Outdoor Dining Table

Now that the backyard is free’d from all the clutter and it feels a bit more open, I think it’s time to fill it up again.  This time with something a little more useful to us…  like an outdoor dining table.

This is also my first project on the new workbench I recently built.  What a back saver!  No more crouching down for DIY projects!  Like any of my other projects, I drew up a sketch and went down to Home Depot to get the supplies.  A majority of the work was basically cutting the wood down to size and drilling pocket holes with my Kreg Pocket Hole Jig

After getting all the cuts down and drilling the pocket holes, it was simply a matter of assembly.  I was working solo, so I didn’t want to build out this massive table in the garage and be stuck waiting for someone to help me move it, so I brought all the pieces to the backyard for assembly.

First I put the frame together (upside down).  I would clamp a 2×4 scrap piece of wood when attaching the skirts of the frame to the legs so that it would all be spaced evenly.

Then I flipped the whole piece over (which was sorta hard to do by myself.  I recommend calling a friend to help if you’re planning to do this) and laid out the pieces of the table top.

After that, it was just a matter of laying down each board used for the table top and using pocket holes to join them together.

After a good amount of sanding, I applied some stain and polyurethane on the bottom side and legs to help seal it.

Then I flipped it over again and really took my time in sanding the table top (since that’s really what’s going to be used/seen the most)

After a good sanding, it was simply a matter of applying the stain and numerous coats of polyurethane to seal it (again, sanding in between to keep it smooth) and it’s finally done!

After if was all done, I had to get the seal of approval from the boss…

The table is 8 feet long by 4 feet wide and it sits about 30 inches off the ground.  It was a pretty simple build using 4×4’s for the legs, 1×12’s for the table top and 1×4’s for the frame underneath.  All of it was joined together using pocket hole screws.  It’s recommended to use wood glue for the joints to make ’em stronger, but for some reason I skipped that part.  The only time consuming step was staining and sealing it due to the waiting time between coats.

Now, I guess  the next project will have to be some sort of seating to actually enjoy the table…