Lumber choice for outdoor dining table

I want to know where you are going to be getting 8/4 teak for $10/bdft. 4/4 is $28/bdft here.

-- The quality of one's woodworking is directly related to the amount of flannel worn.

I’m building something similar in the near future. Planning on using Menards’ rough sawn cedar. It’s about $2.2 bft. My only concern is the moisture content which is about 11%. Does anyone know if this is too high to start an outdoor table?

-- Kjell - Eau Claire WI

Unless you’re made of money, I’d never build anything meant for outdoors out of expensive wood. The sun does a number on wood, even wood that is taken care of with stain, paint, or clear finishes.

I’d use cedar or something similar. It’s relatively cheap and it holds up as well as anything outside. Use an exterior stain or clear finish and plan on reapplying often (yearly, most likely).

since you are relatively new to woodworking, why don’t you build a table
of your design with pressure treated construction lumber to practice with
before you invest a lot of money into something that may not serve you well.
let it air dry a few weeks before applying a stain – it will still look good.

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-- there is no educational alternative to having a front row seat in the School of Hard Knocks. --

You guys are awesome, thanks I think i’ll take your advice and use construction grade softwood with a seal/stain.

Should I make the feet, or legs, or entire bottom out of pressure treated? Or is that not necessary? Table will be on an uncovered concrete patio.

Also as far as the top goes, should i leve room between the wooden slats, butt them up against each other, or attempt a glue-up to make a solid top?

Should I make the feet, or legs, or entire bottom out of pressure treated? Or is that not necessary? Table will be on an uncovered concrete patio.

Also as far as the top goes, should i leve room between the wooden slats, butt them up against each other, or attempt a glue-up to make a solid top?

- ArmchairLinebacker

My suggestion would be to keep this 1st project bare bones simple. Use pressure treated for entire project. 2×6 for top butted with small gaps. (these will open over the years with the weather and drying process) That done finish as you like and enjoy. As the years go by you will see where improvements can be made.

-- Live to tell the stories, they sound better that way.

since you are relatively new to woodworking, why don t you build a table
of your design with pressure treated construction lumber to practice …
- John Smith

This is good advice. Your first piece will not be your best piece no matter how prepared you feel. There are plenty of rot resistant woods like white oak, mahogany, teak, walnut, cedar and cypress heartwood (must be heartwood), and many others you can google. Look at what is used for decking in your area. I’m not crazy about your design either. I would want the battens turned on edge and connected directly to the legs.

-- Rick M, http://thewoodknack.blogspot.com/

I made my outdoor table out of cedar about 5 years ago…cost me about $400 for the materials to make a behemoth 4 ‘x 12’ table.
About twice a year I use a scotchbrite pad and soapy water to clean it, then reapply teak oil. So far it has held up and aged beautifully.
Not the best picture of the table, but this is from last fall. I think the cedar just gets better looking with age.
Also, I wouldn’t want to eat anything off of a table made from pressure treated wood. I’d at least do a cedar top if you’re going to do it out of pressure treated…

-- Brian Famous :: Charlotte, NC :: http://www.FamousArtisan.com

You guys are awesome, thanks I think i’ll take your advice and use construction grade softwood with a seal/stain.

Should I make the feet, or legs, or entire bottom out of pressure treated? Or is that not necessary? Table will be on an uncovered concrete patio.

Also as far as the top goes, should i leve room between the wooden slats, butt them up against each other, or attempt a glue-up to make a solid top?

- ArmchairLinebacker

I’d make the whole thing out of cedar instead of pressure treated, personally. Leave room between the slats for water to drain. If you really want to make it to last, put some epoxy on the bottom of the legs and anything touching the ground.

-- The quality of one's woodworking is directly related to the amount of flannel worn.

I would definitely make mine out of ebony.

-- Half of what we read or hear about finishing is right. We just don’t know which half! — Bob Flexner

I made my outdoor table out of cedar about 5 years ago…cost me about $400 for the materials to make a behemoth 4 x 12 table.
About twice a year I use a scotchbrite pad and soapy water to clean it, then reapply teak oil. So far it has held up and aged beautifully.
Not the best picture of the table, but this is from last fall. I think the cedar just gets better looking with age.
Also, I wouldn t want to eat anything off of a table made from pressure treated wood. I d at least do a cedar top if you re going to do it out of pressure treated…

That’s a nice looking table.
If that’s your back porch I’m pretty sure I’m going to hate you.:)

- BFamous

-- Aj

I would go with cedar or cypress.

Keep in mind with cedar the sapwood will rot.

-- Everything is a prototype thats why its one of a kind!!

I have an outdoor table and benches lined up for my next project. I really wanted to do cedar but it just wasn’t in the budget so I wound up with pressure treated southern yellow pine. I don’t like that I have to work with chemically treated material, and yes, you don’t want to eat food that comes in contact with the stuff either. But, it will last a long time, it’s cheap, and I figure a good opaque stain will be a good enough barrier to be safe to sit around and eat at. Plus, when was the last time you ate potato salad directly off the table top? We’ll be using plates. And we will probably use it a couple times a week for only a few months a year. I’m pretty sure it will be fine.

I bought the lumber last year. I got KDAT (kiln dried after treatment) wood, but it was still sopping wet. I put it on stickers on the lumber rack last summer, so it will have been almost a full year now when I start working with it. You probably don’t need to wait that long, but I got busy and now I’m sure it will be as dry as needed. Some of it did twist, especially the 4×4’s I got. Not sure how I’m going to deal with that yet, but I’m glad it’s dry at least.

I would not make a table I intend for people to eat off of out of pressure treated lumber. If you must, you can make the base out of it, but the top should be something nontoxic. Even modern pressure treating uses foul chemicals (although no arsenic, so progress) that you absolutely do not want to come into direct contact with. If you’re going the big box SPF route, just get some regular 1×5 stock to make the top out of.

if you are going to The Big Box store, I would just use the Redwood