DIY Portable Wood Pallet Table

Making a portable ottoman/coffee table for the outdoors is as easy as 1-2-3... and 4.  Literally, four steps.

1. First, get one of these-

2. Add some of these-

I used locking rubber casters.  You never know when that guy is going to come over.  The rubber wheel is a good way to protect your deck.  You can snag these locking casters from any home improvement store.  I picked mine up from Menards for $4.47 a piece, along with some double coated 2" deck screws.

3. Attach the casters.  *Tip, make sure your locking flap extends beyond your pallet so you can easy stomp your foot down to secure the wheel, you know, for when that guy comes around.

 

4. Flip over, stain it-- or don't; add some decor or a cushion on top and enjoy!

Beers anyone?

XO
Jenna

We Picked Teak

The last update we had on the deck was, well, awesome.  I mean, did you see it?

Well, now it is even better.  We got the deck board stained.  Initially we were going to go with Rustoleum 4x Deck Cover, however, after carefully reading reviews, and getting pointers from anyone who wanted to give them, we determined that this product would be awesome if we lived in a warm, dry place, free from snow, rain, freezing cold temperatures, wind, dogs and people in general.  We spent all of this time on this deck, and it would be a bummer if the paint was peeling up after one Minnesota winter.  Not the risk we were willing to take.

We headed off to Menards to check out prices on stain and left with stain in hand.  Yes!  We did have to head over to the competition store (Home Depot) to pick up a lambs wool applicator brush for the deck.  **Menard's does not carry this product, so hopefully that will save you some time looking.

For the color, we picked teak.  Cabot Honey Teak to be exact.  We used an oil base instead of a solid or semi-transparent stain.  We really love the look of natural wood.  Not this painted on wood color stain sh*t that the previous owners left us to manhandle.

So, what better time to stain a deck then 8:00 at night?

Shane got the debris out of every nook and cranny using his trusty air compressor.

The first bit of the oil was added.  Major nail biting type of situation here.  We weren't sure how the color was going to turn out on our wood, and after the first application, it was looking mighty dark.  Eeek.

But we kept on keeping on...

As far as product used, we pretty much finished the whole gallon of stain.  Our deck is roughly 176 sq. feet.

We got done around 11:00 or so, we followed the instructions to a T, and made sure no one was walking on it for 48 horas.  We left the deck that night thinking our color choice was a lot darker than we would have liked...

It was like Christmas morning the next day.  Both me and Shane shot out of bed (not really... more like a slow, cumbersome drag) and checked out the deck.  Let's just say it looked a bit different than when we left it the night before...

...and boy, did it look awesome!

Decking the Outdoors

We hope everyone had a sparkling Fourth of July filled with memories, pride, honor and borderline heatstroke.  We couldn't have wished for better weather.  Thank you Mother Nature.  You da bomb.

This week/end we were able to get the majority of our newly designed deck completed.  Not going to lie, there were lots of moments of "what the **** did we get ourselves into?"  In the end, us humans prevailed.  

We were able to reuse a lot of what we had, fortunately.  Therefore, the cost wasn't too unbearable, in fact it was quite reasonable.  We certainly aren't experts at deck building as this is a first for us, but what I can tell you is the materials that we used to make our deck are far less expensive than "traditional" deck materials... and the end result kinda makes me want to eat a Chipotle burrito.

Cost Breakdown:

19 4x4x4 wood posts= $87.00

26 3/4x10 feet galvanized pipes= $92.00

12 boxes of screws= stopped counting

L brackets= $20.00

Pipe cutters= $60.00

2 2x2x8= $10.00

2x8x12= $15.00

-------------------

Grand Total:  $350.00ish

For a very typical and very basic deck similar in size (11x16), you are looking at $4,000.00.  We win!  This price point was found courtesy of amazingdecks.com by using their deck estimator.

Just to get our thank you's out there, there would be absolutely no way we could have done this without the help of my parents.  Even after dad's knee surgery he was ripping up deck boards with the best of 'em.  My dad could in fact be a superhero...  

My mom was even able to get the rest of our deck furniture painted.  We love you mom!  As an added bonus, our stainless steel appliances have never looked better.

If you don't remember what our deck looked like before, here is a little refresher-- Old Deck

In no particular order, here is a photo montage of our three days together with the deck:

The rail removal process begins

Dad the demolition man.

The rails are down!  Gretzky is enjoying the open view.

Posts are up!

Galvanized piping going up.

Even the pups enjoyed all of the outdoor time:

 Momma getting her paint on. Doesn't she do fabulous work?  I love this Poppy Red color by Rustoleum.

This photo represents seven seats.  That means seven people can comfortably chill on our deck.  Please tell me it is a normal "mature adult" reaction to get excited over these kind of things.

Aaaand last but not least, here is the deck at 85% completion:

Still a few things left to do, but it's giving me so many smiles!  I just love it so much!  Time to break this sucker in soon.  Black-out and get wasted party photos coming soon... not.  We wouldn't put those up for public viewing, but the party part will happen. Happy Monday!