Sunday 28 April 2013

Patio Table: In a Pinch

Fortune smiles on us once in a while, and for us, it was last year when our friends Jeff & Helen gave us a beautiful patio table set. For FREE!! Being that it was late in the summer, AND we didn't really have our back patio ready for such a thing, we stored it. Sometime between then and now, we managed to lose the connector for the legs. Doh!


Before I get into the DIY aspect, I wanna mention that my friends Jeff & Helen are probably a couple of the neatest people I know. My hubby and I have had the pleasure of being in a couple of their horror shorts and some of their photo shoots.


Check out heLENS photography to see her work.
Or here to see us as models. LOL!!!



Okay, back to DIY awesomeness.
In my blog tag-line I say, "the sometimes disasterous DIY"... well this would qualify.
Don't ever think that metal strapping will work for torsion related DIY. It doesn't. Its funny... but it doesn't.


So I went to plan B.
Plumbing tubes!!
First, I cut it to the length I needed.


Then I carefully measured the distance between the bolt-holes in the legs. In this case 5.5 inches.
I marked the PVC and drilled 1/4" holes - which is the exact size of the hex bolts I had.


Then i used my hex bolts and assembled the legs. EASY-peasy-lemon-squeezy.


A quick coat (or 3 of green paint)... I also took this opportunity to touch up the small amount of rust coming through on the legs.


While the paint dried, I added these vinyl bumpers so that the metal-to-glass connections would not be unbuffered.


I think it turned out brilliantly. In fact, I don't think most people will even ever notice it, nor know that it wasn't original to the table.


Ta-Da!! Isn't it a lovely set? I love the wood on the umbrella.

13 comments:

  1. I think that I'll be taking my meals on the patio from now on... :D

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    1. I know!! Kind of excited about our new outdoor digs!

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  2. You so smart. let's go junking sooooooon!

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  3. I'm in the same situation thanks so much for your idea.

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    1. Super easy and cheap. Glad it helps you out. 5 years later, and this is still holding together!

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  4. what was diameter on that PVC? 5.5"?

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  5. I'm having the same exact problem. I'm going to try this. Thank you!

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    Replies
    1. It lasted for 5 years. I never took it apart. And gently put it away each year.

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  6. Thank you so much for the idea. My Leg connector on my patio table is breaking and I have been searching the web for a replacement part and whatever that stupid thing is called...LOL. going to show this to my Hubby.

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  7. Dry happy with this solution. I hav Ethel exact same table and I have been looking for replacement pieces to no avail. THANK YOU for sharing!

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  8. That turned out great. But what did you replace the plastic end caps/retainers/connectors with? i.e., the things on the ends of the TOPs of the leg assembly that holds them into the metal perimeter tabletop frame? I can't find them anywhere!

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  9. Searched Amazon and every home store for replacement part unsuccessfully. This is such an easy solution to my problem. Thanks for sharing!

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