- My name's Aaron Massey from mrfixitdiy.com,
and today I'm gonna show you how I built this DIT concrete
and wood bench out of some two by fours
and a 60 pound bag of concrete.
I've been wanting to build a bench for my backyard,
and I wanted to see what I could put together
using minimal materials, so I came up with this design
that I put together in SketchUp.
It's made up of a couple basic concrete legs
and a top made of redwood two by fours.
I piked up everything I needed to build this bench
from Home Depot, and all in, the materials for this project
cost me just over $100.
If you'd like to follow along with this project step-by-step
and make your own version of this bench,
there are free downloadable plans for it on my website
that you can find at the link in the description down below.
While you're there, check out some of the links
to some of the other free project plans I have, as well.
To get started with this project,
I wanted to start with the concrete legs.
I created the basic design and shape I wanted
for the legs in SketchUp, and then I could build a form
for the legs out out melamine.
Building the form was basically the same process I used
when I built my concrete sink form a few years back.
Now, if you haven't seen that project,
I'll leave a link down to that down below, as well.
To build the form, I just ripped the melamine down
to 2-1/2 inch strips and created the basic shape
by cutting the 10 degree angled pieces
and screwed it all together with drywall screws
to match the dimensions of my SketchUp rendering.
I built two identical forms
because I wasn't sure I'd be able to reuse the form
once I poured the concrete in it,
and it would allow me to pour both legs at the same time.
Once the forms were built, I used some silicone
to seal all the seams and also spread it
on the exposed edges of the melamine and the screw holes.
If you don't seal the exposed ends of the melamine,
the water from the concrete will soak into the end
of the forms, and it'll cause it to swell,
which will compromise the form.
Once the silicone's set up, I cleaned the forms
with some denatured alcohol and sprayed them
with this Crete-Lease spray,
which I had leftover from my sink project.
You probably don't need to use this spray,
but I had it around, and it helps release the concrete
from the form.
So I figured I'd use it up.
Before pouring the concrete, I built the rebar skeleton
that will serve as the structural support for the concrete.
I used some number three 3/8 inch rebar
to build a basic shape to match the form
and wired it altogether like the diagram
in my SketchUp plan.
Once that was done, it was time to pour the concrete.
Now, I know from my last concrete video
that everyone seems to have an opinion
on types of concrete to use, what the mixture should be
and all that, but I can tell you
that for something like this,
a simple, cheap bag of concrete mix from Home Depot
is totally fine.
I'm using a 60 pound bag of Quikrete concrete mix.
There's nothing fancy about it,
and I actually really like the industrial look of it.
You can use GFRC, which is glass fiber reinforced concrete,
and it's used a lot for countertops if you want to.
Mike from Modustrial Maker has a ton of GFRC project videos
you can check out if you wanna learn more about using
that type of concrete, which I'll link to down below.
I just added a bit of concrete to the bottom of the forms,
then inserted the rebar skeleton
and then filled the forms to the top
with the remaining concrete.
These legs are perfectly sized to use a single bag
of concrete for the two of them.
Once poured, the key to getting a nice smooth surface
for your concrete is to get the trapped air bubbles
out of the concrete, so you have to vibrate it well.
I chose to take the blade out of my Sawzall
and just shake the hell out of it
to release all of the bubbles,
which seemed to work really well.
Then, I could just let the concrete cure for 24 hours.
While that set up, I moved on to building the seat
of the bench.
The bench seat is just made of redwood two by fours.
I like the idea of alternating spaces
between the two by fours,
so I cut some 3-1/2 inch long blocks
to go in the spaces between every full length run.
This bench is six feet long, so I added the blocks
on the ends and in the center.
I glued the two by fours together
with some exterior rated wood glue
and shot them together with two inch brad nails
before clamping it together to dry.
I glued it up in two big pieces
because I plan to feed it through my planer
to take the rounded edges off the two by fours
and give it a more modern polished look
and I couldn't fit the full thing through my planer
in one pass.
You could also rip the rounded edges off
of the two by fours on a table saw
before gluing it up if you wanted to
rather than feeding it through the planer
or if you don't have one.
Once it was put together, I sanded it down to 22 grit
and added the first of several coats
of tongue oil finish to it.
(driving music)
Then the next day, I could pop the forms
on the concrete legs.
The form side of the concrete was super smooth
and came out really nice.
I gave it a quick sand to expose any additional bug holes,
but there weren't many.
The other side required a bit more work.
Since both sides of the legs are visible,
I spent a bit more time on that side,
sanding it down and then applying a slurry coat,
which is just plain Portland cement and water
to try and smooth it out.
(driving music)
Even after sanding, it's not as nice
as the form side, but I still think it looks cool.
I'm not sure how you'd be able
to get two perfectly smooth sides
unless maybe you built a two-sided form
and poured it in from the top,
but even then, it might be tricky
and more work than it's worth.
But I'm really happy with the way
that these legs came out as is.
To finish up the legs,
I added a couple coats of wet-look concrete sealer,
which darkened them up and gave them a really nice finish.
Then, I finally had to figure out a way
to mount the top to the base.
Now, I had a couple ideas here,
but I decided to go with concrete anchors,
so I added a few bounding blocks
to the underside of the seat
and then drilled out the holes for the anchors.
I mocked the top up onto the legs
and drilled out the matching holes on the legs
with a masonry bit, added the concrete anchors
and then tightened them down.
Ideally, I'd let the concrete cure for a couple weeks
before tapping into it,
but since I'm on a time crunch for this build,
I went ahead with it anyway, and it worked out just fine.
Finally, I added a few more coats of tongue oil
to the seat, and that was it, finished product.
To be honest, I wasn't sure how stable this design would be,
and I thought I'd have to add a stretcher between the legs
to keep it from racking back and forth,
but once I cranked down on the bolts
and I gave this thing the old hip wiggle test,
it's actually super solid.
And now all I need is someone to paint me
like one of their French girls.
So that's it for this project.
I hope you guys enjoyed it,
and I hope it inspires you
to tackle your own outdoor furniture project.
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And as always, I encourage you
to leave me a comment down below.
Lemme know what you thought of this project
and what types of projects you'd like
to see me tackle next.
Thank you so much for watching.
I'll see you next time.
(gentle music)