Concrete Patio Table

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Ware
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Concrete Patio Table

Post by Ware » June 2nd, 2016, 12:15 am

I've had a few questions about my concrete patio table, so I thought I would post some more info in case others were interested...

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I used the reverse cast method. I built the form out of a sheet of melamine board. The bottom of the form is simply a sheet of melamine cut to the size of the tabletop you want to end up with (L x W). The side boards of the form are ripped to the thickness of the concrete you want to pour, plus 3/4" (the thickness of the bottom of the form. In other words, if you want a 2" thick top, the side boards need to be ripped to 2.75". You screw those sideboards onto the bottom form board, and to each other, then caulk/smooth the interior corners to seal the form.

I used Quikrete Countertop Mix with a steel mesh for reinforcement. I have a friend that offered his concrete mixer to me, but I decided that for such a small job I would just mix it by hand in a concrete mixing tub. That was a terrible idea. It was manageable, but not much fun. I filled the form about halfway, then laid the wire mesh in before filling the rest of the form with the concrete mix.

I beat on the bottom of the form with a dead blow hammer for a bit to work out most of the air bubbles, then I troweled the surface. I didn't get too carried away with the trowel, because 1) I wasn't very good at it, and 2) what you see in this photo ends up being the bottom of the table:

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After a day or so, I removed the screws holding the side boards on, and peeled them away from the concrete. Be careful not to pry against the concrete because it can chip easily at this point. I then had some friends over to help me flip the top so I could take the bottom form off (which is actually the top of the table). It will look like this:

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You will most likely find a few "bugholes" where you didn't get all the air bubbles worked out, but that it is okay. Just mix up a little portland cement paste in a disposable cup or bowl, and rub the paste into the bugholes.

The top of the casting will be surprisingly smooth, but this is where you begin wet sanding with some diamond polishing pads. You start somewhere around 200-grit, then progressively work up to the 800-grit. You may uncover some more bugholes in the sanding process, but again, just mix up some portland cement paste, fill them, and resume sanding after it has had a chance to set up. Here again, I didn't get too carried away with sanding because it was going on my patio. If it were an indoor countertop, I probably would have spent more time sanding it to perfection.

I built the frame out of cedar, and stained it to the color you see above. I used cedar because it is supposed to have a natural resistance to things like water, decay, and bugs. I put some casters on the bottom of the legs - they don't look great, but highly recommended if you ever want to move the table around (it is HEAVY).

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You're supposed to wait about a month before applying a sealer (so the concrete can fully cure). I had other priorities, so I ended up waiting longer - you just want to be careful about what you put on it until you have it sealed. I used the Cheng Concrete Countertop Sealer, but there are other options. I also bought some Cheng Concrete Countertop Wax, but I haven't used it yet.

You can use Liquid Nails or something to attach the top to the frame, but I haven't done that yet either. I haven't worried too much about it because it's not going anywhere.

The metal barstools are from Amazon, and have held up pretty well so far.

Let me know if I missed anything.
Last edited by Ware on June 2nd, 2016, 6:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

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dfw_pilot
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Fantastic Table

Post by dfw_pilot » June 2nd, 2016, 1:01 am

I really love this and am impressed with how it turned out.

Those angled pre-drilled holes are nicely done. Is that something that can be done with just a drill or did you use a drill guide?

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Ware
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Re: Fantastic Table

Post by Ware » June 2nd, 2016, 6:56 am

dfw_pilot wrote:I really love this and am impressed with how it turned out.

Those angled pre-drilled holes are nicely done. Is that something that can be done with just a drill or did you use a drill guide?
Good eye! Kreg Jig. :good:

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Re: Concrete Patio Table

Post by HomerGuy » June 2nd, 2016, 8:01 am

Very cool. Thanks for sharing.

What are the dimensions of the top and what is the approximate weight? Here in Michigan, we generally pull our patio furniture inside for the winter so just wondering how hard this would be to move.

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Re: Concrete Patio Table

Post by probasesteal » June 2nd, 2016, 10:25 pm

Looks good ware. My brother redid his kitchen with concrete countertops, they look great also. A Lot of labor.

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Ware
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Re: Concrete Patio Table

Post by Ware » June 2nd, 2016, 10:52 pm

HomerGuy wrote:Very cool. Thanks for sharing.

What are the dimensions of the top and what is the approximate weight? Here in Michigan, we generally pull our patio furniture inside for the winter so just wondering how hard this would be to move.
66x30" and 2" thick... so about 2.3 ft^3. Concrete is ~150lbs per ft^3, so we're looking at ~345lbs for just the top. It's very heavy, but I can roll it around by myself on the casters.

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Re: Concrete Patio Table

Post by Redtenchu » June 5th, 2016, 12:24 pm

Wow, that's awesome!

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Re: Concrete Patio Table

Post by Southernguy311 » June 7th, 2016, 10:38 pm

Great job. Where I live there is way too much heat and humidity to enjoy outdoor spaces like that

Jealous

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