Do you ever have those projects that start as a simple idea but then snowball into other projects that you weren’t thinking about? That is what is happening this summer with our deck.The initial idea was to just pressure wash and re-seal the existing deck. Which we did. But then that lead into re-painting the existing benches, designing and painting an outdoor rug, and now that has lead to making our own outdoor table.
Previously we had a glass top table with an umbrella but after I started all these projects I knew that table was not going to fit in with the design and feel of the space. So with the hubby’s help, we decided to make our own.
Justin and I went to a local building store that sells leftover building materials, most of it is great shape and at a fraction of the price. We chose to use cedar posts and boards. Cedar is not the cheapest option but we knew we wanted a table that was going to last. The cedar we chose was beautiful and mostly knot-free. This project was completed in a weekend and I am very excited to say that we built this together.
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Materials Used for Table:
- (1) 12′ cedar 4″x 4″ post (we then cut this down into 4-31″ sections for the leg posts)
- (3) 12″ x 2″ x 6′ cedar boards for the tabletop
- (10) 2″x4″ cedar boards for board and leg supports
- GRK Multi-purpose screws (these are the screws that the hubby swears by to build everything)
- Ryobi Orbital sander
- Carpenter’s square (to make sure all the angles were correct and level)
Building an Outdoor Table
To make it easier for us we built the table upside down. We placed the 12″ x 6′ table top boards down over sawhorses. Then we measured in 12″ from each end to place a 2″ x 4″ that we cut the width of the table to help support the leg posts. Each leg post was then attached to that 2×4 support as pictured below.
We then attached another 2×4 to the other side of the posts to frame them in and give them some more support.
I wanted to have some type of a design element to add to the table instead of just four posts and a top. Also, we wanted the table to have some more support. So we decided to do barn door style X’s on the ends.
We used one 2×4 cut at angles for the first brace and for the second brace we cut a 2×4 to exactly fit so that it completes the x.
Another 2×4 was used to tie the braces together from end to end.
At this point, we were almost done!! It was a very exciting feeling to flip the table over and see our accomplishment. We added the last four 2×4’s as a frame for the top and the hubby angled the edges of the frame.
Up next was sanding and painting!
The entire table was sanded with my favorite Ryobi sander, I used a course grit first and then followed with a finer grit sand paper.
Painting Outdoor Table
I wanted the table to have a unique table top so I ended up painting it using an outdoor gray clearance paint that I picked up from Home Depot.
Materials:
- Behr grey outdoor paint (unsure of color as this was clearance from Home Depot)
- Behr redwood color fence and house stain (for the table legs, again clearance from Home Depot)
- Chip brush (for dry brush technique)
- Paintbrush (for base paint)
- Sander (my favorite is the Ryobi)
- Thompson’s Water Seal (for the table legs)
- Rust-Oleum outdoor polyurethane (I used the water-based kind)
After the grey base paint had dried I did a dry brush technique overtop of the grey, dry brush is exactly what it sounds like. Using a chip brush and applying very little paint you create streaks across the wood to give it a little more of an aged look.
There were some spots that I, unfortunately, had a little too much paint on my brush so I ended up taking my Ryobi and fine grit sandpaper and sanding the paint down a little before applying poly.
The table legs were painted with a redwood deck and fence stain from Home Depot. I applied Thompson’s Water Seal to the table legs as a sealant to help withstand the weather.
And now we have a beautiful table to add to our outdoor living space and it was completed in a weekend! I am excited to share the final reveal of our deck soon!
