Thread: Rat problem leads to spring clean

When we bought the new house 2 years ago, we really only bought it because it was attached to the workshop. It's a single car garage, concrete floor, timber frame, corro roof, and somewhere between 40 and 90 years old. For the last 2 years, everything was just about wherever it landed, and working in it was a struggle - lots of walking around looking for the tool I needed, not enough storage, and not enough floor space. But the house needed work, and that had to come first, as well as baby #4 who arrived 6 months after we moved in.

The current phase of renovations were finished a couple of months ago so I started planning a new layout and particularly better, and more, storage. Unfortunately, one of the consequences of not planning the workshop was lots of dark, secluded corners which led to a serious rat problem. I've put rat poison out, but experience says that if there's a nice comfy home, they'll move back in again.

So, time to get sorted. Getting rid of the rats meant cleaning out every corner and crevice, so the vac has had a hard few weeks. Keeping the rats homeless means letting the light into all the nooks and crannies, so all the cupboards go up on legs, all the stuff goes into plastic boxes. I planned the workshop on the same principles I plan kitchens - the work triangle, storage areas planned depending on frequency of use, trying to keep the side walls open to avoid crowding the space.

The tool cabinet had been opposite the workbench which meant it was always dark inside, and it dominated the workshop, making it feel crowded, so I moved it to the far end, but still only 2 steps from the workbench. The shelf units either side store the bigger 'junk' - power tools I use only occasionally, random bits of vices, shelf brackets, and anything else I don't use that often.

The recycled kitchen cupboards had ended up separated, so lining them up along one wall meant lots of bench space. The drawers underneath have all the equipment for sharpening, grinding, etc and once I've finished sorting out all the boxes, will also store the stuff I use most often, like sandpaper, plumbing etc and also all the gear for fixing the family's bikes.

High level, full length shelves above the cupboards take all the boxes of screws, the smaller tins of paint, bottles of noxious liquids and various poisons where they're well out of the reach of the kids. The grinder and drill press live on the bench as they're too heavy to move around.

When I built the workbench, I'd put rails all the way around and put a shelf underneath. However, despite the useful storage space, I found it all ended up full of sawdust, and I'd bang my ankles on the front rail, so I took the shelf and front rail out, and now there's a dustbin and the offcuts box on wheels. I've got some plant pot wheels to go under the bin, but I haven't found them since we moved house.

The SCMS is levelled with the bench and the jointer is on wheels so it can go out of the way most of the time, but still be accessible when I need it.

All in all, I've got much more floor space, and shelf storage, a more workable arrangement, and no rat hiding places.

The only thing I don't have any more is a storage area for sheet boards, so they've had to go under the house. I also want to add a cyclone to the shop vac.

Now I can get back to making stuff, starting with a little corner table and a new bench worktop. The timber on the rack on the top left is a load of QLD maple for the table, and some random hardwood for the benchtop.

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