How to Make a Picnic Table Using Recycled Material

Making a picnic table with recycled materials is an easy project that you can complete with minimal building skills. Repurposing furniture and old wood is an eco-friendly and cost-effective way to create useful items for your home and garden.

Things You'll Need

• Old barn door or wood from an old barn Circular saw Heavy, medium and light-grade sandpaper Gloves 2 4x4 treated plywood posts, 27 to 30 inches long 2 metal braces with a 90-degree angle Wood screws Screwdriver Stain, paint or wood sealer

Instructions

1. Cut the barn door to the size you want your new picnic table to be. Save the remaining bit of door for constructing a base for your table. You can find old barn doors and wood from barns at local salvage supply yards or antique stores.

2. Sand both sides of the old barn door with heavy-grade sandpaper while wearing gloves. This will eliminate any dirt and miscellaneous debris that has built up over the years. If you're using wooden boards, you could run them through a planer to clean and smooth them. If you don't own a planer, take the boards to a cabinet shop or lumber yard and pay to have them planed. The barn door will need to be sanded by hand as it will not fit through a planer, but you could use an electric sander to make the job easier. Finish sanding both sides of the door with medium-grade and then light-grade sandpaper to eliminate most of the scratches left by the paper.

3. Sand the section of the barn door that you will be turning into your table base in the same way as you did the picnic table top. With your circular saw, cut the remaining section of door in half lengthwise. You should have at least 27 inches for the base height of your picnic table. If there is not enough of the barn door left over, you can use 4x4 treated plywood posts to support your picnic table top.

4. Attach the metal braces at the end of each piece of your split barn door or to the end of each 4x4 post. Predrill the holes for the wood screws to make inserting them easier.

5. Rest your picnic table on its face and attach the metal braces on the base to the underside of the table. Again, predrill the holes for the screws. Flip the table upright.

6. Stain or paint your table, or spray it with wood sealer to maintain the charm of the old wood. Wood sealer will also help repel moisture.

Tips & Warnings

• Pick up odd chairs from yard sales or thrift shops to give your picnic area an eclectic look.

• Wear gloves and safety glasses when using power tools.

Resources

• Salvaged barn supply