Seating Projects

You'll never fully enjoy your backyard without comfortable seating. Chairs, benches, and swings are mainstays of outdoor living. In this chapter you'll find a dozen seating projects that range from fanciful to simple, classic to retro, and nautical to Eastern-inspired.

Each design in this chapter has been carefully shop-tested for comfort. A couple of degrees of slant in a seatback might not appear to make much difference when you're drawing up a plan, but your body can tell immediately. And if your seating is not comfortable, what use is it? You can be confident that the benches and chairs that follow have been subjected to hands-on (well, not hands exactly) testing from sitters of all sizes.

If you are a relative newcomer to carpentry, consider starting with one of the simpler projects, such as the Knockdown Garden Bench or the Slatted Garden Bench. If your skills are a bit more advanced, think about tackling the Porch Swing and Porch Swing Stand or perhaps the Luxury Sun Lounger that's crafted from mahogany and features stainless steel brightwork.

In this chapter:

[] Side-by-Side Patio Chair

[] Classic Adirondack Chair

[] Slatted Garden Bench

[] Knockdown Garden Bench

[] Sling-Back Adirondack Chair

[] Porch Swing

[] Porch Swing Stand

[] Recyclables Bench

[] Luxury Sun Lounger

[] Trellis Seat

Side-by-side Patio Chair

You can share a view, some shade, and a table for snacks and a beverage with a friend when you've got this side-by-side patio chair in your backyard. You might recognize the design, as it was inspired by the side-by-side chairs that were often included in the ubiquitous redwood patio sets popular in the '50s and '60s. Those sets typically included a lounge chair, some small tables, a patio table with an umbrella holder, and a side-by-side table and chair similar to the one shown here.

You'll find that these seats are most comfortable when they're appointed with cushions, but they're still easy to enjoy when left bare. And just about any patio table umbrella can be used with this set — simply size the umbrella post hole to fit. The optional umbrella should also be secured in a weighted base that is placed under the table.

Even a beginner can build this side-by-side chair in a day using less than $100 in materials. It's easiest to build if you have a table saw, miter saw, jigsaw, and router. If you don't have a table saw, then you can use a circular saw to rip the 2 × 4 frame pieces down to 3" widths. The purpose for these parts being 3" wide is to give the set a more refined appearance, but you can simplify the design and avoid rip cuts by using full width 2 × 4s. If you choose to use full-width 2 × 4s, then you must move the front rail notch up ½" and the seats will end up being ½" higher.

Materials [??]

5 1 × 4" × 8 ft. boards
5 2 × 4" × 8 ft. boards
1 2 × 6" × 8 ft. board
1 5/4 × 12 ft. deck board
Deck screws (2", 2½")
Exterior-rated glue
Finishing materials

Side-by-Side Patio Chair

BUILD THE FRAME

Cut 2 × 4 boards to make the legs, back supports, and seat supports. These parts must be rip-cut down to 3" wide to conceal their telltale 2 × 4 look (for best results, rip ¼" off each edge to get rid of the bullnose profile milled into most 2 × 4s). Use a table saw or a circular saw and edge guide to make the rip cuts. It is often easier to cut the parts to length first and then rip them to width because the shorter boards are more manageable.

Use the construction drawings (see page 11) to lay out the notches, miters, and radius-curve profiles on each piece. These details must be correctly noted onto the parts. Lay out the notches that will hold the front rail in between the front legs and the back rail in between the back legs. Drill a 3/8" blade access hole in the inside corners of each notch and then cut the notches out with a jigsaw. Clean up cuts with a chisel or small profile sander.

Miter-cut the ends of the back legs at 14º angles. Be careful to cut the miters in the correct direction so that the notch is on the front edge of the back legs. Miter-cut one end of each seat support to 14º (photo 1). Note: Parallel angled cuts on the ends of a workpiece are called "plumb cuts." Miter-cut the bottom end of the back support to 14º and cut a 3" radius in the top back corner.

Cut the front and back rail to length. Mark the locations along the back face of the front rail where each seat support will be attached. Attach the seat supports to the front rail with 2½" screws (photo 2). Rails should be located 1½" and 19" in front of each end.

Apply exterior-rated wood glue to the bottom face of each notch. Place the front rail in the front leg notches and the back rail in the back leg notches. Keep the ends of the rails flush with the outside faces of the legs. Attach the rails to the legs with screws (photo 3).

Adjust the positions of the parts so that the front leg is plumb and the arm support is level. Then attach the back legs to the outside seat supports and the arm support to the front and back legs (photo 4).

Cut the table bottom crosspiece to length and width. Attach the back supports to the seat supports with 21/2" screws (photo 5). In addition, attach the two outside back supports to the arm supports. This completes the assembly of the chair frame.

ATTACH THE SEAT & BACK SLATS

The appearance of your side-by-side chair is greatly influenced by the uniformity and spacing of the back slats and seat slats. The best way to achieve uniform lengths for the slats is to set a stop block for your power miter saw. Use spacers between the slats to ensure regular gaps. For the 1/8" gaps required here, you can use 16d common nails as spacers.

Cut all of the back slats and seat slats to length (photo 6). Sand the ends prior to installation while...