DIY Chair Bench

Old wooden chairs no longer need to be stashed in the garden shed ready for inorganic collection. They can be easily transformed into a delightful garden bench for enjoy for years to come.

Love the concept but have no spare dining chairs of your own? You may be surprised to discover through your local community notice board or social media channel, that odd wooden chairs are readily available free to a good home or for a minimal cost.

While the wooden dining chairs chosen for this project came from the same dining suite, it is not essential – only that they are of equal height with regards to the seating and the edges are flat once the padded cushions have been removed. You won’t be needing the cushions!

This project can be adjusted for any number of wooden chairs. Perhaps a small two-seater chair bench would fit nicely on the front porch, while a four-seater would be more suitable for your outdoor family entertaining area.

We’ve chosen three identical chairs so the instructions are to be adapted to the number of chairs and the overall length you desire.

How we made our Chair Bench

Materials used

Lengths of H3.2 88x32mm premium decking timber
Packet of 8-10x60mm decking screws
old wooden chairs

Method

Step 1: Remove chair cushions, tighten any screws to ensure the chair legs are sturdy then sand off any existing varnish, paint or stain with sandpaper.

Paint all wooden surfaces of the chairs with a primer undercoat. This project used Resene Quick Dry waterborne primer undercoat suitable for exterior and interior use. Allow to dry.

Apply two layers of topcoat. This project used two Resene Lustacryl semi-gloss waterbourne enamel tinted to ‘Green House’ and ‘Envy’. Allow to dry.

Step 2: Measure, mark and cut lengths of decking timber to fit horizontally over the chair seats (ensure chairs are placed snuggly together and touching, where practical, to achieve a straight line) and allow for an extra 80mm of timber to protrude on either side of the chairs themselves. This project has opted for 4 x lengths of 1400mm framing timber due to the size of the chair seats chosen, although this will vary for chairs of other sizes and design.

Sand all surfaces of the cut decking timber to remove any splinters or rough burrs until the wood is smooth to touch.

For effect, this project has chosen to stain the decking timber, using Resene Woodsman Decking Oil Stain tinted to ‘English Walnut’. Allow to dry.

Step 3: Place lengths of stained timber horizontally onto the chair seats and space them equally.

TIP: it is handy to use pieces of evenly sized wood off-cuts, or bolts of identical size in this instance, to place between the gaps of each horizontal timber length to ensure the spacing is equal. They can stay there if necessary, until the bench is fully assembled.

Use a ruler and pencil to mark the positioning of two drill holes per timber length at the point where the decking timber touches the chair frame underneath. Note: this may not be in a straight line. It will depend on the design of the chairs chosen for the project.

Drill pilot holes for the intended screws, ensuring the holes go through the decking timber and into the chair frame beneath. Screw in place. Repeat for each length of timber.

If practical, affix the centre legs of the chairs together with screws. This will assist in keeping the bench extra-sturdy.