Outdoor benches

[Harold Burrell]

OK...I know this has probably been hashed over a gazillion times...and it definitely marks me as a newb, but...

Does anyone know where I can get plans for outdoor, country-style/old-fashioned benches? (We're talking "simple" here.) Backs on them would be preferred.

Also...would they need to be made from treated lumber? If not, how should they be finished in order to hold up to the elements?

Thank you kindly. :o

[Kurt Cady]

Search woodmagazine.com

Maybe find what you're looking for - and write down the issue number it is out of. Someone here (1000 folks) is bound to have the magazine laying around

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Does anyone know where I can get plans for outdoor, country-style/old-fashioned benches? (We're talking "simple" here.) Backs on them would be preferred.

They are so simple all you really need is an idea, a picture in your head of what you want. Why not use google's images search function and just find some designs that speak to you and work from that.


Also...would they need to be made from treated lumber? If not, how should they be finished in order to hold up to the elements?

I made Adirondaks from PT. But it was a carefully thought out choice. I planned a very heavy layer of applied coatings.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=60992&highlight=adirondack

PT can be supremely splintery, it needs to have no less than 6% shrinkage factored in unless you took a year or so to dry it first and you gotta pre-think your finishes. The splintery lumber needs a bloody heavy finish and one that you can re-apply every couple years.

[Kevin Womer]

I made some adirondacks several years ago that Norm made on The New Yankee Workshop, and I got the plans off of:
www.newyankeeworkshop.com (http://www.newyankeeworkshop.com)
If memory serves I believe there are a couple of plans for outdoor benches.
Hope this helps,
Kevin

[Callan Campbell]

No plans, but how about a vote for either cedar or white oak instead of pressure treated. Either will take paint well, or stain, or a clear finish over a stain if that's your choice.

[Kevin Womer]

No plans, but how about a vote for either cedar or white oak instead of pressure treated. Either will take paint well, or stain, or a clear finish over a stain if that's your choice.

If you hate to paint like I do, Cypress is a great choice and just let it weather, it retains a smooth surface without the splinters and the gray color looks pretty nice too.

[Frank Drew]

Unless you can keep a barrier film of finish on it as Cliff recommends, pressure treated lumber isn't anything I'd like to sit on.

Cypress, mahogany, teak, cedar, redwood (can be splintery, though) are timbers I'd think of first for outdoor use.

[Dick Sylvan]

Spanish cedar