Try This: Tiny-Footprint Garden Bench
Stylish, simple, eco-friendly projects for your natural home
March/April 2007
Susan Wasinger
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This bench is made with used inner tubes and standard 2-by-2-inch plastic lumber balusters, widely available at hardware and lumber stores.
Susan Wasinger
|
This charming garden perch is made from recycled-plastic lumber that looks and works like wood, except that it was manufactured from old milk jugs. We added a seat woven from an old truck’s inner tube. The rubber’s rich, varied blue-grays create a surface that’s rugged, beautiful, comfortable and waterproof.
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1. You will need a total of at least 132 inches of 2-by-2-inch plastic lumber. For the top of the bench, you will need two 12-inch and two 18-inch pieces. For the legs, you’ll need four 18-inch-long segments.
2. For the bench top, assemble a 12-by-18-inch rectangular frame using a carpenter’s square. Predrill the holes and screw the pieces together at the corners.
3. Attach the legs at each corner joint, using eight 2½-inch-long screws. Position screws so they don’t hit other screws as they enter the lumber. Adjust the screw position up or down to ensure a clear path. For an extra-sturdy bench, add a brace of 1-by-4-inch strips secured with screws about 6 inches down from the top of the leg (as shown on page 32).
4. To make the bench seat, use scissors to cut about 15 strips, each 2 to 3 inches wide, from a car or truck inner tube, as shown. Wash strips in hot, soapy water to remove grime.
5. Use a staple gun to tack rubber strips, all going the same direction, underneath the top frame. Double up the material under each staple by putting a small scrap of inner tube under each one. This will make it less likely to tear through the rubber. Stretch the rubber strip across the bench top until it’s very taut, and staple again to the other side.
6. Once you’ve covered the bench top with strips in one direction, begin at the corner and weave another strip up and down through the rows of strips to the other side. Stretch taut and staple. Trim any long ends of rubber.
The Right Board
These brands of plastic lumber contain a minimum of 80 percent post-consumer recycled plastic.
Bedford Technology
(800) 721-9037
www.PlasticBoards.com
Everlast Plastic Lumber
www.EverlastLumber.com
PlasTeak
(800) 320-1841
www.PlasTeak.com
Plastic Lumber Company
(800) 886-8990
www.PlasticLumber.com