How to Make a Cheap Picnic Table

When the weather is nice, few things are more pleasant than dining outdoors. Whether the kids have friends over for a picnic or you're enjoying a family barbecue, you want to be sure you have adequate seating for your outdoor event. Outdoor furniture can cost hundreds of dollars and still leave you short of places to sit. Fortunately, with a little creativity and work, you can build a homemade picnic table or two for cheap.

Instructions

1

Locate cheap lumber. Visit a local building site to see if there is any wood you can salvage for free, or purchase cheap pine boards from your local hardware store.

2

Cut four lengths of wood from your 2-by-4s. Each piece should be 33 inches long. Use a handsaw to trim one end of each piece at a 22.5-degree angle. Measuring from the top end of the angle, mark the board at 30.75 inches. Measure a 22.5-degree angle from that mark so that it is parallel to the cut at the opposite end. Trim along the angle. These four pieces will be the legs of your table.

3

Cut two 30.5-inch lengths of wood from your 2-by-4s. Cut a 22.5-degree angle from each end of each board so that the angles run toward each other. If done properly, the shape of each board will be a trapezoid. These two pieces will be your top braces.

4

Cut two 54.25-inch lengths of wood from your 2-by-4s to work as the lower braces. These boards do not need angled cuts on the ends.

5

Attach one of the top braces to two of the legs so that all the edges line up. Use a drill and carriage bolts to securely fasten the pieces together. Lay the lower brace across the middle of the legs. It will extend across the legs. Make sure it overhangs the legs evenly on each side. Secure the lower brace with carriage bolts, as well. Repeat the process for the other two legs and braces.

6

Attach two 6-foot lengths of 2-by-4 to one of the overhanging lower braces to begin assembling the bench. The bench boards should extend beyond the lower brace by 8 inches on the outside of the frame you created in the previous step. Secure the two boards using 2 1/2-inch deck screws. Countersink the screws for the best look. In the same fashion, secure the bench seat to the overhanging lower brace on the other frame. Repeat the process on the other side to make the other bench.

7

Attach the four 6-foot-long 1-by-8 boards to the top braces to work as the tabletop. Use 1 1/2-inch deck screws. Make sure each board overhangs each side by 8 inches.

8

Brace the seats with an 8-inch piece of 2-by-4 by attaching it to the bottom center of each seat using 2 1/2-inch screws.

9

Cut a 29-inch length of 2-by-4 and angle each end at 22.5 degrees like you did for the top braces. Attach it to the center underside of the table using 2 1/2-inch screws. The longer side should be against the table underside. Cut two more pieces of 2-by-4 to 31 inches, angling each end in the same way you did the legs, but using a 28-degree angle. Use a square tool mark a half-inch notch from the long side of each end at a right angle to the edge. Cut off the notch. Secure these two pieces to the center brace of the table on one end and to each of the lower braces on the side frames on the opposite ends. Use 2 1/2-inch screws.

10

Sand and stain the table.