#PLANS FOR WOOD OUTDOOR END TABLES FULL#

I sanded the whole base with 150 and 220 grit sandpaper. The last piece is a base stretcher which is centered between the sides and shores up the strength of the table. The tops would have gotten in the way of my drill while attaching the stretchers, so that’s why I added them afterwards. Then I came back and added a top piece to the sides. Next I joined the sides of the DIY side table with a front and back stretcher clamping the boards firmly in place before securing them. I used glue and 2-1/2″ exterior pocket screws for each joint and started by making two u-shaped assemblies which will be the sides without the tops pieces. All the boards but the upright legs get pocket holes on each end.Īssembly is very straight forward and goes quickly. You can pick one up for $40 and while it’s a little slower than the larger model it gets the job done just as well. Keeping with the minimalist theme I decided to use a handheld pocket hole jig for the joints on the DIY outdoor side table. After doing a little more vibrating to get the air bubbles we set the form back inside to dry overnight.Ĥ. A 80lb bag was juuuuust slightly less than we needed so we did have to dip into a second bag, so two 60lb bags would be plenty. I used a scrap of wood to screed the surface, sawing it back and forth as Pete filled any voids exposed by the screeding. I started transferring the mix from the tub to the form while Pete worked it into place, pushing it into the corners and edges and doing some vibrating of the form along the way. We used a garden hoe which works great, but you can use a shovel to mix it too. I’ve found the best way to mix concrete is to have someone else do it 🙂 Seriously though, Pete made this look much easier than my first go at it but I think the keys here are adding some water first, using a big enough mixing tub, and just adding water as needed until you get to a oatmealish consistency.

With the form ready to go we started mixing the concrete. Pour the Concrete Top for the DIY Side Table Just make sure you have proper support or a helping hand so the boards don’t bind or drop off and cause tearout at the end of the cuts. This makes short work of cutting down all the pieces.

The spacer is the width between the outside edge of my circ saw and the outside edge of the blade. Then I used a spacer to set my carpenters square in place. After cutting the first of each similar sized board we just laid that board back on top of the remaining 2×4 and butted it up against the end. Just clamp a carpenter square to your board and use it to guide you for a 90 degree cut.Įach base is made from just 11 boards: 4 vertical side pieces, 4 horizontal side piece and 3 stretchers which all come out of two 2×4’s. You don’t need a miter saw to get decent crosscuts, I made all these cuts with my circular saw. I’m using cedar 2×4’s from a local building supply store for the base. While the caulk was drying we went back outside to cut the parts for the base. Cut the Parts for the DIY Outdoor Side Table Base This was a cool little trick to make sure the caulk went exactly where I wanted and didn’t get all over the sides while smoothing.Ģ. We removed the tape as soon as the bead was smoothed out then went back over the caulk with a wet finger to smooth out any little lips left from the tape. Then I applied a bead of silicone caulk along the channel and smoothed it out with a wet finger. He used blue tape to mask off a channel 1/8″ out from the inner edges all around the form. I used silicone to seal the corners of the concrete form and Pete showed me a cool trick to get a nice bead with no extra silicone on the sides.

Using a center divider to get two tops from one form makes things a lot easier when you vibrate and screed the concrete.

The tops are 20″ by 20″ so we measured in 20″ from the end and attached the center divider and another 20″ for the other end. We used large piece of melamine left over as the base and clamped and screwed down one long side and one end using a countersink bit and 2″ screws. With the dusty part done Pete and I moved into the shop and started building the form for the concrete top of the DIY side tables. I cut two of the long strips in half then ganged together 3 of those shorter pieces and cut them to 20″ leaving me two long sides, two short sides and one divider. The 1-1/2″ width with become the thickness of the top when it’s formed. I used a 50″ edge guide to make straight cuts with the circular saw, but any straight edge or board clamped down will work.

#PLANS FOR WOOD OUTDOOR END TABLES FULL#

From a 2’x4′ piece of melamine I ripped four 1-1/2″ strips the full length of the sheet for the walls of the form. I started the build by making the forms for the concrete tops.

Plans for wood outdoor end tables