Tough Cheap Work Bench (My Bowling Alley)

I noticed some discountinued flooring at my local big box store and saw the opportunity for a new bench in my future. It was relatively inexpensive and easy to do. Plus it looks like a bowling alley, how cool is that???

Cheap Flooring:

• Look for the solid or real engineered version. In my opinion it will give you the best work surface and will last the longest of the options I found. For the small area of a work bench it really does not take that much material.
• I opted to go the cheap skate route; my usual modus operandi... I looked that the local flooring stores for close outs. They had the best price per foot but wanted me to buy whatever they had left, which was usually 2 or more boxes more material than I needed. So I started looking at the home stores and big box retailers. Eventually I found some on clearance. It was solid bamboo for about $15 a box. I bought three but could have gotten by with 2. Yours will vary. My bench is 2' by 22'.

Base wood:

• You can use what ever wood you have laying around. I did not have enough of any one type to get it done so I bought some 19/32" sheathing plywood. I think it was about $17 per sheet. I needed a little more than 2 sheet so had to buy 3.
• I put a cleat around the edges to use as a ledger. I used a combination of  2"x2" left over from another project and I ripped some 2"x4" lengthwise for the rest.

Hardware:

• I used a combination of deck screws and misc screws from my misc. screw box to mount the ledger and attach the base to the edges.
• For attaching the flooring to the top I used construction adhesive and a brad nailer.

First things first, I had to clear 17 years worth of junk off the wall of the garage. No small feat as you will see in the before and after pictures.

Dimensions and planning:

• Since I had to buy a full 3 sheets of plywood to complete the job, I decided to follow all of the contours of my wall. Since the peg board has evolved from dumpster dive parts and misc. installation over the years; it has several dimensional differences off the wall. Your build will go MUCH faster if you just stick to a straight bench.
• Next I set my height on the tallest tool box I was going to use underneath as the base for the bench. I used a combination of tape measure, laser level, and 4' construction level to lay out my line on the wall.
• NOTE: Very important! Your garage will no doubt have a gradual slope away from the house. Take this into account as you lay out your dimensions. I knew this, but did not really notice how significant it was until I was trying to squeeze my last tool box under and it barely fit.

Ledger:

• Pretty straight forward: Start with one end and keep laying in the boards along the edge. Keeping a close eye for level.

Bench top:

• I cut the plywood to size and screwed it to the ledger about every 1'-2'. I used an assortment of deck screws and what ever was in my junk screw box.
• The flooring is tongue and groove so I started at the wall and worked my way to the edge. I used the recommended stagger from the flooring instructions just as if it was a floor. I dry fit the whole thing before I attached any of it to the plywood.
• Once all the cuts were done and I was satisfied with how it fit, I started attaching it. First with glue, then nails. I used liquid nails construction adhesive in a caulk gun, Gorilla glue would work great too but I was all out. I do not have a flooring nailer and my brad nailer made it tough to get precise nail placement on the tongue. I quickly gave up and used my brad nailer to nail from below into the planks (bamboo is wicked hard wood!!!)
• Note: The glue and nails was probably over kill, but I over engineer everything and never have anything fail.
• When all is said and done the bench is about 1 3/4" thick which is nice and solid.
• In my case, I have the bench supported by 2 tool boxes, 2 sets of drawers, and a fridge. If you do not have anything to put under you will need to build legs or corbels. There are some great bench designs on instructables you could use.

Here is the final product. I still need to put a permanent edge on it. I used a router with a flush bit to get the edge nice and crisp. I am undecided if I want to put a hard plastic trim like ABS or a hardwood edge. Until I decide it is "finished". I am almost good leaving it as is, but my obsessive compulsive nature will force me at some point to finish it.

Before:

• You will notice the far corner was haven for junk. Usually a stack of storage boxes for a later Ebay adventure, or left over parts from another project.
• The work surface was a mix of 2 roll away tool boxes and a make shift kitchen counter on top of 2 stack of drawers. It worked but was a pain when I had to work with long pieces of material. Also had no real desk space. Not to mention the small bits that would fall between or off the back.

After:

• End to end worktop bliss.
• I now have a proper desk area, with proper seating (see my instructable for the chair).
• It even feels bigger since the work surface is all one height, all one color, all one material...