Product Features
Regardless of the location of the bench, it must meet a number of basic requirements:
- be stable and have a strong construction;
- a comfortable bench should fit organically into the surrounding landscape.
A homemade bench may have a non-standard appearance. At the same time, it should be safe and comfortable for relaxation.
For this reason, experts recommend a responsible approach to the choice of material, processing of parts and providing products with a backrest. To place a garden bench, it is wise to choose a quiet and shady corner next to a beautiful flower garden or a cozy gazebo.
Materials
The wood for benches must be of high quality, free from rot, knots and other defects. Poorly dried lumber is also unsuitable. Being in the open air, wood fibers periodically swell and dry out, and torsion begins. Subsequently, cracks form and fungi and insects colonize the wood, causing decay.
Ideally, lumber should be kiln dried or weather aged for at least 6 months. Such wood is freed from excess moisture, therefore it is more geometrically stable and resistant to rot than raw wood.
For garden furniture, it is recommended to use coniferous trees - pine, larch, cedar. They are resistant to rotting due to the high content of resins - natural preservatives. Oak and ash are very durable, but due to their hard, dense structure they are quite difficult to process.
In addition to edged boards, slats and beams, whole or longitudinally loose trunks, colorful stumps, thick branches and winding roots are used. It is clear that the wood needs to be well dried, sanded and impregnated with an antiseptic.
Blueprints
When planning the manufacture of a garden bench, you need to think about the appearance of the product and draw a detailed drawing. Drawings for making benches are easy to find in finished form.
A detailed drawing will allow you to correctly calculate the consumption of materials and think through the technology of work.
The size of the product is calculated based on the need for seating. It is not advisable to make a small bench for a summer cottage where a large family is relaxing.
For work, you can use the standard overall dimensions of a garden bench.
To comfortably accommodate three adults, the seats are 150 cm long. The width of the seat is usually 40 cm. The height of the bench is 45 cm from the ground, while the height of the back is 90 cm.
The bench should be installed at an angle of about 20 degrees, this will make using it more convenient.
At the planning stage, you need to think about ways to attach the backrest.
Note!
- Do-it-yourself wardrobe: a review of ways and methods on how to build a stylish and original wardrobe (video and 145 photos)
Do-it-yourself furniture restoration - removing chips and scratches, restoring surfaces. Instructions with photos and video tips
DIY ottoman: how to make it at home. The best ideas, master classes. Photo + video review of beautiful ottomans
Tools
Note! You can tighten screws with a screwdriver and saw boards the old fashioned way with a jigsaw, but with a power tool things will go faster and easier.
It is possible that not all the tools will be needed; it is worth assessing the condition of the raw materials and the type of the final product.
To cut boards and saw beams, you should stock up on a jigsaw or a circular saw.
Jigsaw
It is most convenient to tighten screws with a screwdriver with a magnetic bit. If you plan to assemble furniture using nails, you should stock up on a regular or pneumatic hammer.
Cordless drill/driver
It is more convenient to connect some parts using clamps.
Clamp
To round sharp corners and remove roughness from wood, you will need a plane, a sander, and sandpaper.
Sander
For finishing we recommend using:
- linseed oil, if the bench will be in a bathhouse or room;
Linseed oil for wood
- fire-bioprotective antiseptic if the furniture will be located outdoors and exposed to rain and snow.
Fire-bioprotective antiseptic
After applying the impregnation, the bench can be varnished or primed and painted.
On a note! Brushed wood has an interesting texture. The boards are artificially aged with hard brushes, after which they are fired with torches, sanded and tinted.
Wood brushing
Pallet bench
A good starting material for the manufacture of country furniture are transport pallets made from durable boards of good quality.
Using them, it is easy to make garden benches of different designs.
Before starting work, the pallets must be cleaned of dust and dismantled if necessary.
To work you need to prepare:
- saw;
- sanding machine or sandpaper;
- drill;
- self-tapping screws;
- bars for fastening elements;
- brush;
- primer;
- paint or varnish.
Operating procedure.
- The pallet needs to be sawn lengthwise so that you get two parts. The narrow one will serve as a backrest, and the wide one will serve as a seat.
- Treat the surface with a grinding machine.
- Mount the structure using self-tapping screws. To add strength, you can use bars and metal corners.
- The legs for the bench are also attached using corners.
- Cover the product with paint or varnish.
For ease of use, it is recommended to sew seat cushions.
Manufacturing process
To make this bench, 9 sheets of plywood measuring 2440mm x 1220mm and 18mm thick were needed. It is best to use moisture-resistant plywood as it is stronger and less likely to delaminate.
Manually transferring an image from a piece of paper to plywood, and then cutting out all the elements with a jigsaw, is truly a heroic feat (considering so many elements). Therefore, you shouldn’t strain yourself, it’s better to find a chipboard cutting company (which has a CNC machine for curved cutting) and get ready-made elements. But, in order not to get another puzzle about which layer is which, when cutting, you should indicate that the parts from each sheet are placed in different piles.
We glue the layers together with wood glue.
To prevent the layers from moving during the process, we fasten them with nails.
Then we compress the layers with clamps and leave them to dry for a day.
There is no need to rush and assemble the entire structure in one day; in this case, we risk getting poor-quality gluing of parts, which will later make itself felt in the form of delamination.
Bench made of chairs
Often, old but durable furniture is used to make a garden bench. A comfortable bench for a country veranda or gazebo can be quickly made from a couple of old chairs.
In addition to chairs, you will need:
- board 30-40 mm thick;
- bars with a cross section of 40 X 40 mm;
- self-tapping screws;
- drill;
- saw;
- varnish or paint.
Operating procedure.
- Remove the upholstery from the chairs, inspect the product, and sand the surfaces.
- Remove the seat frames and adjust the height of the legs if necessary.
- Make a frame from the timber and attach the boards to it.
- Install a bench. If desired, the seat can be made soft by laying a layer of foam rubber and covering it with material.
- Paint the product.
Instead of boards, plywood is often used. You can complement the bench with decorative pillows.
Unusual ideas
As supports, you can use not only boards or square beams, but also rounded logs and double-edged beams. They are laid horizontally, with the bench seat on top.
You can place the cuttings of the trunks vertically and secure the seat with dowels. The design without a single nail will perfectly perform its functions. For the back, the logs are cut longer and placed close to the bench. A sanded board is fixed vertically to them. If you select the middle of a large-diameter log and smoothly trim the inner surfaces, you will get an original, authentic bench.
Is there a luxurious spreading tree growing on the site? This can be successfully played around by installing a bench in a circle near the trunk. You don't have to cut entire boards. If the old but strong pieces of wooden chairs are firmly secured to the log, the garden bench will be ready in a matter of minutes.
A lightweight design with an openwork back is what you need in a small but cozy country courtyard. You will need very little material - an unedged board, round slats and branches freed from bark. You can even use the remains from pruning garden trees.
For gatherings in the gazebo or on the veranda, corner benches are useful. If you install them near the table, you will get a spacious dining area. It will be appropriate not only in the garden, but also on the terrace or veranda.
The bench, placed on wheels, is mobile and easy to carry. Just roll it to a new place - and you won't have to lift anything heavy.
From the benches you can build a whole complex with sitting and lying areas. A large company can be accommodated here comfortably, and for a fun party it is enough to place a low table and organize refreshments.
An unusual composition of scraps of untreated trunks will add originality to any garden plot. True, you will have to try and hollow out a rounded seat with a comfortable backrest in each pair.
Armrests can be made from anything. For example, from cart wheels, as in this picture.
There is nothing unnecessary on the farm. From a couple of pallets of building materials you can make a decent, and most importantly, free bench. The pallets need to be disassembled, the slats sanded and coated with paint and varnish.
Log bench
If you have a log of a suitable size at your dacha, it is easy to use it to make a garden bench.
- At the first stage, two supports-legs of the same size are sawed off from the log.
- The log needs to be cut lengthwise in the middle or with a slight offset.
- A beam is required to connect the seat to the backrest.
- Recesses should be made in the support legs for a reliable connection to the seat.
- The product is assembled and the structure is further strengthened using self-tapping screws and pieces of timber.
- The sections must be covered with stain and varnish.
Cutting strips
Once you have finally decided on the size of the future shop, you need to start cutting strips of plywood. We decided to use a circular saw, but most people are unlikely to have one in the garage, so you can use any other tool. The main thing is that the stripes end up smooth and without defects. In the photo we showed the resulting stripes.
Cutting strips
Return to content
Useful tips
To make garden benches, you should use high-quality material. The service life of the product will be extended by treating wooden and metal elements with special primers, paint and varnish.
The surfaces of the parts should not have irregularities, burrs, or protruding sharp parts of fasteners.
To install the bench, you need a flat area without stumps, holes and stones.
It is recommended to make the back and seat from separate parts, leaving gaps between them for ventilation.
The bench should not be placed under fruit trees. Falling fruit will quickly ruin its appearance.
Original ideas
By being creative, you can create unique landscape elements. As a material, it is easy to use old pieces of furniture, boxes or pallets, logs and branches, timber and boards.
Skills in working with metal will allow you to make original benches with a metal base.
It’s easy to add flower beds to the benches as decorative elements.
The bench surrounding the trunk of a large tree looks unusual.
As a basis for the product, you can use an old chest, the frame of a sofa, chairs or armchairs.
You can get ideas by studying photos of a do-it-yourself bench on the Internet.
