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What will you do after a long exhausted working week? Nothing is more suitable than a picnic day with your family and friends. With Summer coming around the corner and staycations already planned and booked, Get yourself the perfect little compact picnic table for you and your family/friends to enjoy the great outdoor activities.
Why should you make a DIY low picnic table?
It's ridiculously affordable, quick to assemble, easily stored, and can be switched out for longer or shorter legs as often as you wish. Sitting on the grass, enjoying the plant smell, it’s much more than a simple picnic.
What you need
4 - 1"x8"x6' (pick ones that are as straight as possible)
4 - 2"x2"x8' (pick ones that are as straight as possible)
4 - Screw on table legs of your choice (I used these)
4 - Heavy Duty Top Plates
#8 2" Construction Screws
A stain of your choice (I used this one in Reindeer, which is the same as my outdoor couch)
Wood Glue
Miter Saw
Drill
Measuring Tape
Instructions
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Make sure all your 1"x8" boards are the same length. They make up your tabletop, so it's important they look uniform. Yes, they're all supposed to be 6', but they don't always work out the way. If any of them is a slightly different length, cut them all so they're the same length as your shortest board.
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Place your 1"x8" boards together in the arrangement you would like them to be for your tabletop. Flip them over so the side of the boards that will be your tabletop is facing down, and the bottom of your tabletop is facing up towards you.
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Determine where you want your top plates to lay on the bottom. As you can see from the photo, I placed mine very close to the corners.
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Now, using a measuring tape, measure how long the long-ends of your bottom support will be (refer to the photo below so you can see which part of the bottom support I am referring to). You want them as long as possible, without covering your top plates, Mine were each 65.5" in length. Cut two of the 2"x2" boards to that length.
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Once cut, lay them on your table, and measure how long the two short-end pieces will be. Again, you want these short-end pieces of your bottom support to be as long as possible without covering up your top plates. Mine worked out to 21.75".
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Using four screws, wood glue at each connection point, and a drill, attach the two short-ends to the two-long ends. I find this is A LOT easier if I do a shallow pre-drill with a small drill bit.
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With your measuring tape, measure the length you will need for the three center support pieces. You want a tight fit, so mark where each center support will go (one should be at the center point of the long-ends, and the other two should be spaced about 15" from the center point) and then measure the length you will need for each one individually. They should be close to the same length as your short-end supports, but it's best to measure to be sure. If it's a very tight fit, use a hammer to carefully knock them in place.
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Using eight screws, some wood glue at each connection point, and your drill, attach the four center supports to the two long ends (like in the photo).
Congratulations! You have successfully made the support frame for the table.
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Attach your support to the tabletop by applying wood glue to the connection point between the support frame and the table tabletop, and drilling through the 2x2s. The 2" screws are the perfect length - they will go through your 2x2s, and into your tabletop without going all the way through. Make sure your table is sitting on a flush, even surface. I used four screws on each long-end, 4 screws on each short-end, and two screws on each center support.
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Once your support is attached, use your drill and the screws that came with your top plates to attach them to your table. Allow the wood glue to dry completely (according to the wood glue instructions), before moving to the next step.
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Screw-in your legs.
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Sand your table and wipe clean.
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Stain and allow to dry for 24 hours. Make sure to prop the legs of the table up, so you can reach the bottom of the legs with your stain without worrying about staining whatever it's resting on. I just used scrap wood pieces.
Note: You can also pre-sand and stain all your pieces before attaching everything with glue and screws. This will allow for easier stain application between each of the panels on the tabletop.
Make your project easier with metal outdoor table legs/bases from Flowyline, why not?
Metal outdoor table legs and bases from Flowyline Design are highly crafted by handmade metal furniture makers, so they are prolonged to use, unique look, contemporary elegance, are budget-saving, easy-setting, and are easy to care for.
Go especially well with any of your table or benchtops, be it the live edge, wood, or epoxy, be it your custom table, dining table, console table, or oval butcher block table.
These metal table legs and bases are always packed nicely, ready to be delivered to spruce up your living space, and come equipped with adjustable levelers hidden well in the feet. All you need to do is to bolt the base on your table or benchtop and go.
