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Slatwall Vs. Pegboard: Which Is Better for Your Garage?

Darria Deatherage • May 14, 2020

Your California custom garage is the space you’ve always dreamed of. After a few months of use though, you realize you need an organization system to keep things tidy. It’s come down to two options you’re interested in, slatwall and pegboard. Which should you choose for your garage?

Between slatwall and pegboard, slatwall is the best organizational pick for your custom garage. The value and charm slatwall will add to your garage increases your home’s curb appeal even further. Also, with slatwall in your custom garage, you’ll have more functionality.

In this article, you’ll learn more about the differences between slatwall and pegboard, as well as a few pros and cons for each. By the time you’re done reading, you should feel confident that you’ve chosen the right organizational solution for your custom garage.

What Is Slatwall?

Before elaborating more on why slatwall is the preferred pick as opposed to pegboard, here’s an explanation of both garage organization methods.

Slatwall also goes by the name Slotwall, due to the grooves or slats throughout. It’s a common organizational strategy for retail stores, as it allows staff to hang metal racks that can show off clothing for sale. More and more, slatwall has found its home among residential applications as well, especially in garages.

Most slatwall is comprised of medium-density fiberboard or MDF. This engineered wood includes softwood and hardwood mashed down until they’re fibrous. Then they’re combined with resin binder and wax to make the panels.

What about those famous slats? These are machine-added for precision. Before it reaches you, the customer, the slatwall gets finished with either lamination or a pressing of melamine paper.

You can typically find slatwall in four-foot-by-eight-foot panels, but if you need a bigger panel that covers the whole wall, those are available as well. By mounting aluminum or plastic inserts to the slatwall, you can hang a variety of items in your custom garage, from bags of tools or toys to bicycles. You typically can’t see the fittings either, which is advantageous.

Another benefit of slatwall is its range of colors. Some panels come in maple, white, taupe, or black. This adds visual versatility to your custom garage. If you’re trying to match the slatwall to your pre-existing garage style, that may be possible.

What Is Pegboard?

Your other option for your custom garage organization project is a pegboard. Also referred to as perforated hardboard, pegboard has holes throughout instead of slats or grooves. These holes are drilled in beforehand. Each hole is completely even from the other.

You can attach hooks or pegs to each of the holes, hence the name pegboard. Back in the early 1960s, the Masonite Corporation founded the name Peg-Board, but the trademark on that name has long since expired. The general term for the tempered hardwood though has stuck around.

Not all pegboards are wood. They can also be metal, typically steel. Metal pegboards are not always as big as hardwood ones, because that extra bulk would be heavy, not to mention that it would drive up the costs.

Some metal pegboards have been known to sag from one mounting point to another, typically due to lack of board thickness. If your pegboard is thick enough though, this should not happen.

Wooden pegboards don’t always fare much better, even if they’re made of perforated hardwood. If you hang too many items on the pegboard or you add one load that’s particularly heavy, you degrade the pegboard’s quality. It may begin splintering or warping.

Slatwall Vs. Pegboard: Which Is Better?

You are now familiar with the differences between slatwall and pegboard, including the pros and cons of each. As mentioned in the intro, slatwall is the more functional and efficient option for your custom garage. It will allow you to clean the space, adding value and a high degree of functionality in the process.

Here are a few benefits that slatwall has over pegboard.

Looks

Slatwall boasts a sleek, seamless appearance that’s made it a trusted choice among retail stores for decades. It can hide all mounting hardware, so it almost looks like the items on the slatwall are hanging invisibly on your garage walls.

Pegboard also isn’t offensive to the eye, but the design does tend to be more outdated.

Durability

Another area where slatwall shines is its durability. It’s not completely impervious to damage, but since you’re mounting items to the slatwall, it holds up much better than pegboard. Remember, even a metal pegboard can begin to weaken if you overload it. Wooden pegboard doesn’t do much better, becoming warped and unstable when the items in the peg holes get too heavy.

Yet if you use too many of the holes at once on a pegboard, then the whole pegboard can look disorganized. In other words, you can’t win either way, and that’s a problem when it comes to organizing your custom California garage.

Organization

Your ability to organize your garage with nothing but pegboard is quite limited. Sure, you can attach all your tools to one board and then add some hooks for hanging items in bags on another board. Can you attach a bicycle to a pegboard though? No, you cannot.

Slatwall can handle both large and small items all the same. You can install hooks to the slatwall to put your tools on display the same way you can with a pegboard, but you can also take things one step further. From rackets to nets, bags of basketballs and soccer balls, surfboards, beach chairs, and even a small ladder, everything’s attached to the slatwall with no risk of falling. You also don’t have to worry about the slatwall bending, buckling, or warping under the weight either.

Tips for Choosing Slatwall for Your Garage

If you’re now convinced slatwall is the best solution for neatening your custom garage, here are some tips to help you make the most of it.

Plan how much slatwall you need: You may opt for small slatwall panels or floor-to-ceiling slatwall. Both are within your grasp, but only you can decide how much slatwall your garage needs. Measure your garage interior and then get to planning your slatwall project from there.
Select your slatwall style carefully: Slatwall comes in so many colors and styles, so you really should take some time to narrow down your choices. Plain white melamine surfaces match almost any garage, while cherry slatwall adds depth and warmth to the space. Black melamine slatwall has a timeless look, and a birch melamine is bright, cheery, and looks like the real deal.
Compare prices: Slatwall can be expensive, depending on the material you select. Basic white melamine slatwall may cost less than slatwall that's colored, for example.

Once you get slatwall installed in your garage, you will have to tidy it up every now and again. You can use a variety of cleaning tools for this, such as a vacuum, a duster, or some soft towels, soap, and water. If you must spritz the slatwall with a cleaner, then make sure it’s a mild product. Avoid any products containing alcohol, bleach, or ammonia, as these could damage the slatwall permanently.

Conclusion

If you’re eager to clean up your custom garage, you can use pegboard or slatwall for the job. Both have their perks, but slatwall is more advantageous. It can handle heavier loads without warping. You can also get slatwall in panels or from floor to ceiling, and it comes in all sorts of cool styles.

Your custom garage is about to look a lot better with slatwall!

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