Thread: Outdoor surfboard locker / bench seat

Hi folks,

An idea I have been kicking around for a while is to make a large (11 foot long) box to store my surfboards in, as the wife isn't keen on me keeping my boards inside and I don't have a shed big enough to fit a 9 foot longboard. If I do it right, I'm hoping to keep it on my deck and use it as a big bench seat.

I'm a bit clueless when it comes to woodwork, so it will be a fairly ambitious project for me, but I'm hoping I can get a bit of advice here and pull it off.

So, here's the plan. I'll take all the advice I can get.

I've got a stack of cypress planks stacked down the back of my yard ready to go (and looking quite weathered because I bought them ages ago and haven't had the guts to get started!) My idea is to build the two long sides first. Top and bottom rails will run the full length of the box, with uprights spaced (how far apart?) along the length. Like so:

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Then I'll run a set of short runners along the bottom for it to sit on, and some sides, then screw/nail some long planks around the whole thing to close it off. Does that make sense? Am I nuts? Has anybody done something like this before? Can anybody put me onto a plan somewhere that suggests a better way of doing it?

Assuming my plan is good, some more questions:

- How should I attach the uprights? Should I nail/screw in from the top/bottom, or do diagonal nails from the inside like a builder would do for wall framing?
- I've also got some cypress framing bits for this - would this suit, or should I be worried about warping? What's the best bet for this?
- Would it be a bad idea to leave small gaps between the boards on the bottom of the box so that the sand can be brushed out?
- I'm thinking of having two or three hinged lids - should I do it this way or have lids that you just lift/slide off? They could get a little heavy, and I don't want my two year old to squash her fingers. How should I build them to be strong enough to sit on, but light enough to manage?
- What should I use for the corners? L-shaped edging?
- Plenty more, but I'll see what comes back before I start asking the real dumb ones!

Cheers,

-Larry