Latest home improvement project: Pegboard, including “How To”
Shoulda taken photos as I went through each step, but here’s how it went down…
Time
3 hours (most if it in front of the TV while glue dries in step 3), plus 2 years (optional, step 6)
Materials
- 4′x2′ pegboard (multiple sheets if you have more wallspace, they’re made to fit alongside each other; just be sure to use heavy tape to keep them aligned while you build/attach the frames in steps 3 and 4)
- 1x3s for a backing frame, cut to two pieces at 2′ and two pieces at ~43″.
- Power drill (saw elsewhere that a hammer drill is strongly recommended for masonry)
- Masonry bit, 5/32″
- Wood bit, 3/16″
- Level
- Wood glue
- Wood clamps (or similar)
- Screws, “Tapper” style, 3/16″ x 1 3/4″
- Assorted pegboard holders
How To
Note: The way I’ve done this means you won’t be able to use the three holes around the perimeter of the board. Wood will be blocking them from behind.
- Hold the bare pegboard flat against the wall and mark where to drill your holes in the masonry. I chose the second hole at each end of the pegboard.I happened to have 4x4s leftover from another project, and those were a big help — I placed them on the workbench, which gave me a surface exactly eight inches up with a chance to use the level.
- Drill holes at the marks with a masonry bit, which, god, what a pain in the butt that is. It takes a long, long time, a lot of strength, and lots of stopping to let the bit cool.
- Looking at the back of your pegboard, lay out your 1×3′s in a rectangle. This will be your frame — what you actually attach to the wall. Make sure you like how they fit, and then one by one, use your wood glue to adhere each piece to the board. Work one piece at a time; 1×3′s tend to bow, so clamp each end down and let dry however long your glue bottle says. (Mine is half an hour.)
- With your wood bit and using your earlier pegboard holes as a guide, drill holes through the wood. You’ll use these to attach everything to the wall. You’ll see I drilled mine at the second pegboard holes.You’ll also notice in the materials list that the masonry bit and drill bit are slightly different sizes. If you’re a gifted measurer, by all means, use both at 5/32″. But I used a bigger wood bit to give myself some literal wiggle room…I knew the frame and masonry holes wouldn’t perfectly aligned, so I knew I’d be able to go in at a slight, safe, still-strong angle.
- Assuming all your holes are lined up, carefully screw your screws through each hole in the pegboard/wood into the holes in the masonry. Go partway with each and then go back and tighten. Don’t go crazy tightening — you don’t want to rip out a chunk of masonry. Just go far enough that the board feels firmly in place.
- Spend the next two years obsessing over the best way to arrange your pegboard holders and hardware (optional).
- Place your holders and hardware.
