Pegboard...is it really the way to go?

[Hallucar]

It seems like every other guy has pegboard up in his shop in some capacity. Wondering if it really is the cat's pajamas, or is there a better alternative? If you could do it over would you approach organizing tools-on-wall a different way? To me it seems like the best use of wall space as a backdrop to workbench for ease of access to common tools. I really can't think of any drawbacks...

 

[homelessdespot]

French cleat system is the way to go.

 

[rustyjames]

Slatwall for me.

 

[kd3pc]

1/4" or thicker peg board for lightweight stuff storage in a dry environment it is OK, anything else go with cleats or slats.

 

[Motorman55]

Yes a dry shop and using the heavy pegboard only.

You can paint the good smooth face to any color you want to enhance the looks of your shop. Pegboard makes for a lot of extra tool storage. A big plus in a small shop.

 

[niget2002]

I prefer drawers for my tools. Keeps dust off of them.

 

[Boilerhouse]

I had pegboard and those hook things, but any heavy duty job that involved pounding or other rough-housing on the workbench resulted in tools raining down from the pegboard. Next shop was plywood and screws. Tools secure well, but now I am leaning towards more drawers and ditch the wall storage for a cleaner less cluttered look, but maybe that's just me.

 

[Darryl2]

I prefer drawers for my tools. Keeps dust off of them.

THIS^^^^^^

I had rows and rows of wrenches etc. on a retail display doo-dad similar to pegboard sort of. It sure looked nice but over time my tools all just got really dusty and some got a little rusty. Finally took them all down, cleaned them up and put EVERYTHING away into drawers!!!

 

[Augus7us]

Used to have pegboard but never really liked it. After spending extensive time on this site I’m going with a steevo bench, cabinets and French cleats.

 

[jd_1138]

Yeah I'd go with the cleat system -- more robust, stronger than pegboard.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

I hate pegboard! Enough said.

 

[Moosefire]

Personally I like the look of plain white pegboard but not with tools on it. I also dislike the French cleat system, I think it is such a waste of plywood in order to get everything mounted. If I redo my garage it will be plywood walls, painted

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[jd_1138]

I wonder if shelving with tools hanging off the end would be cool?

 

[PNWguy]

I had pegboard in my old shop and won't be putting it in my new one. I hate the hooks, and they always seem to fall off. Yes, there are better hooks but I don't think they are worth it.

 

[foodie]

Diamond Life pegboard is what I have. Hooks stay in and keeps things Ridley and neat, especially my garden tools. But I don’t do any woodworking or car maintenance in my garage.

 

[CKS1955]

I like peg board, I use the plastic keepers (peg locks) to keep the hooks from falling out. Great to maximize space in a small area.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BQR7BI/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Jay

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

A little heavy pegboard at the workbench works OK. Only use the heavyweight board, well supported on furring and heavy duty hooks. Keeps small, light often used tools and items handy and is easy to reorganize. No way I'd do entire walls.

 

[sr71]

just put up a french cleat wall for bigger stuff .... drills, grinders, air tools, etc..... still keep my hand tools in toolboxes.

 

[CJM8515]

i never had an issue with my pegboard, most of the smaller hooks have the plastic keeper clips and bangingon stuff even with the bench attached tot he wall is no issue. but most of it is just small stuff like screwdrivers and clamps and junk

 

[SHAZZAM]

I avoided pegboard for years, and had a rule: everything behind doors or in drawers. I did have French cleats in my shed, now they are in my garage along with a small amount of peg board (I moved to a different garage and have more room) I like having a few different choices.

There is a reason and application for many options. It really depends on your space and the common work you do. I also have a lot of lean 5s experience from work and the same applies. Blindly picking one or the other probably isn't a great idea. Most jobs require more than one tool.

 

[Fuelboat]

The wife has Wall Control metal pegboards in the sewing room they sit off the wall about 1/2" so hooks are easy to install and they are made in the USA. They cost more than wood but will last a very long time. Will be putting a couple up in the garage soon.

 

[Augus7us]

Here is another advantage to French cleats; you can hang about anything. I've seen paper towel racks, custom made shelves for holding cans of wd40 or similar, just plain old shelves, and stuff like in the photo above. Also as shown in the photo JD posted above, aside from the screw drivers you're probably not going to be able to mount the other stuff in that photo to pegboard because of weight.

One of the slickest things I've seen on here regarding this topic, was a guy that also incorporated them in other areas of the shop like his tool cart. He would take a few items from his bench and mount them on his cart while working on the car. Thought that was pretty cool.

Plus, if painted I think it looks really good, especially if you go two tone.

 

[Nowater]

Pegboard needs to be spaced away from the wall about 1/2". My pegboard mounts on a top board with a 45 degree angle on the top similar to the way a french cleat is made. I can and have hung a cabinet any where (almost) I want on the pegboard walls. That top board also has a 1/4" rabbit in which the pegboard sits, for a flush mount and also allowing for a cabinet.

I suggest putting 1/2" wide vertical spacers in between the pegboard spacing, so one does not block any holes. The ones you block will be the ones you want! A few surface mounted screws hold the pegboard to the spacers.

If mounting several sheets of pegboard, do not assume the holes will line up without measuring.

Do not assume the 1/4" pegboard sold in the big box stores is really 1/4". Measure the holes and the thickness with a drill bit.

Not everything should be put on pegboard. For those items, put them in a drawer or build a suitable hanger for them.

Some pegboard hangers are a bit pricey. I suggest you bite the bullet for a quality item and move on and enjoy your shop. If your plan calls for hanging 100 tools, and the higher quality peg hanger cost 25 cents more, that is $25.00. No doubt I have spent more than that on questionable tools that maybe I didn't need. At least I can tell at a glance where the tool is, and that is why I like pegboard.

Cheap pegboard hangers will always look cheap. I say, "Be well hung."

 

[bad_idea]

It depends on the use of your garage. In my last garage I hung pegboard when I moved in - cheap to install and instant storage. Within a year or two I was ripping it down and built some cabinets. Grinding dust collecting on my tools was the issue. I do a lot of metal fabrication and grinding dust sticks to EVERYTHING (little known fact, grinding dust is magnetic - due to the rapid heating and cooling of the speck of metal it becomes magnetic). For me, cabinets are the way to go. Everything behind closed doors to keep the dust out.

 

[mmb617]

I'm not a fan of pegboard either. I much prefer a system like jd posted in this thread, except mine doesn't look anywhere near as nice as his.

 

[Jinks]

All of the mentioned systems have uses. In my last shop all the interior walls were pegboard with just a high shelf & work bench with some storage under it. I eventually added a couple of shelf racks. It worked, but with everything out in the open it looked awful & stayed dirty.

The new shop got a lot of cabinets, an L shaped work bench with storage, but the parking area walls are pegboard with some wall cabinets on it. I have a small pegboard above one side of the bench, & HF parts bin racks above the other part of the bench. Much cleaner look & much more storage, but the HF racks are difficult to place bins on. Next time those will be french cleat. Pegboard makes all wall space useful with little effort & expense. You just have to use a little thought on what to hang on it.

 

[jonshonda]

As others have mentioned if you are going to use pegboard buy the thicker stuff and invest in the right hooks. If it's directly behind a work bench that is attached to the wall and sees heavy work, prepare for stuff to start coming off.

But for the price and space, it can't be beat!

 

[BuffettFan]

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I have it, it works and takes the overflow from the toolbox. Not ideal, but like I said, it works.
One of the reasons I joined this forum was to get ideas for storage. I've seen lots of great ideas, this is still the best solution for the space I have.

 

[BuffettFan]

https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39367&page=79

Link to a thread I keep going back to to find the perfect solution.

 

[Jazz1]

I just don't have the wall space for peg board. What few tools can go on a 4x8' sheet will fit in a couple drawers of tool cabinet.

 

[LeeG]

I am very cramped for space, so I have built most of my upper cabinets with pegboard for the outer door. This allows me to store most of my stuff inside a cabinet, but more commonly used, small, and odd shaped items can be put on the pegboard.

Here is one of my more recent additions. I replaced a set of shelves with these cabinets to hold various Systainers, with a special shelf to hold different pneumatic nail guns. Across the top I have a piece of unistrut that the front panel slides in.

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Each of the four cabinets are about 18" wide, 36" tall, and 12" deep. The 36" x 36" sliding front panel has a small roller on the bottom to keep it vertical.

I find that as long as I don't get too crazy slamming cabinet doors, I don't have any issue with items falling off of the pegs.

Lee

 

[Charlie51]

My Father-in-law had a piece of stained plywood over the workbench. He just put finishing nails in as needed to hold tools over the bench. It looked good and worked just fine.

 

[PugetDude]

I like pegboard. Have always had at least a full sheet in every garage I've owned.
Just installed a 16' long swath of the galvanized steel diamond plate version from HD in the new shop.
Don't cheap out- use the heavy duty hooks; they are .224" diameter and don't fall out.
Commonly used stuff is readily visible, ready to grab and you can see when something is missing. Better than rooting through overhead cabinets IMO.

 

[tachyon]

I like the commercial grid walls made of 1/4” wire like this:

4 Pc New or Retail Black Finish Slatgrid Gridwall Panel 2'x4' https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MT4U3TX/?tag=atomicindus08-20

They hold tons of weight, the hooks are also 1/4” wire, and I use extra small zip ties to secure the hooks so they never inadvertently come off.

You can also hang these 2’ panels sideways so you can easily reach everything above your bench.


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[Hallucar]

Lots of good replies here...thanks guys. I never realized there would be so many against pegboard. My plans for using it would be for a small section of wall that butts up to my workbench. I thought it would be a well organized system for quick/easy access to wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, and small/light tools the like. My main concern is them falling off or rattlin' around while pounding on something in the vise, which a couple of you mentioned does happen. I appreciate the other ideas proposed as well.

 

[1995droptopz]

I have used peg board in the past, and just everyone you should use the thicker HD stuff with the bigger pegs and the retainers. In my last garage I used it instead of drywall on the exterior walls since it was about the same cost but did not require tape/mud and made the space more useful.

In this house, I have drywall on on all 4 garage walls, so I am sticking with cabinets/shelves. The basement wood shop is going to get a french cleat wall above my workbench.

 

[CN Spots]

I have a 4x8' sheet of pegboard mounted to the back of a workbench. It's handy for commonly used small items that don't really have a good place to live in my shop. The only tools on it are set of nut drivers and a hand saw cuz I don't haver a nut driver drawer and a hand saw (in a shop geared mostly for automotive) is the most unstorable thing on the planet.

If you don't keep it policed it will start looking like a vertical junk drawer. If you demand a super tidy shop, that's something to consider.

I threw away all of the small diameter hooks and went with the ones that fit tighter. The single hooks have a second peg underneath that helps keep them from falling out when you remove a tool/part or hammer on the bench.

 

[rattle_snake]

I prefer drawers for my tools. Keeps dust off of them.

This. Although pegboard make access convenient, it clutters the space and if it's a working garage everything gets filthy. Grinder sparks will make it look like **** quickly, maybe even catch fire.
Everything in my shop is in drawers or behind doors except a few cordless tools and grinders.
But, it's your shop do what you want.

 

[T-handle]

I like my pegboard a lot. It's made from 1mm powdercoated sheetmetal and there's a lot of hooks and toolholders for it. The hooks are all mounted with small screws.

I have about 12 meters of pegboard in my tool area.

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I think it's nice to see your tools and it's easy to keep them in order with pegboard.
Im not doing dust work here so they stay pretty clean.

I bought my pegboard and holders from Biltema . It's a car part store from Sweden.

 

[Motorman55]

I have just a couple small peg board panels. One I painted yellow that's over my motor bench and one I painted red that's over my electric bench.

The boards came with the metal benches which I bought over twenty years ago from Sears.