When we moved into our house it had quite a large proportion of the back garden was taken up by a bouncy rotting deck. Each winter the deck rotted a bit more and each spring I repaired it until I could take no more. So, I ripped the decking up and put down a very nice block paving patio in its place.
So I was left with all this decking which was a bit rotten in places, but I couldn’t just chuck, so I’ve come up with various structures to use this up.
This is the Picnic table
These are the tools I used to make it:
Screwdriver (cross head)
Tape measure
Cordless drill
Wood saw
Workbench
Level
Pencil (though I mainly used chalk)
These are the materials:
60 * 60mm all weather screws Check that the screws you order match the decking you will use.
Bunch of old decking cut as follows.
7*1200mm (straight cut)
2*600mm (straight cut)
4*800mm (straight cut)
2*??1300mm?? (35 degree angle at each end)
1*790mm (straight cut)
1*480mm (90 degree angle at each end)
This is how are did it:
Note, I used the ribbed planks which were 34mm x 140mm x different lengths, the depth of the plank will make a difference to the length of screw you use.
I used 5 of the 1200mm lengths for the top giving me 700mm x 1200mm table top.
I used the 2 600mm lengths, 24mm in from each end and screwed 1 or 2 60mm screws from the bottom through the 600mm length into the underside of the tabletop.
I used the 4 lengths of 800mm at an angle of ??degrees for the legs which are screwed (2 * 60mm screws per leg) to the outside of the 600mm lengths under the table top so that the angle of the legs touched each other at the central line of the table.
I used the 2 * ??1300mm lengths with a ?? degree angle for the seat hangers which were fixed so that the top of the seat would be ??mm from the floor. I fixed this to the outside of the table legs with 2 * 60mm screws per leg.
From now on, before screwing anything, ensure that the legs are vertical and that the table is square.
I measured the distance between the outside of the legs (lengthways) at the table top. I then cut a length of wood, in my case 790mm, fixing it horizontally with 3 * 60mm screws at each end, to the centre of the seat hangers.
I put the 480mm diagonal strut into place between the angle where the table top meets the legs, and around 20mm off centre (so there is room for an umbrella hole), making sure that it was a tight fit whilst the table was still square before fixing. This gives the table a lot more lateral strength.
I fixed the 1200mm seats on having ensured they matched up exactly with the table top and the length of each hanger.
Our decking had been varnished and was in a relatively poor state so a lot of hand sanding of the tabletop and seats was then carried out.
The result is a remarkably robust, stable picnic table. If I did another one I’d remove the 790mm strut and 480mm diagonal strut, and use 2 *480mm diagonal between the centre (-20mm for the umbrella hole) of the table top and the middle of the seat hanger for lateral strength with a bit more leg room.
