Now here's a poser....

Having recently moved house, see here, today I've been wondering where in the shed I should build the workbench. Should it go under the smaller window - which is near the roller shutter door but might block access to the consumer unit should I need to switch off the power in a hurry. Or should it go at the back of the shed under the larger window, out of the way of the roller door? Decisions, decisions....



I'm leaning towards the workbench being at the back of the shed. There'd be room to the right of it for a large shadow board for my tools and, since it is also under the mezzanine floor, which would be handy for hanging lighting from, it also offers the option of walling the back of the shed in. Might make the "workshop" a tad warmer to work in during the cooler months.



That length of timber, by the way, is a 3 metre long piece of 4 by 2 - nice mix of metric and imperial just to be awkward. There's 8 lengths of 4 by 2 that are a tad shorter than 3 metres so that'll determine the width of the bench. The window will be more or less in the middle of the bench as well. All that clutter to the right of the window will get shifted to clutter up another corner.

Now to work out how to build the bench. Have to go and have a look on the interweb for ideas.

Definitely beneath the bigger window at the back. The light will be welcome and its out the way of the main space.

Also a useful bar for your PARTY. When is it?

Yep I vote for the back!

Build the bench first. You could use heavy duty castor wheels so you can move bench/bar wherever needed.

I used scaffolding boards for the top on mine.

austin said:

Definitely beneath the bigger window at the back. The light will be welcome and its out the way of the main space.

Also a useful bar for your PARTY. When is it?

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Erm, Easter?

Quite fitting really as Easter Sunday is the first of April......


I'll check with the Memsahib, but I think that we could aim for then.

Sooooo, the Welsh Invasion could become the Ireland Invasion. Me likey

austin said:

Sooooo, the Welsh Invasion could become the Ireland Invasion. Me likey

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Best get the weather ordered then.

Definitely the bigger window, oh and your workbench is likely to be the length of my shed!

Looking good

I would put your workbench on the back wall, ie opposite the roller doors because

a) you look to have more length than width
b) if you put it below the window you will be unable to hangs things up, viz tool rack, hammer, saw etc, also an additional high level shelf. You can never have enough shelves !!
c) you will be able to leave more room for the partay carry oot

Best bench is made up of 3 x 3 fence posts ( tips cut off obviously ) , 4 x 2 treated timber as a carcase,top and bottom shelf, infill with 28mm boarding, job done

Not much been happening on the workbench front recently - other than cogitating over the design. However, I have acquired a beer fridge thanks to my Brother in Law redesign his office canteen -

Mind you, with the temperature outside today it is a bit redundant.

Still, the plan's forming in my head. The area to the right of the bench will not be left as a bare wall but will be put to good use by putting up a large piece of plywood and creating a feck off big shadow board. Oh, and I've just discovered a length of 7" x 2" that'll do grand as the front edge piece of the bench - to mount the vice to, and the like.

'Tis coming together even if a bit slowly.

You could make it 2metres "front to back" so it doubles up as a sleeping platform for itinerant bikers !

Flyfifer said:

You could make it 2metres "front to back" so it doubles up as a sleeping platform for itinerant bikers !

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Nah, that's what the mezzanine floor is for.

Lutin said:

Mind you, with the temperature outside today it is a bit redundant.

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Insulation works the other way as well. Friend of mine once remarked about his kitchen, the fridge is the only place where the milk doesn't freeze.

A bit more. Courtesy of some adjustable trestles from Lidl, here's a mockup of the workbench -




The near end is in line with the edge of the mezzanine floor above - got an idea of boxing in this area to separate it from the rest of the shed. Might be a bit easier to keep this area warm(er) than the whole shed.

The bench will be a bit deeper, front to back, than it looks here as there's a length of 7" x 2" to use as the front edge. Should still be able to reach the window and sill. Hopefully. Oh, and it'll be topped with a substantial sheet of plywood as those 4" x 2"s are a bit rough, to say the least.

The wall area at the far end of the bench, where the bookcase is now, will have a large sheet of plywood to create a shadow board out of.

Getting there slowly.

Looking Good Tony,

However I would keep an eye on those surface cracks on the floor, just make sure they don't get worse. They are cracks aren't they ??
Probably heat shrink but you have a cold joint 5 blocks from the window which should have prevented this in a small way.
You might want to think about filling with a mastic once the weather improves. Either that or brushing in some dry cement.

Good luck with the bench.

Think it's time for a bench fest

Lowflyer said:

Looking Good Tony,

However I would keep an eye on those surface cracks on the floor, just make sure they don't get worse. They are cracks aren't they ??
Probably heat shrink but you have a cold joint 5 blocks from the window which should have prevented this in a small way.
You might want to think about filling with a mastic once the weather improves. Either that or brushing in some dry cement.

Good luck with the bench.

Think it's time for a bench fest

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Not big on the, err, construction side of things and was wondering about those cracks. The shed's at least 15 years old and nothing, to my untrained eye, appears to be wrong - no obvious damp or anything like that. Also the floor is not completely flat, unfortunately. There's nothing massively out of whack, but I was wondering about how the floor was poured. Just wondering if it was a result of the prevailing conditions on the day - heat or cold, that sort of thing.

Anything that would be recommended as mastic for the cracks?

Hi Tony,

Don't get stressed out by those cracks, I'm pretty sure they are heat shrink cracks caused by maybe too much water in the mix and/or poured in too high a temperature.
I'm pretty sure the builder built up the blockwork to floor level and used that as a shutter. Then simply dobbed a 6 x 2 timber along the top of the concrete to form that riven finish you see on the floor.
This makes me suspect that it wasn't necessarily carried out properly, he should have used a bunyan striker, google it, that's the tool we use all the time, leaves a perfectly smooth finish.
The riven surface is a cheap way of doing it and is suspect to the dips and bumps you are describing.
That said, the floor will be all right structurally.
The width of the crack is unclear on the photo, so I can't comment on the type of mastic/jointing compound to use, there is a myriad of different types depending on width, depth,length etc.
What I would suggest is clean out the cracks as best you can, get a small bag of silica sand ( the type you spread between paviors ) mix straight cement 50/50 and brush it dry into the cracks, brushing on the same line as the riven run using a soft brush. Sprinkle with a very fine spray, watering can will do and leave it, see what happens through time.
If it gets worse, you will need to go along the mastic/infill route which will require making the cracks wider etc. You will see a small hairline crack on the cement when it dries, don't worry this is another shrinkage, but it gets really bad you will need to do something about it.

The main idea for the fix is not to let moisture in, not out. I don't think you have a structural issue, but the floor will degenerate if the cracks are not sealed from above.

Hope this helps Tony, if you are unsure, please get back to me.

Thought it was more than about time that I update this thread. Things have moved on a tad since, err, January.

Dear Lord, is it really that long? Oops.

Anyway, since I was in danger of succumbing to my ever present NFA* filing system, I thought that I'd better dismantle the mockup and get on with it. Skip forward to August -



New windows installed back in *** when we had new a new back door and had a porch installed at the front. To cut down on the draughts, you know.

A start has been made - after painting the wall white first.



Fairly substantial frame, don't you think?

Bought new timber to make the top as none of what I had (that had been left) was straight and true. Top finished with a 1/2" sheet of plywood, with a cut off length as a back board. Oh, and a bottom shelf as well.



More in a bit.


*NFA = Nearest Flat Area.

Painted the top to seal it and give an easily wipe-able surface with a nice shade of blue (Dulux non-drip gloss Mediterranean Blue, if your interested). Reasons being -

1) Didn't want to paint it white.

2) Had the paint to hand. Thinking about it I've had that tin of paint over 15 years.

3) Actually it turned out really well.



Bottom shelf white to make best use of ambient light.

And as it is just now -



Fitted a spare drawer unit out of a dismantled wardrobe unit that was in what is now the office. The chair came from a charity shop for the princely sum of £4.50. And, as you can see, I've made a (rather pathetic) start on the shadow board. Must get around to populating it properly.

So, that's it so far.

Looking good Tony, I do hope that bench is secured to the wall if you intend doing anything strenuous with that vice.


Andy.