Reclaimed Garden Benches

I've had a couple of garden benches in my backyard for I don't know how many years...and it shows!  They were definitely weathered, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but they were getting to be unsafe. 

I could have just replaced them, but where would be the fun in that?  So with some paint, time, and muscle (extra muscle needed from my husband to remove those darn rusted bolts!) this is what I ended up with!

 

And, if a person wanted to lay back on the bench in the arbor, this would be the view.  I lOVE blue skies!

I just had to throw in these pictures.  This used to be a fountain with a cherub on top and water flowing through it.  Well, that was until the pump died and the cherub was brutally attacked by a flying soccer ball!  So, this year it was recycled into a planter...nothing wrong with extra flowers in the backyard!

 So, here's the step-by-step of how the garden benches were reclaimed.

The Details:

1.  1" x 6" cedar boards were purchased and ripped to size to replace the broken or warped slats.  The original slats were oak, which would have been more expensive to replace.  As it turned out, I replaced every other slat with cedar (basically, all the white slats.)  The bench is still plenty sturdy.

2.  Sand the original and new slats before painting.  The edges of the new slats were routered to match the rounded edges of the original slats.  If you don't have a router, try to round the edges with a sander.

3.  A drill press (with a bit the size of your bolt head) set to stop at about 3/16" allows for countersinking the new bolts.  If you don't have a drill press, wrap some tape around the tip of your drill bit 3/16" up.  Drill until the tape mark hits the surface of your slat.

4.  Use a smaller drill bit (the size of your bolt shaft) through the center.

5.  Prime the slats.

6.  Paint the slats and the wrought iron end pieces.  I happen to love the coverage of this paint, plus the white was also the primer!  BTW, I used Canyon Black, Blossom White, and Eden for my colors.

Reassemble your bench and enjoy!

I like to link to these great parties!