DIY OUTDOOR SOFA

for this project you'll need a hand select ten to twelve two by fours that have the least amount of imperfections like not swaying or bends that way it improves the quality of your build so typically for an outdoor furniture project you want to go with something like a theater but seeders stupid expensive so we're gonna go with something a more budget-friendly and then I'll show how to seal it to kind of withstand a long time now one of the main tools you'll need for this build in order to execute it is a Craig pocket hole jig now you don't have to have a big Foreman like I have that's just simply for speed and efficiency just how often I build you can pick yourself as little as the Craig mini jig which is roughly around 15 bucks it'll take you some time to get this accomplished but you'll still do it or you can get what I had before this tool which was the Craig k4 and that's a little bit about 98 99 bucks but well worth the investment now the builds gonna be created in three different parts you're gonna have the back the bottom and the armrests now for the back that's for the first parts we're starting with the overall width of the back is 72 inches long that means we're gonna have four cleats that are two by fours running down the middle that are 69 inches long it's gonna be framed down on both sides with a one and a half about one and a half two by basically split one and a half that's gonna be your back that's gonna commad eight three cushions that are the IKEA style sized cushions alright first part of the build the backrest the second part of the build is going to the bottom seating area the dimensions are going to be similar to the backrest 72 inches wide the depth is going to be the only variable part it's 24 inches deep the cushions are we're using are actually 24 and three-eighths inch and I just wanted the cushions to overlap a little bit on that once that's all done the pocket hole screws a really is just two screws per corner make sure the pocket holes are on the inside part of the bill that way nobody can see them and later down the road we're gonna use a recess support bar to support all the cleats and the cushions are gonna sit on top of them so that we will kind of know what what's to come in terms of more to this bottom seating area alright folks the first part is the back part second part is the seating area well now the third part are the arm as the armrests are 24 inches wide by 24 inches tall now one added that I'm taking to every 2x4 in this build that you guys just don't have to do at all but I'm choosing to do so is I'm taking every 2x4 to my table-saw and ripping off an eighth of an inch on every edge of the 2x4 reason I'm doing that is mostly because I wanted to give it a cleaner nicer look sharper lines but more than that I didn't want the build to scream like its construction material so this kind of gives that more that added value once that was done I pre-drilled all the holes to prevent any kind of cracking now notice I'm not using pocket holes on this mostly because I just want to keep it simple I am going to would fill or wood putty all the holes so I don't have to worry about it enough wood glue plenty strong of the deck screws nice and long bury them underneath the wood and then you're ready to wipe off all the excess wood glue squeeze-out and you're ready for the final assembly assembly is gonna consist of the same ingredients pocket holes and wood glue I'm gonna place four pocket holes on the left and right hand side of the backrest I'm gonna place them on the side that's gonna be the inner part of the backrest basically the part that's gonna be concealed with the backrest pillows I'm gonna lay it on its back and I'm gonna bring the armrests closer to it I'm gonna line and measure eight inches from the ground basically this is the part that's gonna have the legs dangling off of it I'm gonna lather on some wood glue and secure it with the four pocket screws on both the left and right hand side seating is gonna be done the same way I pre-drilled six pocket holes from the bottom of the seating area plenty of wood glue squeeze that on the end grain brought it over and secured it with the six pocket hole screws into place for its final connection of the bottom seating area to the armrest use plenty of wood glue clamp it together with a clamp to make sure it's leveled and pre-drill the hole for the screw to go in now one option is to use six inch long screws or the second option is to pre-drill the hole wide enough for you to actually fit a three inch screw and have good contact in there we still have to finish off the bottom seating area to create the supports that basically would act like that box spring that way the cushions don't fall through first I'm gonna create a frame around it and I'm gonna do is cut a board 69 inches long and then rip it exactly down the middle on my table saw I'm gonna add some wood glue and to secure it flush recessed on inner parts of the bottom seating area basically this is a box spring at this point then I'm gonna pick up three boards that are six feet long of the one by four common wood you could also even use scrap plywood if you have a lot of it left over at the house from previous projects and then you just gonna secure them on the both the front and the back side from the top with one and a quarter-inch regular screws you don't even have to use wood glue for this part it's just for that support once this place we're ready to start doing the finishing on this project sand off all the wood glue squeeze-out on all the joints nice and flush using 80 grit sandpaper and then finish the project off with 120 grit at the very minimum 220 if you have the extra time in this project I only did 120 and trust me the finish came off just fine I patched up all the holes that were left from the screws for the armrests with the wood filler just made sure I stay into them after they were dry and then I was ready for staining first stain my wife wanted to keep the project as light and less yellowing as possible so I found the perfect solution of using an antique white stain from very vain this is not a sponsored project but this is just a great product typically my favorite way to apply it is using a brush sponge but I found that using a rag applying it and then wiping it off dry within about a minute gives it a nice glazed look and keeps it nice and light as opposed to heavy and and streaky sometimes now to seal and secure or waterproof this beautiful stain that we just applied typically they recommend using oil-based product for the outdoors now I wanted to avoid using oil-based because it tends to yellow the wood and we're trying so hard to keep a nice light and bright so I'm still using a product recommended for the outdoors it's a product from very thin it's called a spar urethane it's meant for the exterior it applies with an HVLP sprayer it apply just great to give the project a finishing touch I wrapped it with 50 feet of black rope on the top of the armrest this came out really cool and I gave the project a really cool contrasted look all right guys I want to show you a little tip when it comes to cutting this rope it tends to unwind if you will I will show you some example as soon as you make a cut it completely comes undone so we don't wanna ruin this braid so here is the way we're gonna actually cut it to make sure that it stays together for the supplies you'll just need some kind of clamps basically so you're not touching anything hot piece of metal this is one of those allen keys you'll find in any of those you know assemble yourself kind of furniture pieces some kind of torch or even a lighter would work and what you want to do is take a little bit of tape I find that electrical tape works best finding where you need to make your cut in my situation and you want to wrap the neck of it where the cuts gonna go tie this off so it doesn't come undone we're gonna take our piece of metal and our torch and we're gonna heat it up actually playing be very careful and then now we're gonna slice it down and as you can see just like that it's not going anywhere so when I finish this wrap job nice and snug hey guys I am cozied up here thanks so much for watching this video if you bring the channel make sure you the subscribe button right over there we put a video out don't want you to miss a single one like comment and share this one with your friends hey check me out on social media put the links down description below tune out this week we'll see you guys next week see ya bye [Music]