Got this workbench for free on craigslist. It had been outside for a while and was a bit rusty in areas. The original top and bottom shelf were masonite and just trash, but for my purposes, this was a diamond in the rough. We needed a solid work surface for the glass saw and a few glass grinders we use routinely for our work. All these tools center on water, so I wanted to have a work surface that was basically impervious.
First off, I refinished the metal structure, grinding off the rust and removing the masonite surfaces and drawer bottoms:
One good coat of primer to coat everything:
And a final coat of textured brown paint:
Created a new top shelf out of hardiebacker and attached the old light fixture which still worked. Gave the old masonite drawer bottoms a good paint job and re-installed the hardware. Final paint job with 1/2 inch hardiebacker bench top and lower shelf (impervious to water) in final greenhouse position:
Decided to use some of the bathroom marble and granite tile leftovers to add a nice top to this bench:
Originally planned to use some of the leftover Ubatuba granite tiles for the center section surrounded by leftover blue glass tiles like the ones I used in the side table project. They're thinner than a standard tile, so in order to get them level with the marble, additional underlayment is needed. 1/4 hardiebacker had to cut and glued down around the center tiles.
Changed my mind about the black Ubatuba and chipped it out. Managed to find 3 marginal but full pieces of the creme marfil marble to replace it.
Finished table top grouted and cleaned up:
The front edge made use of leftover bullnosed pieces from the master bath remodel -- a nice touch.