Do it yourself - save loads.

I've been at it again! Seem to be on some sort of DIY roll.

You may remember me contemplating how nice it would be to have some sort of bench to sit out on, during the few nice days of the year. I kept my eyes on freecycle but nothing much appeared and I did look at the ones to buy new, but they were either completely out of my price range, or cheaper but made of such crap quality that they would probably only last a season of bad weather.

So I decided to have a go at making something. I had some wood in the garage and it is wood left over from the decking, so would be perfect for something that needs to survive in all weathers. I had a fence post too, which would do good solid legs.

Oh such joy to be able to work in my clear, clean garage!

So first things first, circular saw out (never knew how useful this would be when I bought it over 10 years ago) and measurements made and I cut down all the wood to the sizes I thought would work.

As usual I was sort of making it up as I went along. I cut the fence post into four, 17 inch long pieces to  make the legs. Cut a thick decking plank in half to make the seat and another length for a cross piece to keep it solid.

Fixed together the 4 legs and then attached a piece to join them together, this just keeps the thing rigid and makes it so it won't collapse under me.

Attached the 2 pieces of decking upside down, because I wanted the smooth side rather than the ridged side, don't want lines along my bottom after sitting on there!

Since this photo was taken, I oiled it in decking oil to keep it a little waterproof and give it some more lasting qualities. Every time I oil the deck, I will oil the bench too.

I am pleased with it, it fits 2 people very comfortably. I will still keep my eyes open for benches on freecycle, because there is room for another on the deck and it would be nice to be able to fit 4 people on there, but for now, this will do me perfectly and cost me nothing. Don't know why I didn't think of it before!

Thank you to all yesterdays comments. Most people seem completely on my wave length!