The height of the workbench in the garage: optimal, standard, what it should be for work

About the types of workbenches

Car owners regularly face the need to perform a variety of repair work. For everyone involved in carpentry and plumbing (no matter at a professional or amateur level), proper equipment of the workplace helps to allocate energy and time more economically, and also ensures better results. A workbench is suitable for the role of universal equipment suitable for use in garage conditions.

Initially, the workbench arose as a carpenter's workplace intended for processing wood. With the advent of various (including electrical) equipment and the division of professions, the workbench began to specialize. Today, in addition to carpentry, there are carpentry and metalworking workbenches, as well as combined varieties.

Great-grandfather of modern models Source pinterest.com

Basic equipment

A workbench in a garage is an equipped workbench consisting of various modular elements, which include:

Metal frame (table). Its design is designed for a significant weight, from 70 to 300 kg (depending on the model). Tables designed for working with heavy and large parts (for example, wheels) are strengthened with additional diagonal connections.
Tabletop for carpentry and plumbing work. Depending on the functions performed, it can be made of galvanized or stainless steel, chipboard, or plywood. The safety margin of the tabletop is designed to withstand dynamic and shock loads, and contact with chemically active compounds.
Accessories. The workbench serves not only as a work area, but also as a place to store tools, spare parts and other equipment. Therefore, the mandatory components of the design are cabinets, screens, drivers (drawers), shelves, and hanging holders.

Every thing in its place Source interstroy.info

Wardrobes and chests of drawers

Cabinets often become an element of modular garage furniture. Behind closed cabinet doors it is convenient to store numerous tools, while maintaining external neatness in the garage. The internal content can be anything and usually consists of shelves of different heights, drawers, crossbars, organizers, etc.

If there is space, chests of drawers can be used instead of bedside tables. They can also be stationary or mobile. Unlike bedside tables, chests of drawers consist mainly of numerous drawers, in which it is convenient to store various small tools and fasteners.

Selection criteria: wood or metal

For many car enthusiasts, the garage is a second home, so they approach its arrangement with due attention. A particularly important point is the purchase of a workbench; the selection criterion may be the purpose for which it is intended. In most cases, such equipment is installed to perform the following work:

For regular inspection and maintenance of the vehicle.
For minor plumbing work, minor repairs, correction of defects related to the maintenance of the house and garden area.
If plumbing or carpentry is part of your hobby.

The first question that arises when choosing is the material of manufacture. There are wooden (most often homemade) and metal workbenches offered by various manufacturers, both domestic and foreign.

Workplace for the soul Source nw1ab.ru

Wooden workbenches

A wooden workbench for the garage, made entirely or partially from wood, is suitable for periodic and short-term work with simple parts; it is not well suited for machining complex metal components. The frame of such models is made of strong wood (beech or oak) and secured with self-tapping screws. The stability of the table is ensured by additional spacers, transverse or x-shaped. Wooden models are usually equipped with shelves or drawers for storage. The wooden tabletop is trimmed with metal along the edge.

A common model is a design of two massive cabinets connected by a tabletop. This option looks quite practical, since it solves most of the problems associated with the placement of tools. Despite the relative cheapness and good (albeit somewhat limited) functionality, many believe that a workbench in a wooden garage has significant disadvantages:

A wooden bench is not designed to withstand heavy loads.
With increased use, the service life of the frame is significantly reduced.

Wooden workbench Source whilesafe.blogspot.com
See also: Most Popular Garage Projects.

The table area does not allow placing several types of equipment at the same time.
The wooden surface of the countertop under the influence of chemical agents (paints, solvents) and metal dust becomes unusable over time, and traces of oils remain forever.
Wood is a fire hazardous material; in combination with the collection of chemical substances located nearby, this property increases many times over.

Metal workbenches

To assemble a functional metal bench, you will need special equipment and skills in working with metal (the fragments are connected by welding). Metal models, assembled in workshop conditions, have a durable construction and modern design. Despite the higher price due to the cost of metal and a more complex assembly process, metal equipment has many advantages, including:

Long service life. Stainless steel models boast an impeccable service life of 50 years.

Metal workbench Source shkaf-nsk.ru

Manufacturing materials

Wood and metal are most often used as materials for furniture products in the garage. It is easier to make something from the first type of raw material, but ready-made structures will have one significant drawback - the wood will not last long. Furniture is often filled with various parts and spare parts that contaminate the product. Wood tends to absorb all this, which can make removing dirt impossible.

Features and advantages of camping furniture, types of designs

An excellent choice would be metal furniture for workshops and garages. The structure can always be painted, which will solve the problem of unattractive appearance. To make your own furnishings, you will need skills in handling a welding machine.

Today, plastic garage furniture is gaining great popularity. This is due to its modern and attractive appearance. However, it is worth considering that the load on such racks should not exceed 30 kg, and even with slight physical impact, the product may become unusable. With all this, such furniture costs much less than analogues made from other materials.

Tree

Metal

Plastic

Workbench options

To determine the size of the workbench, you need to understand how much space in the garage you are willing to allocate for a workplace. The choice of design for arranging a garage is based on several indicators:

Depth. Most garages have modest dimensions. Taking into account this limitation, for use at home, workbenches with a tabletop depth (width) not exceeding 0.5-0.6 m are preferable.
Length. An important parameter that should not be reduced unless absolutely necessary. The longer the tabletop, the more convenient it is to perform metalwork work on it and install auxiliary tools. If you intend to use a circular saw or an electric jigsaw, you will also have to allocate part of the countertop for this work. In practice, most garage owners prefer to install workbenches about 1.5-2 m long.

Compactness is one of the advantages Source koffkindom.ru

Workplace organization

The average garage doesn't have a lot of free space. In addition to compactness, the criterion that influences the parameters of a desktop is the amount of work to which you are going to devote your time. If you expect that you will not only drill and hammer nails, but also do more complex manipulations, you should think about a larger table. It is more convenient to carry out periodic processing of parts or workpieces if the vice and the sharpening or drilling machine are in assembled condition. The garage owner will have to find a solution for several more problems:

Storage. Due to limited space, the workbench has another important task - providing convenient storage conditions. The right workbench is used not only as a work desk, but also as a convenient container for consumables, spare parts and tools.

When everything is at hand Source tr.pinterest.com

Choosing a location. A specific garage task is choosing a place for a workbench. Two conditions must be met. Firstly, the distance between the car and the workbench and shelves in the garage must be at least one meter. The second condition is that you must be comfortable working near the machine without the risk of damaging it.
Electrical connections. Electrification must be safe, taking into account the influence of dampness and aggressive liquids common in garage work. Electrical wiring must be laid in fireproof corrugation or hidden in grooves. If your electrical panel has a metal casing, it must be grounded.

The car should not be a hindrance Source yasminroohi.com

Lighting. Considering that there are always shadow areas in the garage (from the car, shelves and racks), a combined system of several light sources designed for different tasks would be a practical option. Above the workbench, in the work area, it is convenient to install a bright turning lamp, protected by a lampshade. The lamp can be made removable; It’s also convenient to integrate it into a workbench, rather than attaching it to the wall—if you want to move the table, there won’t be any problems with electrification.

Garage layout

When choosing furniture for a bedroom or living room, many of us take up paper and pencil and begin to sketch out a diagram of its arrangement. Some even use special programs. But not everyone does this when choosing furniture for the garage. But in vain! If you don’t think everything through carefully in advance, then it may turn out that there is minimal free space left in the garage, and it’s inconvenient to move around, not to mention making something.

The experience of other people's mistakes has shown that before wandering through real or virtual stores in search of suitable racks, bedside tables and cabinets, it is worth considering several important nuances:

sketch out the dimensions of the garage on paper, select a parking area to understand how much space is left for various storage systems and other furniture. Do not forget to provide space for movement, and since you will sometimes have a heavy, large tool in your hands, this space should be enough - at least 1 m between the car and the furniture . If the garage is small and the main furniture is wall shelves and cabinets, then it makes sense to create a three-dimensional layout. It’s more convenient to do this in special programs or applications, but it’s also easy to do by hand on paper;
The best way to organize your garage space is to zone it . It is necessary to allocate an area where the car will be parked, a storage area and a workshop area, if necessary;
the main area in the garage is the area where the car is located;
The storage area can be divided into several subzones. The purpose of this division is easier and faster access to necessary things. The passage area with a clothes hanger must always be free. The easy access area is located close to the gate and holds items that are needed frequently. The closest places are a broom, a shovel, and other long and oversized objects that are used almost constantly. Also within easy reach are a car pump, a spare tire, a set of keys, etc. This quick accessibility zone can be located near one of the long walls of the garage. All large tools, as well as seasonal items and items that are rarely used, are located in the depths of the garage so as not to interfere with passage and travel, and not to create traumatic situations. You can store them on shelves near the far wall of the garage, or a place under the ceiling will do;
if there is a workbench in the garage, then all frequently used tools are placed near it in order to make your work easier;
The recreation area is arranged if there is free space.

Finally, make it a rule to put the tools you use back in their places after finishing any work. Then order will reign in the garage and it will be possible to carefully store a huge number of useful items, and with a competent and scrupulous approach, all this is possible even in a small room.

Features of the models

Mass-produced workbenches are convenient in that their characteristics are set during production and correspond to their purpose. Depending on the technical conditions under which a particular workbench will operate, different models may have the following parameters:

Table top material. Moisture-resistant plywood or MDF coated with galvanized metal. The thickness of the tabletop varies between 24-30 mm.

Professional approach Source extxe.com

Permissible load on the tabletop. Serial models allow a load of 300-350 kg. The reinforced series workbench is designed for 400 kg or more.
The permissible load on a shelf in a cabinet is 20-30 kg, on a bench shelf - up to 40-50 kg.
Protection. A lock, key or high security (pin) can be installed on the cabinet.
Accessories. A variety of shelves, holders, screens and hooks.

Factory-made workbenches are supplied unassembled; By design they can be divided into three groups:

Without pedestals. The ideal small workbench for a modest sized garage. The easy-to-assemble design is characterized by a sufficient size of the working surface, which can be folded if necessary (folding workbench). Stability is provided by adjustable legs. Baseless models can be additionally equipped with drawers on bearing guides.

Hanging shelves for garage

Shelves can only be considered furniture at a stretch, but, nevertheless, they are very helpful in organizing the storage system. Open wall shelves are great for storing your most in-demand tools. You can also place containers (cans, boxes) with small fasteners there.

The shelf material and its thickness must correspond to the load that is placed on the shelf. If you will store small jars with fasteners or small bottles, then the shelf can be made of plywood. Drills, screwdrivers and other tools should be placed on a more powerful shelf, not to mention tools with a much larger mass.

Video description

About the organization of the workplace in the following video:

Single pedestal. Reliable prefabricated structure with a reinforced table top and a weight of 96-105 kg. This workbench is equipped with both a comfortable work surface and a cabinet with drivers (drawers on ball guides of different heights) or adjustable shelves. The drawers are locked with a central lock. Some models are equipped with a dashboard.
Double-pedestal. The weight of such models is 100-115 kg; They are equipped with two drivers with drawers of different heights. The maximum permissible load on each drawer (if evenly distributed) is 30 kg. The kit may include a perforated screen - a panel designed to accommodate holders and hooks.

Combination workbench Source searsoutlet.com

Garage rack

If you need to organize a neat storage area for numerous tools, fasteners, tires, cans and other things, sometimes not even related to the car, then the best option to do this is to use a rack.

Racks are made from different materials:

metal - these are the most popular models, they are distinguished by strength, reliability, durability, can withstand heavy loads, are not afraid of fire, mechanical damage, and have a huge range;
Wood is a strong and inexpensive material; it is often used for making furniture yourself. Wood is also capable of withstanding decent loads, but is afraid of fire, mold, changes in temperature and humidity, and all of these are frequent “guests” of any garage;
plastic is cheap, lightweight, hygienic, but you can’t make a serious rack out of it, since the material doesn’t withstand loads well. Racks with multiple drawers are created from plastic and used to store fasteners.

Racks can be open or closed , i.e. have doors. The racks can combine such filling elements as shelves, drawers, cabinets, and perforated grids for hanging tools. The best option is when the shelves can be adjusted in height, because in this case you can create a storage system that best suits your needs.

Separately, it is worth highlighting modular shelving , the elements of which can be arranged at your discretion, and if something happens, they can easily be swapped. Some of these systems, in addition to standard shelves and cabinets, also include a small wardrobe with a crossbar where you can neatly hang work clothes. Also, many modular storage systems (it’s difficult to call them just shelving) provide a horizontal work surface, as in the kitchen units we are used to. This is generally an ideal option for a motorist, since there is no need to purchase a table separately.

The rack can be as large as the garage allows and you need. Typically, shelving is placed along one of the walls, but if there is enough space, then you don’t have to limit yourself to just one wall. On the contrary, if the garage area is small, you can purchase a hanging rack.