French Cleat Tool Wall

Easy to build, easy to reconfigure as your tool collection grows

- Travis Larson

Just think of it—a tool storage system for your garage or shop that you can endlessly reconfigure to accommodate all your tools. They’ll be right at your fingertips whenever you need them. And when it’s time to straighten up at the end of the day, you’ll know right where everything goes, making cleanup quick and easy.

How much you spend depends not only on the size of your storage wall but also on the level of finish you’re after. We spent about $500 on the materials for our wall, but you could build it for about half the price by using 3/4-in. CDX construction plywood.

What is a FRENCH CLEAT?

French cleats are an ingenious means of hanging just about anything. Mating 45-degree bevels—one on the wall, the other on the tool holder—interlock to form a rock-solid connection. You just drop the tool holder over the cleat and it’s done—perfectly level, perfectly solid. No fasteners!  

BUILD THE WALL

Size to fit your needs

Our wall is two horizontal sheets of 3/4-in. birch plywood (a 4 x 8-ft. sheet and a 2 x 8-ft. sheet; Photo 2), with 1x2 maple trim (Photo 3). The size of your wall depends on how much you want to store and how much space you have. The construction techniques are the same for any size wall. 

1. MOUNT A TEMPORARY LEDGER

Cut one of the wall cleats to width (Photo 4) and then level it and screw it to the wall studs.

2. HANG THE PLYWOOD

Rest the first sheet on the temporary ledger and screw it to the studs with 2-in. screws spaced every 12 in. Rest the second sheet on top of the first and screw it to the studs as well. Remove the temporary ledger.

Apply the finish to full sheets before cutting