44″ × 22″ outdoor coffee table plans

Parts

Cut list

Kerf 1/8″ included. Every cut runs edge to edge.

Steps

• Tape measure
• Speed square
• Pencil
• Drill/driver
• Clamps
• Safety glasses
• Hearing protection
• Dust mask
• Circular saw or miter saw
• Miter saw, or circular saw in two passes, for 4×4 posts
• Pocket-hole jig
• Clamps, 2 at least 24″
• Chalk line
• Sander, 120 and 180 grit

Underlined words have a short explanation: hover or tap them. All of them are on the glossary page.

1. 1Before you start

   Read every step once, start to finish, before you buy or cut anything. Each step names the parts it uses by letter; the parts list gives their sizes.

   Set up somewhere flat with good light. A pair of sawhorses with a sheet of plywood on top makes a fine work table.

   Wear safety glasses whenever a tool is running, hearing protection for saws, and a dust mask for sanding and for cutting treated wood or sheet goods. Tie back long hair and loose sleeves. Keep children and pets out of the work area.

   • Tip At the store, pick straight boards: hold each one up to your eye and look down its length. Skip boards that bow, twist or have big knots near the ends.
   • Tip Measure twice, cut once. Most mistakes are a misread tape, not a bad cut.

2. 2Cut and label the parts

   Cut every part on the cut list. Cut the longest parts first: if one goes wrong, it can still become a shorter part.

   To mark a cut, hook your tape on the end of the board, make a small V with its point exactly at the measurement, and draw a square line through the point with a speed square. Put an X on the waste side.

   Cut on the waste side of the line, so the blade's kerf (about 1/8″) comes out of the scrap, not your part.

   Write each part's letter in pencil on a face that won't show, and stack the parts by letter.

   Sand the faces before assembly while they're flat and easy to reach: 120 grit, then 180.

   ✓ Lay the parts out and count them against the parts list. Measure a few: if one is off by more than 1/16″, recut it now.

   STOP. Let the saw reach full speed before it touches the wood, keep both hands clear of the blade's path, and never reach under a board you're cutting. Support long boards on both sides of the cut so the blade doesn't pinch.

3. 3Drill the pocket holes

   Set the pocket-hole jig and its drill-bit collar for 1 1/2″ thick wood.

   Drill 2 pocket holes at each end of every apron (C, D), cross support (E) and shelf rail (F), all on the same face: that face goes to the inside, where nobody sees it.

   Keep the holes about 3/4″ in from each edge so the screws do not break out the side.

   • Tip Exterior pocket screws have a coating for outdoor use. Plain indoor pocket screws rust and stain the wood within a season.

   ✓ Every pocket hole is on the face you marked "inside", and none has broken through the end.

4. 4Build the two end frames

   Lay two legs (B) on a flat surface, 13″ apart. Put an end apron (D) between them with its top flush with the leg tops and its outside face 1/2″ in from the legs' outside faces (a 1/2″ scrap under it sets this).

   Spread waterproof glue on the apron ends, clamp across the legs, and drive 2 1/2″ exterior pocket screws.

   Build the second end frame the same way.

   • Tip Wipe glue squeeze-out with a damp rag right away. Dried glue blocks stain and shows as a pale patch outdoors.

   ✓ Measure each frame corner to corner both ways: the diagonals match within 1/16″, so it is square.

5. 5Join the frames with the long aprons

   Stand the end frames up, aprons facing in. Fit a long apron (C) between them on each side, tops flush, 1/2″ in from the outside of the legs, with glue and pocket screws.

   Fit the shelf rails (F) the same way, their bottoms 3 3/4″ above the floor.

   ✓ The base stands on a flat floor without rocking, and the diagonals across the top of the frame match.

   STOP. Do this on the flattest floor you have. A base built on a slope stays twisted.

6. 6Fit the cross supports

   Fit 1 cross support (E) between the long aprons, tops flush, spaced 19 1/4″ apart centre to centre between the end aprons. The top slats need support at least every 20″.

   Run a straightedge across the aprons and supports: every top edge should touch it.

   ✓ Nothing sits proud of the apron tops. Plane or sand any high spot now, before the slats go on.

7. 7Add the shelf slats

   Lay the shelf slats (G) across the shelf rails, 7/8″ apart, the end ones against the legs.

   Predrill and drive 2 1 5/8″ stainless screws into each rail.

   ✓ The gaps are even, so rain and leaves fall through.

8. 8Screw down the top slats

   Lay the 6 top slats (A) on the frame: 1 1/2″ past the legs at each end, the outer slats 1″ past the legs at the sides, 3/16″ between slats.

   Predrill and drive 2 2 1/2″ stainless screws into every apron and support the slat crosses, about 3/4″ in from the slat edges.

   Snap a chalk line over each support first, so the screws line up in neat rows.

   • Tip Lay each slat with the growth rings on the end arching up, so it sheds water if it cups.
   • Tip Round over the top edges of the outside slats so the table edge is kind to forearms.

   ✓ Sight along the gaps: they are straight and even. The top is 16″ above the floor.

9. 9Finish it for outdoors

   Cedar can stay bare. It weathers to silver-grey in a season or two and still resists rot. To keep the warm colour, use an exterior penetrating oil or a semi-transparent stain with UV blockers.

   Outdoors, choose a finish that soaks in rather than one that forms a skin. Oil and stain fade gently and you just clean and recoat every year or two. Indoor polyurethane cracks in the sun, water gets under it, and it peels. If you want a hard clear coat anyway, use spar urethane and expect to sand and recoat it.

   Brush two coats on every cut end. End grain drinks water like a straw and is where outdoor furniture rots first.

   • Tip Finish the bottoms of the legs and the undersides too; they stay damp the longest.
   • Tip Oily rags can catch fire on their own as they dry. Lay them flat outside to dry, or keep them in a closed metal can of water.

   ✓ Sprinkle a little water on a finished surface: it should bead up. When it soaks in again (usually next spring), it is time for another coat.

10. 10Finish

    Ease every sharp edge and corner with 120-grit sandpaper so nobody gets a splinter.

    Sand all over with 180 grit, always along the grain (the direction the wood fibres run). Scratches across the grain show through stain.

    Wipe off the dust with a barely damp rag and let it dry.

    Outdoors, use an exterior finish: a penetrating deck oil or exterior stain, or primer and exterior paint. Leave cedar bare to weather silver if you like. If it holds soil for food plants, leave the inside unfinished.

    Let it dry for the time on the can before using it.

    • Tip Try your finish on a scrap of the same wood first: stain looks different on every board.