Outdoor coffee table revamp

ClayMan

Before and after

My outdoor furniture had been under the elements for too long but I didn't want to give up on it all together and had a go at resurfacing it. Looks like new!

Materials

• Timber stain (Black Japan) 
• Raw linseed oil

Tools

• Orbital sander
• Sanding discs (40, 80, 120 grit)
• Pine wood

Steps

Step 1

The top surface of the table pretty bad and was going to have to be stripped back to raw wood. First though, I had to deal with the two broken panels.

The original sockets and pegs for the two panels were broken so I had to brace them with some scrap pine wood. Several screws later, they were set to the right position and strong enough for someone to sit on it.

Step 2

I now set to working on the top surface with all panels in place. Using an orbital sander and 40 grit paper it stripped back to raw wood easily. Working through 80 and 120 grit paper smoothed it out nicely.

I did a single coat of dark stain which still let through the wood grain. To finish, I coated the lot in raw linseed oil. Frankly, I think it came up a treat. Definitely better than binning it and buying something new.  I hope to now do this more regularly before it get to such bad condition again. Now to do the matching chairs ...

EricL

Hello @ClayMan 

Thank you so much for sharing the details of your coffee table revamp. The restoration looks fantastic and just like you said it looks brand new. The repair method you employed was good and sturdy. If you can keep it under cover, it should should provide you with a much longer service life.

Again, thanks for sharing such a wonderful project.

Eric