Objective: To build two benches that seat 3 people each
Cost break down: (two benches)
| Wood | €158.40 |
| Wood Glue | €8.99 |
| Nails | €13,45 |
| wood impregnator | €14.99 |
| Total: | €195.83 |
Items not listed in my cost section:
Nail Gun, Air Compressor, Brad nails, Grinder, Wood grinder plate, Miter saw, Rubber mallet, Pliers to pull the nails out when I screwed up, wood putty because I used glue and my own wood shavings, Wood sander, sand paper, Delivery of the wood, and most importantly my time. This bench took me about 4 days of working on it in my free time. (these cost items are not included mostly because I already had them as I do lots of projects)
The story
Once I completed my outdoor dining table I knew I would need to add seating. At first, I thought I would buy some cool chairs to sit around the table… but Pinterest pushed me in a new direction.😱
I saw these benches and of course I said “ I can make that!” 😅. The two reference photos above are slightly different. Personally I like reference photo 2 (On the right). The photo on the left (reference photo 1) feels a little more unstable and unfinished to me. Note the legs, here you will notice that the photo on the left does not have spacer pieces for the wood slats to sit on. It is all held together with bolts. Compared to the photo on the right, it is all (mostly) held together with wood glue as the wood itself is the support.
The above photos are designed and made with 1×4’s in the US. You can pick them up at any Lowe’s or Homedepot. In Italy, on the other hand, I have stopped by my local Leroy Merlin numerous times and came out empty handed. Thus began my search for a ‘Negozio di legname’ or in some cases ‘Legnami’… or even Legno. Che Cazzo🤌! why is searching for wood (= legno) so difficult! 😂 After a few weeks I found a ‘local’ store about 45 minutes away from my home [🤌]. I spent a few hours on their website with a measuring tape going through the wood selection. Luckily I found everything I needed and they also delivered. It was honestly expensive to get it delivered (60 euro) but I do not have a car or ‘la macchina’ large enough to hold the wood. So purchasing said vehicle being the alternative, the delivery was inexpensive. Right? Can I look at it this way? 😅 Either way, if you are searching for lumber in Puglia, Italy checkout www.BricoLegnoStore.it. I just ordered my second delivery from them to complete other projects.
The real problem with all of this is not understanding the dimensions of wood in Europe, though I am slowing getting this knowledge… It only took 3 projects to get a very basic understanding. That understanding is that there really isn’t uniform pieces that are just readily available. Lol Like in the US if you are looking at lumber I can guarantee you they will have a 2×4 you can purchase. In Italy, they maybe will have 1.5 x 3.5 or 3.8 x 5… Could i be wrong, of course, but this is my experience thus far here in Puglia.
After I determined the wood I needed, which was ‘Listone Pino Impregnato Autoclave 20 x 90 x 3000 mm, the rest became easy. I needed two benches. They are for my exterior roof so finding ‘impregnato’ wood was better for my construction vs using interior wood and resealing it every year.
For this project I started my design in Free Form again. Truly one of my favorite free apple apps.
In this photo it will display my wood and the cuts I made. I decided to ‘upgrade’ the original design as I typically do not like the look of square cuts on wood. To me, it feels like a cheap out or just not finished properly when you have 90 angles that could be mitered. Other than the exterior wood corners being mitered, this bench is very straight forward.
I started out by building the legs and the seat separate. I thought to myself, It will be easy to slide them together after they are both complete. It was not. Do not do this!
In my defense I built the benches this way so that I could take them apart making it easy to get to my roof through a narrow staircase. In the end I put the benches together permanently. It was was too complicated to build them so they would come apart.
The best thing to do is make all your cuts, Lay the exterior mitered cuts on the ground and get the mitered seat slats glued and nailed/screwed (whatever you prefer). I used a nail gun.
Once the first row is down, Connect a spacer on both sides. (If you are doing like me and adding spacers to the seat, add them as well.) Then repeat the process until completion. Again, it’s very straight forward with this part.
For me I needed my bench to be at a specific size because I wanted them to slide under the exterior cement door dining table I built.
As I was testing the space under the table I also realized that the bench, even though sturdy, when you attempted to sit down the exterior beams would slightly bend in. Over time this could wear down the glue or cause them to break. It wasn’t much but it was noticeable. Luckily I caught the problem early enough. I took the benches back apart quickly and added spacers.
I actually like this design more and it gives more support to the wood beams. The center support spacers are the only cut not shown in my FreeForm image. I took the leftover boards from the 2x9cm legno and cut 16 pieces that were 9cm long. I glued and nailed them back together with the slats and this dramatically improved the strength and structure of the bench.
From there I waited 24 hours for the glue to dry, then checked out the bench and its stability. It was perfect! All except the wood was not even! If you notice in the images at the beginning of this blog (reference photo2), the benches were perfectly square. To get this look you really have to use planed wood and maybe even a jointer to get perfectly straight edges.
I did not have planed wood, (and still do not) or a jointer. Thus, I took a bit of a risk here and pulled out my grinder. This could have went very wrong… luckily for me it did not. The grinder allowed me to square off the rounded corners of each individual wood piece. I only did this in the corners to get the perfectly square and uniform edge that I wanted.
After grinding and sanding some areas smooth, I applied a wood impregnator over the feet and areas that I grinded. Other than that I have not and do not have any intention of applying a finish or sealer to the wood. This is why I purchased exterior treated wood. If, overtime, I notice the bare wood becoming a problem I will return to the benches and seal or treat the wood as needed. I do expect to re-apply the impregnator to the raw wood every other year or so. Though I find this normal for any exterior wood.
In conclusion, the hardest part of the project was finding the wood for me. The language and knowledge of what and where to search for things in Italy, I just do not have – YET! But once I discovered (like Christopher Columbus) everything I needed, it was there for the taking. (jokes). If you like this style and design I think it’s a great project that even beginner DIY’ers can tackle.
Buona giornata!