Thread: Outdoor fully exposed table help

Originally Posted by ajw

It's looking great. Are you going to round over any of the edges?

cheers,

ajw

Yeah, I rounded over all of the boards with a 1.6mm round over just to take the sharp edges off and will do the same to the outer edges ( in fact just did a minute ago). I didn't want a large round over as I wanted a more square cut look to differentiate from the decking.

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Finally got to use it for breakfast!
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Great learning project for me. Got more mortise and tennon experience. Drawboring experience. Used the Domino. Thought a lot about wood movement and design to allow this. Overall I hope it lasts but even if it doesn't the learning was worth the effort.

Has been an interesting thread to follow and your not the only one who learnt a little from the build. Would appreciate some follow up after the table has been exposed to a summer and a winter, to see how the top is behaving.
Tony

Hi Tony,
Yeah it'll definitely be interesting and nerve-racking to see how it behaves. I'll update periodically so that we all learn something. To be honest I'm mainly concerned about the laminated legs are the moment.

Is it going to be under the roof on the deck or fully out in the weather?

It'll be under the shade sail awnings some of the time but these aren't waterproof so it will be pretty much exposed. I will be buying a cover for it at some stage soon when places open again.

Day 3 and it's still together haha.
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Also just in case anyone wanted a clear picture of the support and fastening beneath this pic makes it clearer;
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The pieces with the 8mm coach bolts have 11.5mm diameter holes to allow for movement but otherwise hold the individual pieces flat to each other (prevent bow) and help prevent cupping. The side pieces do not have clearance holes for these. The side pieces, centre pieces and end breadboards are all attached to the frame work with wooden cleats that allow for both longitudinal and lateral movement. The centre breadboard complicated matters in terms of longitudinal expansion. The centre breadboard is fixed with 3 100mm 14g batten screws along its Centre line to the centre lateral support as any movement will radiate out in both directions from this point so I figured I could hard-fix this.

That came up good! Well done!!

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Got the outdoor table cover on Friday. Went with the most expensive non-waterproof, but water resistant and breathable option from the list of options posted earlier. Hopefully the breathable vs waterproof option turns out to be the right one.

The fabric feels nice, the fit is good and it was delivered 5 weeks ahead of schedule which is nice.

Originally Posted by DomAU

........ Went with the most expensive non-waterproof, but water resistant and breathable option from the list of options posted earlier. Hopefully the breathable vs waterproof option turns out to be the right one......

Dom, first, good thread and a good philosophy that the lessons learned on a job are often at least as valuable as the article produced!

WRT the cover, I would've gone for something waterproof rather than 'resistant', my reasoning being that if it's the type of fabric I think it is, it will keep the water off in a light shower but not in a heavy or prolonged downpour. Then whilst the 'breathable' cover will allow drying better than a waterproof cover would, it will still slow the process down, which is not desirable. One of our offspring has had his (commercially-made) outdoor table out in pretty near identical conditions, i.e., paved area covered by shade cloth, for a coupe of years now, and I noticed on a recent visit that the glue-lines on the laminated legs have opened here & there. It has had no protection at all, and we get more frequent and heavier rain up our way, so maybe your cover will do the job. Said table has just (last week) been covered by a nice new Stratco insulated roof, to turn the paved area into an all-weather-usable space. Maybe that's your next project??

Cheers,

If it was a solid top I would not recommend a water proof cover as condensation between the cover and top might lead to mould but seeing as it is a slotted top air can still get through the underside of the top and it should breathe enough for this not to occur. Just make sure it is a rugged/tough cover.

We bought a large, very cheap, teak? Indonesian? slotted top outdoor table from a "pop-up" garden furniture store back in the late nineties. No advertising, no obvious storefront, just a kids blackboard on the side of the road advertising cheap outdoor furniture, no credit card facilities, a few months later they were gone etc. We were a bit concerned about the construction but we were skint at the time and simply could not argue with the price.

We kept it covered with a waterproof cover and oiled it with teak oil annually and for a few years it looked great. After that I noticed the repeated oil application built up a noticeable polymerised coating and unfortunately the covers only lasted a couple of years before they developed pin prick holes in them which let the water through which lifted the oil coating in patches and it started to look really ratty.

Even though it was covered every time we lifted the cover to use it we had to hose it down anyway to get rid of the dust, spiders and bugs, and sanding back the patches and oiling every year became a right PITA so after replacing the cover several times we gave up and left it exposed to the elements.

It sits partially under a large South African wedding tree which constantly drops leaves, twigs and flowers on it, and in spring hosts birds that poop all over the top. Before use I just hose it down with the hose hand piece set on water jet and once a year it gets a really good scrub with a stiff brush. This is much less expensive and time consuming maintenance than covering and oiling it and replacing the cover every few years .

A few of the pieces in the top have become loose but are in no danger of coming out. All in all it has survived pretty well and while the colour has faded but it has still not turned grey.

My shed is so crowded for space I sometimes used it to mark out and cut sheet materials on it.

Hmm. I was initially thinking waterproof but then was advised otherwise. I also thought that water getting in and sitting against the wood for long periods despite the breathability would be a problem. Where were these comments when I asked the question a few weeks ago ?

I guess I could buy a second waterproof cover for use during winter, but dropping $1000+ dollars on covers seems excessive at the moment. I'll see how it fares after the first few rainy days.

Originally Posted by tony_A

Has been an interesting thread to follow and your not the only one who learnt a little from the build. Would appreciate some follow up after the table has been exposed to a summer and a winter, to see how the top is behaving.
Tony

So it's been close to 9 months now, a full summer, autumn and nearly winter. Took the cover off the table today as it was nice and sunny and we wanted to have lunch outside.


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Everything is holding up really well. There are a few little oil stains, one bad patch in particular, like the oil came up and then dried on top of the timber; not sure of the cause exactly but a light sand will remove it easily enough. Otherwise, the top boards have not cupped at all, the breadboards likewise remain flat. There is a tiny bit more gap (still less than 1 mm) between some boards and the breadboards but nothing I'm worried about as it looks fine.

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One of my concerns from the beginning was with the legs, which were laminated from three individual boards, using Titebond III, however there are zero visible gaps between the joints so it doesn't look like they are going anywhere / cupping against each other. The apron to leg joints remain as tight as they started.

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Overall, it looks like the allowances I made to allow the individual boards to expand and contract but constrain from bowing / cupping are working and I don't think I'm going to have any issues with wood movement on this outdoor table going forward. Winning . Still have to make some benches though! Just a few other projects to finish first.

Well, after nearly exactly 12 months I decided it was time to start on some seating for the outdoor table. Man time flies! Some really simple bench seats in keeping with the table were planned. As the table is very long, 4 benches approx. 1250 mm each were decided on.

My plan was to pump these out quickly and to make one first and then batch out the other three (they are outdoor furniture, not masterpieces after all). I was curious to see how much time could be saved making three at once vs a single one, along with the increased speed that comes with learning a process.

So the first one is done. Took longer than I expected it to take. Approx 20-22 hours of total shop time. But I think that there are significant efficiencies to be gained / economies of scale to be had making three at once and i spent a fair bit of time thinking - so that will be reduced (some holiday beers may help here too...).

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I'll post a few progress pics. I haven't started on the batch of three yet, but will do so as soon as I've built my brother a pergola.

Cheers,

Dom