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How to Build a Mudroom Storage Bench and Hall Tree

Mar 06, 2024
Hey guys, I'm Shar from Wood Shop Diaries and in today's video I'm going to show you how I built my friend this

hall

way

bench

, technically it's like built-in but I built it as a single unit so we can easily transport it from my shopping trip. to your house to be screwed to the studs and built in at that point, but as of now it's just one solid piece, even though it's pretty heavy, it was an easy

build

and I have the approvable plans for you linked in the video description, but if you're ready to see how it all turned out, let's go.
how to build a mudroom storage bench and hall tree
If you know me, you've probably guessed that this project included some plow wood, so the first thing I did here was start cutting things up. I provided the plow wood cutting diagram in the plans linked below, but to make things easier, I cut all my pieces for the

bench

to 18 square, allowing me to set my Craig rib cut for 18 inches and then make all these cuts without having to adjust anything to get the most out of the plywood for this construction. First I ripped an 18 inch wide strip off the short side of one of my sheets and then set the rest aside to use. later and I headed over to grab my second sheet now if you're interested in the store cat he will appear several times throughout the video so keep an eye out now for my second sheet.
how to build a mudroom storage bench and hall tree

More Interesting Facts About,

how to build a mudroom storage bench and hall tree...

I tore off a strip from the long side and again. I set the rest aside to use again later, then tore these two strips into seven 18-inch square panels total. Now that I have my 78 inch square pieces of plywood, this is what I left in the scraps. I need some top supports for the bench I'm

build

ing I need six of them. These pieces were left over so they should be 18 long like this so you can tear it in half and get two strips and then this is 18 long like this so you can Break this into four pieces and you'll get six strips total so I'm just going to break them up on the table saw.
how to build a mudroom storage bench and hall tree
You can break them off with a circular saw if you're very careful, but if you have a table saw, this is obviously going to be a little quicker with these cut out bench pieces. I went on to sand everything well before assembling and talking about sanding. If you are interested in my painting process, I included it in the video this time after many requests, so stay tuned. Keep an eye out for that a little later. I use pocket holes to assemble this simple bench cabinet, so I drilled 3/4 pocket holes in the ends of the top support strips and in the ends of three of the square panels if desired.
how to build a mudroom storage bench and hall tree
I know how to set up and use a pocket hole jig. I have a detailed guide. Linked In the video description below, I measured and marked a line 3 and 38 inches up from the bottom edge of the side panels and aligned the bottom panel at this mark, then assembled the bench using 1 and 1/4 screws hidden hole. Each of the three sections of the bench will have these two support strips on top and these are there obviously to hold the top of the bench cabinet together, but also to install the bench later, I worked on adding the pieces for each section until the bank's cash was full.
The next thing was to add a front frame. I made the front frame with 1x3 and a 1x4. I put the 1x4 on the bottom and then used the 1x3s for the top and dividers again. I use pocket holes to assemble the space frame, so I drilled 3/4 of the pocket holes in the ends of the divider pieces and then assembled them using pocket hole screws before gluing anything. I made sure to do it first. I tested the fit of the front frame to make sure it would fit over the front of the bench and thank goodness it did because I didn't have enough material to rebuild it, then I glued it on and Brad nailed it into place because he was painting this project he wanted. to make sure everything was nice and smooth, so after installing it I covered the nail holes and all the joints and I'll come back later and sand it smooth, for now I took the plywood that I had set aside earlier.
However, it will become the back panel, since this bench is over 4 feet wide, which is the width of a sheet of plywood, which meant I was going to have to assemble the back panel, so I cut a large piece that will cover two sections of the bench, then I cut another piece from the other sheet to make up the difference and cover the entire back of the bench. Well, I have a Sol ID panel for these two sections here and then I have a panel to cover the rest. I want this back panel to work as a unit so I need to put them together and the best way I can figure out is to make pocket holes, and with the pocket holes I'll probably put them on the front. side and then I can cover them with decorations later so you won't see the back, but that way at least the back will be clean and you won't see the HS pocket because they will be covered with decorations.
So to keep things more stable, I wanted to join these pieces together, so I drilled 3/4 pocket holes along one end of one of the pieces and then used wood glue and pocket hole screws to join them together. At this point, Danny had returned home. He worked and he asked me what he was doing. I think he was a little confused, but he offered to help. Anyway, I tested the bench to make sure they were the same width and then let the glue dry overnight. The next day, I went back to work and installed the back panel on the bench.
I pre-drilled all the holes to prevent the plywood from splitting and then put a couple screws on each side, then I turned it around and added some along the bottom panels, then I flipped it back and added some on the top and added this large panel on the back which made the bench very heavy so I had to be careful not to push it or it would tip back quite easily. The next part was adding the bench, so I cut my bench from a partial sheet of plywood that I already had in the shop now as a note on this, in addition to the bench, you can build this entire project with just two sheets of plywood, but if you also cut the plywood seat you will need a third one.
I use a lot of plywood in my shop now, so I don't mind having scraps, but if you don't want to buy a whole sheet just to cut the seat, you can glue a solid wood panel together using one by one. material instead, I tested it to fit the bench seat, but I haven't installed it yet. I wanted to be able to paint this without worrying about the seat getting in the way, so I used it as a spacer block to add the trim on top, but I didn't screw it in place yet, now speaking of the molding on the back, there it is where I went next.
I trimmed the back using 1x4 boards and used wood glue and brad nails to secure each piece. I made sure to leave room at the bottom for the bench to slide on later, now you can be creative as you like with the edge but obviously I kept it pretty simple once all the pieces were in place I put the nail holes in all the joints just like I did for the bench seat before, because I was painting this, I tried to prepare everything to be as smooth and uniform as possible so that it would look as perfect as possible once it was finished, so I just put this on the floor and I used my orbital sander to just sand all the putty down, lightly sand all the joints as smooth as you can, with paint, those little uneven spots where the boards meet will show up, so it's critical when you're painting to make sure of sanding the cat Hush The Final.
The finishing touch was to add the crown molding around the top where this will go. This left side will go in a corner, so it will be against the wall on the left side and in the back so it can stay. I can, but it sits flush against the wall. I'm not going to put crown molding on this side. I'm just going to put crown molding on the front and right side so it goes around the corner. I have linked a detailed guide on how to cut crown molding in the video description, but once the pieces were cut I used wood glue and nails to secure them, then placed them over the seam and nail holes, then came the time to paint and after many requests I'm not going to skip this part okay so it's paint day the last two videos I made where I painted something I actually liked it I made a joke about it I snapped my fingers and it was painted instantly and I don't share the process just because I hate it.
I hate painting, but I got a lot of requests for me to share my painting process too, so first I'm going to use Prime and show you what I'm using, so I'm actually out of paint liners, paint tray liners. I have one left and I'm going to save it for paint so for the primer I literally took a grocery bag and stuck it on my tray here using Kills 3 and FYI I sanded the project to 220 grit .I think it's usually when I'm priming or painting. I start by just brushing the corners and all the things I can't roll, so in this case I applied primer over the trim and into the corners of the trim, then used the trim roller to apply primer to all the flat surfaces.
My only advice here is to just pay attention and smooth out any streaks you see before they dry. I only applied one coat of primer to the back panel and on the sides and front of the bench where I am going to paint. I did not paint the inside of the bench once the primer was dry to the touch. I hand sanded the entire piece with 220 grit sandpaper, sometimes I use 400 grit instead and that also works well if you ever run your hands over freshly primed wood, it feels a little chalky and a little rough, sanding it lightly it just softens it a little, so while the primer was drying I took the dog for a walk.
It's cold outside so I added the Hat um but now we're going to caulk so what I'm using is this Dap Alex Flex caulk. I don't know, it's what I had on hand, it works fine. I have used it. before um, but I've used other things too, so it's not like you have to use a specific type anyway, basically the purpose of caulking is just to make cleaner joints, so I'm going to apply it to the inside corners of all of this molding. . That way, if there are boards that were a little warped or whatever and didn't lay perfectly flat against the plywood back, this will seal that as Gap so that when you paint it looks perfect, nice and clean, my dad always.
He told me that you never close a knife you haven't opened, so always make sure to close knives you open so someone else can use them. I don't know why I just told you that I apply caulk on the inside corners to make a cleaner paint job, just apply a little bead and then I like to smooth it out with my finger, so I'm talking about these spaces here, so that this board didn't sit completely flush with the plywood, so there's a little gap here when I put paint on it's going to look really messy, so the goal of caulking is to fill in these gaps so the paint goes on nice and smooth and everything looks pretty perfect.
The most annoying thing about caulking is that even quick-drying stuff still takes forever to dry, especially in cold temperatures, but you want to make sure you let it dry thoroughly before painting. I'm not a paint snob or anything, but I personally like Sherin Williams paint and my friend picked this one up. color, so that's what I got. I apply paint as if it were primer. First brush with a brush and then a roller. He let the first coat dry to the touch and then I applied a second one and it covered really well. Sometimes I have to apply a third coat, but luckily this looked good afterwards. just two the next day after it was completely dry I applied some clear coat with a brush to the inside of the bench.
I applied three coats, sanding lightly between each, and while it dried, I removed the bench seat and ironed it on. The edge bands on the front and the exposed side edge bands are always an optional step, but they make it look a little cleaner, so I like to add it, then I carefully placed it on the bench and just tapped it back to that it would be flush. the back panel, since the left side here goes against a wall, I made sure not to leave any protrusions on that side so it would be flush, then I used some 1 and 1/4 inch screws through the top brackets on the inside of the bench to secure it, it's a c

hall

enge to capture on camera since it's inside a small space, so use your imagination here.
I applied three coats of clear coat to the bench seat to seal it just like I did to the inside of the bench and I also added some simple wooden hooks that my friend had given me to use with this and at this point it was finished andready to be installed in your home. It can certainly stand on its own, but I would actually recommend using a few screws through the back panel to secure it to the wall studs behind it so it doesn't move or tilt. I'm very happy with the result and I really hope you enjoyed watching it come together, don't forget to grab the plans linked below and if you can't wait to see the latest projects be sure to subscribe to the channel and follow us.
Thank you very much for watching friends and until next time, happy building.

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