- Jul 11, 2001
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This is one of my favorite DIY projects. This was an old table someone had slapped together out of this and that. It found its way into my back yard, undoubtedly put there by one of my housemates. It seemed like every year or two I had to renovate it, put on new plywood, paint it, etc. or it would just look miserable and be rotting. Most people would have trashed it, the idea of saving it seemed absurd until I got the idea that I could make it weather proof by utilizing a technique I had learned some years ago, being fiberglass.
For my let's-do-this-right renovation, I cut off the big central "leg" so it didn't reach the bottom (it was rotting at the bottom), put on new legs of my own design, made from 2x4's and 1-by's, and bought some casters for it so I can roll it around on my concrete patio.
I applied new plywood over the old semi-rotten (but dried) plywood, fiberglassed the whole thing, adding UV protectant tint to the fiberglass resin. I used a couple cut-off plastic 1 gallon water jugs to mix the resin, catalyst and UV protectant/tint (they are a pretty shade of blue, still have them!). I painted everything below the top (which doesn't need paint because it's fiberglass, like they use on boats).
The table before renovation, 2004:
Pre-renovation:
Central "leg" cut off at bottom, where it was rotting, new legs and casters applied, new plywood and salvaged paneling (sides of tabletop) applied, awaiting fiberglassing:
First layer of catalyzed and tinted polyester resin applied over the fiberglass, legs primed:
Closeup of fiberglassed corner before applying finish coat:
I did the fiberglass work in my garage:
Just finished table, 2004:
This lets me do projects outside in my patio, like this:
Here's the table today, more than ten years later. I may have touched up the legs with some paint at some point, I wash it once in a while or wipe down the legs, that's it so far:
For my let's-do-this-right renovation, I cut off the big central "leg" so it didn't reach the bottom (it was rotting at the bottom), put on new legs of my own design, made from 2x4's and 1-by's, and bought some casters for it so I can roll it around on my concrete patio.
I applied new plywood over the old semi-rotten (but dried) plywood, fiberglassed the whole thing, adding UV protectant tint to the fiberglass resin. I used a couple cut-off plastic 1 gallon water jugs to mix the resin, catalyst and UV protectant/tint (they are a pretty shade of blue, still have them!). I painted everything below the top (which doesn't need paint because it's fiberglass, like they use on boats).
The table before renovation, 2004:
Pre-renovation:
Central "leg" cut off at bottom, where it was rotting, new legs and casters applied, new plywood and salvaged paneling (sides of tabletop) applied, awaiting fiberglassing:
First layer of catalyzed and tinted polyester resin applied over the fiberglass, legs primed:
Closeup of fiberglassed corner before applying finish coat:
I did the fiberglass work in my garage:
Just finished table, 2004:
This lets me do projects outside in my patio, like this:
Here's the table today, more than ten years later. I may have touched up the legs with some paint at some point, I wash it once in a while or wipe down the legs, that's it so far:
Last edited:
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