Deck Coffee Table out of Treated Lumber – Replacing a Rotting Spool

A simple deck coffee table build! I had grown to totally despise the spool that was sitting in this corner. There are a lot of reasons why but the most practical reason is because it was literally rotting the deck out beneath it. I had plenty of lumber on hand from when I replaced the table top out here so I quickly grabbed what I needed to make a simple deck coffee table.

First I needed to decide how tall I wanted the new deck coffee table to be. I wanted it taller than the average coffee table and shorter than the average dining room table. I decided on 24 inches tall.

The width of four 8 foot deck boards cut in half was 22 inches.

I cut all of my lumber first using my DeWalt skill saw using our sun loungers as saw horses. All of the wood I used for this project was green treated pine. I used decking boards for the top of the table and 2x4s for the table base.

I cut four 2x4s at 22 inches and four 2x4s at 24 inches.

I laid two 22 inch 2x4s on the deck and covered them with my deck boards using 3 inch long outdoor screws. With my deck coffee table’s top complete I flipped it over and added each of the 24 inch 2x4s as legs.

From there it would have worked OK without more bracing but I knew those legs would warp and get wonky eventually. I grabbed my last two remaining boards (two 22 inch 2x4s) and laid them down on the inside of the legs. I secured them with more outdoor screws and that really helped beef up the whole table.

The last board I added I cut a touch long and tapped into place between the feet, adding even more stability to the whole piece. Notice that last additional board running from feet to feet I laid on its side so its not sitting directly on the deck.

As far as builds go this is about as simple as it gets. I call it adult legos lol

I was a bit surprised that after I built it I kind of wished I had built it bigger. At first when I measured it all out I honestly felt like it was going to be too big. (Its four feet long and nearly two feet deep all together.)

As far as its height goes I’m happy I made it taller than the average coffee table.

I did that specifically so it can comfortably double as an eating surface if our larger table out here isn’t big enough to seat everyone.

Its still pretty comfortable to put your feet on.

I built the wrap around bench several years ago and am darned proud of it! Its comfortable and gave us a ton of extra seating! Every time we’ve had friends and family over there are always a couple of people that end up happily camped out here.

Our new deck coffee table is also the keeper of our bird bath/watering hole for all of the little critters that visit us.

Inside of the bird bath I placed several old glass insulators so everything from bumble bees to chipmunks can drink without falling in. To keep the water moving I purchased a little solar powered fountain from Amazon so mosquitoes can’t use it as a breeding pond.

I am SO happy to replace that dang spool – I think this turned out to be a total upgrade!

Unfortunately, even after A LOT of time scrubbing etc. the deck will be stained for awhile from that spool. Eventually though time, weather and sun shine will remove the stain.