How I upgraded my dining table and how you can do it too.
Here’s what I did and why I think you can do it too. Quick tips and tricks and what I learned along the way.
My old table. It was the wrong shape and wouldn’t hold all my family members and some of the boards were cracked. I could have bought a new one but after doing a bit of research I knew this was totally doable. If you’re on the fence about starting a project like this I recommend it. It’s really not that hard and the finished project makes the headaches so worth it.
GET EXACTLY WHAT YOU WANT, DO IT YOURSELF!
My Old Table….Yup, I gotta reuse those legs they still have life in them. Noodling that out, set out to research…
Here are the products I used. Wood screws in appropriate lengths and everything you see below pretty much did it.
How I made my table
I turned over the table. tip - protect floor
Noodled out how to salvage my legs. Tip - if you’re buying legs, buy bulkier ones, or if your current table has smaller than 3”x3” legs, consider buying new legs.
Decide on the dimension you want the final table to be. And build a frame approximately 2”or 3” smaller (whatever you want your lip/overhang to be is how much smaller the external dimension of the frame needs to be.) Tip - if you know what dimensions of wood you are going to use for the top/or have available to you, consider the dimensions of that lumber when figuring out the size of frame and would it be possible to get close to hitting your target table size without ripping boards? I found 5/4 lumber which was a perfect thickness for my top and it came in 10” (which is actually 9 1/8”) widths. Using 4 was within my target size….perfect!
I considered how deep I wanted my apron (skirting, wood that is the frame and hides all the framing when table is upright) a 4” or 5” is pretty good.
Consider the height of the table. I forgot to do this and had to back track and move my legs up more. If you have bought legs this may not be an issue as they will be standard. When in doubt take the time and flip the table upright and think on it, sit at it etc. it really does help.
Tip - it’s ok to get frustrated and walk away. I did and often the answer comes to me when I think about other things, or at 4am (what’s with that? Jeez) Things rarely go exactly as planned, but often better as I experienced with this project when staining the top. Originally thought I could use 1x5 for the external frame (skirting) and not the center leg. However when we flipped the table upright to see where we were at, and husband asked… do you feel like you could sit on it and the answers no… noodle it further. Adapt, make adjustments. Bulky is always better when building anything that is supporting.
I doubled up my framing with glue and screws and beefed up weakest section (middle).
I predrilled using my counter bit for all screw holes. This prevents pinching of the wood which would have to be sanded out after for anything that needed to be puttied or smoothed. Tip - pre drill support pieces prior to installing (see photo above) so that the top is ready to be secured from underneath.
After the frame was built and attached I puttied, primed and painted anything that would show. (see supply photo above) Tip - I used water based everything. Makes reusing brushes easy and is probably better for the environment.
BIG TIP - get a big high quality art brush. The softer the bristles the better. I can’t believe the smoother finish I got. I really thought I would need to use the sprayer to get the paint finish I wanted, but not the case. This made a huge difference and was not much more money than a high quality paint brush. (I only used it for the paint and the polyurethane, but wouldn’t suggest it for the stain.
FRUSTRATION ALERT - finding decent lumber. I had to go to 2 stores and return several boards but as you can see above I still had decent warping to try to secure straight. I wanted to have a clean top and only screw boards from underneath but had to concede and secure corners with a single screw top down. Tip - play with the boards. Find the best scenario that works for you. If you don’t mind gapping all the better. I secured one board and used it to brace the next in place.
Tip - for the last board (all 4) we used tie down straps because we don’t own big enough would clamps, however be aware… this will dent the wood so be careful and find a way to protect the edges. The damage we caused was slight and I was able to sand out to something less noticible.
Happy accident I think….the worst thing that can happen, did. I bought the wrong stain. It was black!!!!! OMG I couldn’t believe it and once it was down a little I went with it and did the whole table.
Then…..I hated it, so I sanded it all off with 220 orbital in the freaking house. It was a mess. Tip - there are new products on the market that don’t have vent holes in the sandpaper which can cause ring marks in the wood. This is like a mesh, they’re reusable and the finish was so smooth.
Below is where I started layering in the new color after I tried out that preconditioning. Jury is still out on whether it made much difference but was easy enough to apply and inexpensive, so who knows.
Now it’s a happy accident. Remember the black stain, well it stayed in the knots etc which made that classic barn board look. Nice….
After the stain was the way I liked it and dry I set to adding the polyurethane . This is the step that the art brush made a big difference. tip - watch a video or two on how to add the polyurethane. I’ve done lots of projects that required polyurethane and even I learned some very helpful things that made a huge difference.
I did 5 coats with light sanding with 320 grit in between Tip - sand, stain, and apply the polyurethane with the grain. Apply the poly one board at a time begin in the middle and work to edges, and use light from sources not above the table to see your work as you go.
