Outdoor Storage Benches

[crokett]

My FIL wants my help this summer building some storage benches that will sit on the dock at the lake. He doesn't seem to understand that making stuff IS a vacation for me so he already paid someone to build the new dock section.

The benches will store life jackets, water toys, etc and he wants them water tight, at least from the top. Design constraints are budget and he only has basic tools - circ saw, drill, hammer. I can't get any of mine in my luggage. We can probably buy basic stuff like chisels.

My current plan... All is treated wood for budget. Ply for seat and all sides of base. Bottom of base will be decking with spaces to let wet stuff drain. Seat Back will be decking. Rear legs will be 2x6 and continue on up to form back - section from top of seat to top of seat back will be tapered for slanted back. Can framing be 2x2 or should it be 2x4? I plan to use screws+PL Premium for all joints and attaching the ply.

What should spacing be for the framing across the middle to support the seat? All 4 edges will be supported - can I span 6' or 8' without some framing across the middle? Assume ply is whatever width makes a comfortable seat... 20" or so?

[Wood_workur]

yeah, pressure treated is the way to go, unless you want to use composite decking. I would fram them with 2x4's, just to make sure they woln't fail, espically with someone who can't swim on them. (that would be horrible.)

Anyways, I would make the bottom like a deck (like you said) on all but one of them. That way you have storage for wet stuff, but you will have one that is basically water tight, so stuff that should stay dry will stay dry. (and coat the inside with some good epoxy.) Use epoxy for all of the joints, and don't gimp on it. Buy the REALLY GOOD stuff, so the benches will work really well. Wood glue wouldn't work well because pressure-treated wood is so wet.

And make sure they can be anchored to the dock.


I'm sure Loring will be by shortly to analyze the tensile strength of a 2x2 and a 2x4, and write up a paper concluding what the best construction methods are given your needs.