material to use up most of the workbench length as well as hang off one edge by several feet.

No matter what type or size of workbench you install, do yourself a favor and mount a vice on one of the corners that is nearest the most open space. A workbench without a vice is like a living room without any furniture. You can live without it, but having it sure makes your life more practical and comfortable!

Here's a few places where you might find the right one for your garage: Garage sales, Flea markets, Home improvement centers, Thrift stores, Pawn shops, Family hand-me-downs, and of course Craig's list!