DIY Outdoor Table: What to do with leftover composite decking?
Learn how to build a large outdoor patio dining set for your family
We recently put a brand new screened-in porch and deck on to our house. This was the first time in a LONG time that this was not a DIY project that we wanted to tackle. We absolutely LOVE this outdoor space, but we needed ideas for what to build with our leftover composite decking.
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Ideas for leftover composite decking
We have some project ideas for our leftover composite decking and one of these projects was to create a DIY outdoor table that would be able to sit more than 10 people.
We decided on making two smaller and skinnier composite decking outdoor tables instead of one large one. We thought this would be more versatile and would not be too heavy for moving around.
We also recently just made our own DIY folding tables out of plywood to use in our basement. If we end up needing to sit more people outside, we plan on using these as well!
To buy or not to buy?
If you shop around for different outdoor tables, they can be quite pricey. So we knew when we saw the stack of leftover composite decking that we would figure out a way to make our own outdoor table that would be WAY MORE BUDGET-FRIENDLY!
I just couldn’t bring myself to buy a new table when we could make one!
I am totally a DIY paint girl or repurpose something into something amazing girl! Luckily for me, my husband loves to build new things sometimes using materials we already have.
In this case, we had a lot of leftover composite decking to use and it was the perfect project for him!
Supplies :
-Composite Decking: I absolutely love the color and boards we picked out for deck and knew we had to use the leftover composite decking boards we had.
-Pressure-Treated 2″ x 4″ x 16′ (quantity needed 3)
-Pressure-Treated Posts 4″ x 4″ x 16′ (quantity needed 2)
-3″ Screws (my husband really recommends these screws for outdoor projects and pressured-treated wood)
-Painter’s Tape
Composite decking outdoor table tutorial
1. Figure out the dimensions you want to have for your outdoor dining table. Each outdoor table is 70 1/2 ” long x 32 1/4″ wide x 29 1/2″ tall.
Here is an article about how to help determine the right size table for your indoor or outdoor space.
Shopping for outdoor dining tables
I really loved this table set from Target, it just wasn’t going to be large enough for what we wanted.
I also considered the following tables
White Wash Seville Outdoor Table-World Market
Leads Gray 7-piece Dining Table-Home Depot
Better Homes and Gardens 5-piece with Sectional-Walmart
You can see some of our other favorite products on our page here.
We made two of these tables so that we could put them together and really fit our extended family!
Tip: If you already have chairs, make sure that you are building the height of the table to accommodate those chairs (like ours) or any standard outdoor chair or stool. We also made composite decking benches that you can see at the end of the post.
2. Miter outside composite decking edges of the outdoor table. We decided to create a picture frame on the outside and fill in with the other pieces.
You will have to do some math to decide the length of your table and how many full pieces of composite decking you will fit in the inside.
3. Cut composite decking to fill the inside. We cut our small pieces to 21 1/4″. It took 11 pieces to fill our “picture frame”. We put our inside table pieces going horizontal to use the smaller leftover pieces of composite decking.
**However: please note that I wish we would have changed this design and made the inside slates going vertical. It was very difficult to have all the composite decking lay flat and we have some spots that stick up a little. It is nothing a little placemat won’t be able to fix, but you can learn from our mistakes.
4. Layout all pieces of your outdoor tabletop to see how it all fits together. Each table we made 71 1/2″ long and 32″ wide. We wanted a longer and skinnier table for our space.
5. Gather pressure-treated posts. We used sturdy posts because my husband liked the look of a thicker base. I am pretty sure this table could have been built with cheaper pressure-treated 2 x 4s.
6. Use saw to cut the posts. We cut our posts to 29 1/2″ tall.
7. Build the frame for under your DIY outdoor table. We used pressure-treated 2 x 4s to create a rectangular base at the size of 27″ x 66 3/4″.
8. Drill 3″ screws to attach frame together and then attach posts.
Make sure you do not use just any steel 3″ screws because the metal will corrode over time.
My husband’s favorite drill is this one. You will need to drill pilot holes before you can put in the screws.
Tip: Use clamps to secure the post to the table frame. (See picture below)
9. This is a simple step: Flip the frame over (don’t mind our trash can overflowing!).
10. Add 2x4s inside the table frame so that the composite tabletop can be attached there. Our 2x4s were 7″ less than the frame. Ours were cut to 20 1/2″ x 59 3/4″.
11. Use the drill and screws to attach the composite decking picture frame to the pressure-treated wood frame.
12. Use construction adhesive to attach the inside pieces of composite decking.
13. Flip DIY outdoor table over and use painter’s tape to frame out the composite decking tabletop and pressure-treated wood.
14. Use a paintbrush and use an exterior stain in the color of your choice. I did a lot of research to see if I could use interior stain because I LOVE the look of this color (we have used on numerous projects in our house).
However, you would need to do another coat of special polyurethane. We decided we only wanted to paint the exterior stain on the outdoor table post once and that we wanted as much protection as possible with the least amount of maintenance.
So we just ended up going with an outdoor stain (one that you would even use on decking).
15. Let the DIY outdoor table dry and then flip over and set-up in your outdoor space. We also made DIY outdoor benches using the same steps list above but on a smaller scale.
Related Reading: Looking for more weekend DIY Projects? Check out our post on 50 Home DIY Projects!
Composite decking outdoor benches
We loved this process so much…
Or at least how much money it was saving us, that we decided to make two outdoor benches out of composite decking. We used 3 pieces of composite decking on top and cut them to 48″ long and made them 16 1/2″ tall.
Our Related Outdoor Posts
Amazing Screened-In Porch Ideas (see the rest of our deck and outdoor porch that we love)
DIY Children’s Climbing Rock Wall (One of the BEST DIY Outdoor Projects)
People now have somewhere to dine outside!
Our two DIY outdoor dining tables were so awesome to use the other night! We were able to sit with our whole immediate family and friends. The kids loved the benches and being able to eat outdoors.
What is your favorite outdoor dining space project? If you like this project, you may also like seeing some of the amazing flower pots we made to plant things that would help repel mosquitos.
We absolutely love our DIY outdoor dining space and hope we inspired you in your next DIY project!
Erin
Hello! My name is Erin and I am a DIY nut. Currently, I live in Ohio with my beautiful family. My husband and I love making our house a home through DIY projects. I hope this site inspires you to become a DIY nut!
32 Comments
Trina
This look so durable. What a great idea to make with decking.
Erin
Hi Trina! Theses outdoor tables are very durable. We love having an outdoor table that will last!
Ashley
Wow. That is absolutely beautiful. What an excellent idea to use the scraps of decking.
Erin
Hi Ashley! Thanks for the kind words. We loved using the extra composite decking to create our own DIY outdoor table!
Laura
That came out just as nice as any store bought table and for a fraction of the cost. And it will match your deck and age with it. Really nice work.
Erin
Hi Laura! We loved that we were able to only buy pressure treated wood and could use material we already had for our DIY outdoor dining table! Thanks for the nice comment.
Louise O'Boyle
This is amazing, you make it look so easy! I really wish I was skilled like you. It’s a fab idea for leftover materials.
Erin
Thanks! This DIY outdoor table was really a good project for my husband! He loves building things with leftover material!
Chris
This is lovely! My husband is in construction and often works with composite decking. I showed this to him.
Erin
Thanks Chris! I hope he liked the idea of using the extra and expensive composite decking to create your own DIY outdoor table!
Matt
In 2012 I built a 96 inch long 40 inch wide patio table with Trex decking. The base is a trestle style made of cedar. I’ve had a outside year around for 8 years and it still looks as good as the day I built it. The combination of cedar and composite make it virtually maintenance free. I highly recommend composite but would recommend cedar (even though it’s more expensive) over pressure treated pine.
Erin
Hi Matt. Thank you for the advice. We were trying to keep this project a little more budget-friendly as we weren’t sure how long we would actually use the tables. We are currently building raised planter beds out of cedar and know that they will hopefully last a very long time! Thanks for visiting our site.
Jim Sutro
Just completed construction of ab out 200 square feet of outdoor raised planting beds, (4 boards x 5 1/2 inches vertical)
Highly recommend that you use TREX or another composition for the sidewalls. They will NEVER rot away. I used 4 x 4 ground contact pressure treat for the corners, and am starting to think that I should have invested in stainless steel angles, which also will NEVER rot away,
It does take a stiffener about every 4 lineal feet because the compost is so bendy it will look like a pumpkin if not reinforced laterally.
Yong
Greta tutorial! But, in Step 10, how do you attach those other 2x4s to the inside of the frame?
Erin
Hi Youg! Thanks for the kind words. We attached those inside 2 x 4s from the outside 2 x4s using 3″ screws. We hope that helps you in your DIY outdoor dining table design!
C. W. Rice
I think to add a bit for finish to the project, at least on the picture frame, i would have rip sawed the tongues & groves off the edges of the boards. As well as the field boards you used for the infill of the top, square edges would have made it look nicer in my opinion. But that option is limited, without a table saw or a rip fence attachment for a circular saw.
Erin
Hi. Thank you for the advice. Yes, we simply were trying to make do with the leftover supplies that we had without having to really purchase anything new. We appreciate you taking the time to give us feedback. Good luck with your DIY projects.
Ted D.
Hi Erin,
My wife has been wanting to replace our older metal-and-glass hexagonal table for 6 with one that would seat 8-10, but everything she found for sale was $800-$1200. She sent me the link to this article and I priced it out around $200 at Lowes. I bought the materials Saturday morning, spent a little over an hour with my buddy’s compound saw, and started assembling Saturday evening. After a little more than $220 and 5-6 hours of build time, we’re both really pleased with our 77″ long x 35″ wide version of your table! I’m not a handy man at all, but following your tutorial, my wife said I made it look really easy.
I did have to scrap the idea of using glue because the composite decking I found locally has a scalloped bottom instead of a solid bottom, so there just isn’t enough area to glue it down. It took me 2 62ct boxes of stainless steel decking screws to put it all together.
I also took Matt’s advice above and went with rough cedar posts and boards instead of pressure treated. The cedar color looks good with the dark grey composite top.
Erin
Hey Ted! I am so glad that you were able to use our outdoor table tutorial to build your own! I love that people are posting and sharing their ideas and thoughts. Great job and I am glad that it worked out well for you.
Loren
Erin I love this DIY!! I do woodworking and crafts and I’m always looking for great ideas. Would it be ok to use this plan to make these and sell them?? Don’t want to steal your plan if you wouldn’t be ok with that. I’m in Ohio as well! Thanks!
Erin
Hi Loren. Are you saying make these outdoor tables and sell them? I don’t see why not. I just wouldn’t want you to copy the actual plans and sell those. Thanks.
Barb
I love this table. It there a reason you did not screw the boards in from the bottom? I have never worked with composite decking and not sure this is feasible but am curious to know if it would work if I built a similar table.
Erin
Hi Barb. My husband chose to go for an industrial look with screwing the top that way. I am sure you could totally screw the composite decking from the bottom for a cleaner look. Good luck with building your outdoor dining table.
Jamie
I just got done building my deck and cross this so I built me a table using this method. I built it a little longer (76”) and wider (36”). I’m waiting for the paint to dry on the frame and then going to attach the deck boards. I did it this way because I wanted the boards underneath to be white instead of the wood color. It looks great so far and it is a little heavy.
Erin
Hi Jamie. Great idea to create the look of the outdoor table that you want. Yes, these are heavy, but totally sturdy!
Mike
Hi there, I have a question about step 10. How did you attach the 2”x4”s to the inside of the frame?
Erin
Hi Mike. We just screwed the inside frame 2″ x 4″s from the outside 2″ x 4″. Once the tabletop is on and you have stained the pressure-treated wood, you don’t even notice the screws.
Chad
Hi,
What would you recommend as a replacement for the composite decking?
It does not seem like any of the hardware stores in my area carry composite decking.
Erin
Hi Chad. You could always use cedar if you want a nicer or more natural tabletop. However, this would be a more expensive option. Or you could make a pressure-treated wood top table as that is what normal picnic tables are made of.
Chad
Thank you for the fast reply.
Can you share with my the dimensions of the composite decking? It seems wider that 2×4″.
Chad
My guess is that 2×6″ will the closest to the dimensions of the deck boards.
Erin
Hi Chad. Yes, the actual width of the composite decking boards we used is 5 1/2″ which is the width of a 2″ x 6″. Our outdoor table is narrower by design to fit in the space on our deck that we wanted. Good luck building!