Some 25 years ago I scratch built a pub style table with the attached
bench seats, since when it lived outdoors in the weather. Eventually it
rotted at the four feet, which are in constant contact with the
concrete of the patio, sat in water. I built a replacement which I
finished yesterday and I'm just trying to think of some means to ensure
the ends of the legs are not sat directly on the concrete patio slabs.

My best idea at the moment is to drill a hole into each leg and fit a
steel bolt, so each leg is raised off the ground by the heads of the
bolts. The holes simply being a tight push fit for the thread of the
bolt. Has anyone got any alternative suggestions please?

We don't use the table so much for sitting at, but it makes for an
absolutely great bit of outdoor working space.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

Harry Bloomfield wrote:

Has anyone got any alternative suggestions please?

Flat bits of thick (5mm+ ?) acrylic plastic, or tile, or rubber, glued on
with silicone sealant?

A while ago I replaced rotten door upstands (at the narrow entrance to an
old air-raid shelter that's now used as an outside workshop) with new wood
which terminates about 3" from ground level (which is in an area that
attracts modest amounts of standing water), with small concrete upstands
below them. Between wood and concrete I inserted acrylic plastic slices,
glued in with sealant, so only when there's snow up against the upstands
would I expect the ends of the wood to be at risk from rising dampness. I
have no idea if it will work...

--
Jeremy C B Nicoll - my opinions are my own.

Email sent to my from-address will be deleted. Instead, please reply
to replacing "aaa" by "284".

In message id, Jeremy
Nicoll - news posts writes
Harry Bloomfield wrote:

Has anyone got any alternative suggestions please?

Flat bits of thick (5mm+ ?) acrylic plastic, or tile, or rubber, glued on
with silicone sealant?

A while ago I replaced rotten door upstands (at the narrow entrance to an
old air-raid shelter that's now used as an outside workshop) with new wood
which terminates about 3" from ground level (which is in an area that
attracts modest amounts of standing water), with small concrete upstands
below them. Between wood and concrete I inserted acrylic plastic slices,
glued in with sealant, so only when there's snow up against the upstands
would I expect the ends of the wood to be at risk from rising dampness. I
have no idea if it will work...

When the bottom of the legs are quite dry, and it's not going to rain, I
occasionally stand each leg of my garden seats in plastic pots. I then
fill the pots with some anti-rot preservative (the expensive, £20+ per 5
litres, clear stuff), and top up as required. Several hours later, when
it's obvious that no more is going to soak into the legs, I remove the
pots, and reclaim any unused preservative.
--
Ian

In message , Harry
Bloomfield writes
Some 25 years ago I scratch built a pub style table with the attached
bench seats, since when it lived outdoors in the weather. Eventually it
rotted at the four feet, which are in constant contact with the
concrete of the patio, sat in water. I built a replacement which I
finished yesterday and I'm just trying to think of some means to ensure
the ends of the legs are not sat directly on the concrete patio slabs.

My best idea at the moment is to drill a hole into each leg and fit a
steel bolt, so each leg is raised off the ground by the heads of the
bolts. The holes simply being a tight push fit for the thread of the
bolt. Has anyone got any alternative suggestions please?

We don't use the table so much for sitting at, but it makes for an
absolutely great bit of outdoor working space.

Screwfix do hex headed stainless *screws* and you could stand the legs
in Cuprinol timber preserver while they are still dry.

regards


--
Tim Lamb

On 17/07/2012 10:05, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Some 25 years ago I scratch built a pub style table with the attached
bench seats, since when it lived outdoors in the weather. Eventually it
rotted at the four feet, which are in constant contact with the concrete
of the patio, sat in water. I built a replacement which I finished
yesterday and I'm just trying to think of some means to ensure the ends
of the legs are not sat directly on the concrete patio slabs.

My best idea at the moment is to drill a hole into each leg and fit a
steel bolt, so each leg is raised off the ground by the heads of the
bolts. The holes simply being a tight push fit for the thread of the
bolt. Has anyone got any alternative suggestions please?

We don't use the table so much for sitting at, but it makes for an
absolutely great bit of outdoor working space.


Make some feet out of tanalised sp? timber, and screw them to the
bottoms of the legs. If *they* eventually rot, they can be replaced.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom
checked.

On Tue, 17 Jul 2012 10:51:45 +0100, Ian Jackson
wrote:

In message id, Jeremy
Nicoll - news posts writes
Harry Bloomfield wrote:

Has anyone got any alternative suggestions please?

Flat bits of thick (5mm+ ?) acrylic plastic, or tile, or rubber, glued on
with silicone sealant?

A while ago I replaced rotten door upstands (at the narrow entrance to an
old air-raid shelter that's now used as an outside workshop) with new wood
which terminates about 3" from ground level (which is in an area that
attracts modest amounts of standing water), with small concrete upstands
below them. Between wood and concrete I inserted acrylic plastic slices,
glued in with sealant, so only when there's snow up against the upstands
would I expect the ends of the wood to be at risk from rising dampness. I
have no idea if it will work...

When the bottom of the legs are quite dry, and it's not going to rain, I
occasionally stand each leg of my garden seats in plastic pots. I then
fill the pots with some anti-rot preservative (the expensive, £20+ per 5
litres, clear stuff), and top up as required. Several hours later, when
it's obvious that no more is going to soak into the legs, I remove the
pots, and reclaim any unused preservative.

Plastic milk cartons are a nice disposable item to do that with, easy
to cut even with a pair of scissors. You end up with a free funnel
with a handle each time from the other half which is often useful for
a one off such as pouring some paint or oil ,a scoop for a small bit
of plaster out of a sack etc.

Depending on the aesthetics you can just leave one on each leg with a
resin infill.
Our pondside table legs were a snug fit and as it sits amongst
reasonably long grass the 4" or so of plastic bottle once it was
covered at the same time as applying Sadolin to the wood are hardly
visible. On a stone Patio it would look a bit untidy.

G.Harman

On 2012-07-17, Ian Jackson wrote:

When the bottom of the legs are quite dry, and it's not going to rain, I
occasionally stand each leg of my garden seats in plastic pots. I then
fill the pots with some anti-rot preservative (the expensive, £20+ per 5
litres, clear stuff), and top up as required. Several hours later, when
it's obvious that no more is going to soak into the legs, I remove the
pots, and reclaim any unused preservative.

In the basement, where the damp comes up rather than down &
appearances aren't important, I put washed tuna tins under the legs of
a set of wooden shelves and poured some wood preserver in them. After
the legs soaked it up, I couldn't think of any reason to bother
removing the tins.

On Tue, 17 Jul 2012 13:44:00 +0100, Adam Funk
wrote:

On 2012-07-17, Ian Jackson wrote:

When the bottom of the legs are quite dry, and it's not going to rain, I
occasionally stand each leg of my garden seats in plastic pots. I then
fill the pots with some anti-rot preservative (the expensive, £20+ per 5
litres, clear stuff), and top up as required. Several hours later, when
it's obvious that no more is going to soak into the legs, I remove the
pots, and reclaim any unused preservative.

In the basement, where the damp comes up rather than down &
appearances aren't important, I put washed tuna tins under the legs of
a set of wooden shelves and poured some wood preserver in them. After
the legs soaked it up, I couldn't think of any reason to bother
removing the tins.

The trouble is that any moisture in the timber will tend to run down
the legs and be trapped by the tins, keeping the legs damp.

--
Frank Erskine

Frank Erskine brought next idea :
On Tue, 17 Jul 2012 13:44:00 +0100, Adam Funk
wrote:

On 2012-07-17, Ian Jackson wrote:

When the bottom of the legs are quite dry, and it's not going to rain, I
occasionally stand each leg of my garden seats in plastic pots. I then
fill the pots with some anti-rot preservative (the expensive, £20+ per 5
litres, clear stuff), and top up as required. Several hours later, when
it's obvious that no more is going to soak into the legs, I remove the
pots, and reclaim any unused preservative.

In the basement, where the damp comes up rather than down &
appearances aren't important, I put washed tuna tins under the legs of
a set of wooden shelves and poured some wood preserver in them. After
the legs soaked it up, I couldn't think of any reason to bother
removing the tins.

The trouble is that any moisture in the timber will tend to run down
the legs and be trapped by the tins, keeping the legs damp.

Exactly and rain water too, which is why I'm trying to fit something
which will just simply the feet off the ground.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
. uk...
Frank Erskine brought next idea :
On Tue, 17 Jul 2012 13:44:00 +0100, Adam Funk
wrote:

On 2012-07-17, Ian Jackson wrote:

When the bottom of the legs are quite dry, and it's not going to rain,
I occasionally stand each leg of my garden seats in plastic pots. I
then fill the pots with some anti-rot preservative (the expensive, £20+
per 5 litres, clear stuff), and top up as required. Several hours
later, when it's obvious that no more is going to soak into the legs, I
remove the pots, and reclaim any unused preservative.

In the basement, where the damp comes up rather than down &
appearances aren't important, I put washed tuna tins under the legs of
a set of wooden shelves and poured some wood preserver in them. After
the legs soaked it up, I couldn't think of any reason to bother
removing the tins.

The trouble is that any moisture in the timber will tend to run down
the legs and be trapped by the tins, keeping the legs damp.

Exactly and rain water too, which is why I'm trying to fit something which
will just simply the feet off the ground.


Nah... Wot U need is EBay 190574827672

Proper finish it orf nice that wood... ;-)

On Tue, 17 Jul 2012 18:17:21 +0100, "Nthkentman"
wrote:


"Harry Bloomfield" wrote in message
.uk...
Frank Erskine brought next idea :
On Tue, 17 Jul 2012 13:44:00 +0100, Adam Funk
wrote:

On 2012-07-17, Ian Jackson wrote:

When the bottom of the legs are quite dry, and it's not going to rain,
I occasionally stand each leg of my garden seats in plastic pots. I
then fill the pots with some anti-rot preservative (the expensive, £20+
per 5 litres, clear stuff), and top up as required. Several hours
later, when it's obvious that no more is going to soak into the legs, I
remove the pots, and reclaim any unused preservative.

In the basement, where the damp comes up rather than down &
appearances aren't important, I put washed tuna tins under the legs of
a set of wooden shelves and poured some wood preserver in them. After
the legs soaked it up, I couldn't think of any reason to bother
removing the tins.

The trouble is that any moisture in the timber will tend to run down
the legs and be trapped by the tins, keeping the legs damp.

Exactly and rain water too, which is why I'm trying to fit something which
will just simply the feet off the ground.


Nah... Wot U need is EBay 190574827672

Proper finish it orf nice that wood... ;-)

Simple rubber feet attached by woodscrew.

--
Frank Erskine

"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
On 17/07/2012 10:05, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Some 25 years ago I scratch built a pub style table with the attached
bench seats, since when it lived outdoors in the weather. Eventually it
rotted at the four feet, which are in constant contact with the concrete
of the patio, sat in water. I built a replacement which I finished
yesterday and I'm just trying to think of some means to ensure the ends
of the legs are not sat directly on the concrete patio slabs.

My best idea at the moment is to drill a hole into each leg and fit a
steel bolt, so each leg is raised off the ground by the heads of the
bolts. The holes simply being a tight push fit for the thread of the
bolt. Has anyone got any alternative suggestions please?

We don't use the table so much for sitting at, but it makes for an
absolutely great bit of outdoor working space.


Make some feet out of tanalised sp? timber, and screw them to the
bottoms of the legs. If *they* eventually rot, they can be replaced.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom

I stood mine on house bricks, flat side up
Does n't look pretty but it works
Robbie

On 17/07/2012 21:10, Roberts wrote:
"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
On 17/07/2012 10:05, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Some 25 years ago I scratch built a pub style table with the attached
bench seats, since when it lived outdoors in the weather. Eventually it
rotted at the four feet, which are in constant contact with the concrete
of the patio, sat in water. I built a replacement which I finished
yesterday and I'm just trying to think of some means to ensure the ends
of the legs are not sat directly on the concrete patio slabs.

My best idea at the moment is to drill a hole into each leg and fit a
steel bolt, so each leg is raised off the ground by the heads of the
bolts. The holes simply being a tight push fit for the thread of the
bolt. Has anyone got any alternative suggestions please?

We don't use the table so much for sitting at, but it makes for an
absolutely great bit of outdoor working space.


Make some feet out of tanalised sp? timber, and screw them to the
bottoms of the legs. If *they* eventually rot, they can be replaced.
--
Cheers,
Roger
____________
Please reply to Newsgroup. Whilst email address is valid, it is seldom

I stood mine on house bricks, flat side up
Does n't look pretty but it works
Robbie


The legs in question are already resting on concrete slabs, so bricks
don't change anything. What the OP is after is a way to reduce the area
in contact with the concrete. The bolt head sounds like the best solution.

On Jul 17, 10:05*am, Harry Bloomfield
wrote:
I'm just trying to think of some means to ensure
the ends of the legs are not sat directly on the concrete patio slabs.

Most of the rot is due to trapped water, and the risk is always that
your spacer will trap water just as effectively. So I start by using
the driest timber I can find or produce, vacuuming it (if it's small
enough to fit in the vac bucket) and getting as much polyester rot
repair resin as I can into the timber.

For fixed posts, the traditional Japanese carpentry solution is a
bronze disk with a slight convexity to it, and a small locating pin,
set on a stone plinth. I've used this for timber-framed structures, up
to the size of garages (Archi-knobhead didn't permit it for the
swimming pool house).

For picnic tables, I usually just insert a couple of nails into the
ends. Use the decorative ones intended for studding oak front doors,
as they have nice big heads. Mine are smithed in wrought iron, so
they're longer-lasting than mild steel.

Harry Bloomfield presented the following explanation :

My best idea at the moment is to drill a hole into each leg and fit a steel
bolt, so each leg is raised off the ground by the heads of the bolts. The
holes simply being a tight push fit for the thread of the bolt. Has anyone
got any alternative suggestions please?

Which is the idea I have finally settled upon and thanks for the
replies....

I used some very large galv bolts I happened to already have, measuring
2" x 5/8" OD across the threaded part, rounding the heads in the lathe
so they wouldn't dig in when trying to move the bench. I then bored the
feet to accept the bolts with a tight fit. The timber of the feet now
sit 1/2" clear of the concrete and the wet surface.

--
Regards,
Harry (M1BYT) (L)
http://www.ukradioamateur.co.uk

On 19/07/2012 5:55 a.m., Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Harry Bloomfield presented the following explanation :

My best idea at the moment is to drill a hole into each leg and fit a
steel bolt, so each leg is raised off the ground by the heads of the
bolts. The holes simply being a tight push fit for the thread of the
bolt. Has anyone got any alternative suggestions please?

Which is the idea I have finally settled upon and thanks for the
replies....

I used some very large galv bolts I happened to already have, measuring
2" x 5/8" OD across the threaded part, rounding the heads in the lathe
so they wouldn't dig in when trying to move the bench. I then bored the
feet to accept the bolts with a tight fit. The timber of the feet now
sit 1/2" clear of the concrete and the wet surface.


Sounds like a good plan to me, simple and effective.

In message , Gib Bogle
writes
On 19/07/2012 5:55 a.m., Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Harry Bloomfield presented the following explanation :

My best idea at the moment is to drill a hole into each leg and fit a
steel bolt, so each leg is raised off the ground by the heads of the
bolts. The holes simply being a tight push fit for the thread of the
bolt. Has anyone got any alternative suggestions please?

Which is the idea I have finally settled upon and thanks for the
replies....

I used some very large galv bolts I happened to already have, measuring
2" x 5/8" OD across the threaded part, rounding the heads in the lathe
so they wouldn't dig in when trying to move the bench. I then bored the
feet to accept the bolts with a tight fit. The timber of the feet now
sit 1/2" clear of the concrete and the wet surface.


Sounds like a good plan to me, simple and effective.

Won't a steel bolt scratch the concrete?

Maybe a better idea would be to bolt on some non-rotting feet (lumps of
plastic?), with the heads of the bolts slightly countersunk.
Alternatively, use replaceable wooden feet (well rot-proofed), with a
plastic 'damp-course' between them and the bottom of the legs.
--
Ian

On 2012-07-17, Frank Erskine wrote:

On Tue, 17 Jul 2012 13:44:00 +0100, Adam Funk
wrote:

On 2012-07-17, Ian Jackson wrote:

When the bottom of the legs are quite dry, and it's not going to rain, I
occasionally stand each leg of my garden seats in plastic pots. I then
fill the pots with some anti-rot preservative (the expensive, £20+ per 5
litres, clear stuff), and top up as required. Several hours later, when
it's obvious that no more is going to soak into the legs, I remove the
pots, and reclaim any unused preservative.

In the basement, where the damp comes up rather than down &
appearances aren't important, I put washed tuna tins under the legs of
a set of wooden shelves and poured some wood preserver in them. After
the legs soaked it up, I couldn't think of any reason to bother
removing the tins.

The trouble is that any moisture in the timber will tend to run down
the legs and be trapped by the tins, keeping the legs damp.

Well, possibly, but the tins' bases have circular ridges instead of
being perfectly flat, the legs are about 1 cm × 4 cm so there's air
circulation on the sides of the legs within the tins, & in any case
I'm sure *much* more moisture was going up from the cellar floor than
back down.

replying to Harry Bloomfield, Terry wrote:
y thought is to use old bike tyres with thick tread cut sized pieces from it
and glue and screw to bottom **

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/uk-diy...ot-820860-.htm

I used adjustable feet. Screwed in an insert nut and then the feet into the nut. This way you can level it too if the ground is uneven

I used adjustable feet. Made a hole in the bottom of the leg, inserted an "insert nut" then screwed in the leg. This way the table can be levelled on uneven ground.

Terry brought next idea :
replying to Harry Bloomfield, Terry wrote:
y thought is to use old bike tyres with thick tread cut sized pieces from it
and glue and screw to bottom **

I usually avoid responding to HOH posts, but six years on - my bench
legs are absolutely fine with the bolt heads keeping them clear of the
concrete slabs it sits upon. It doesn't need any adjustment, because
its own weight forces it to give enough to sit with all four legs down.

replying to Roger Mills, Patti wrote:
I use ceramic tile under the legs that sit on concrete. Wood soaks up water
and keeps the wood wet. The tile will dry fast

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/uk-diy...ot-820860-.htm

replying to Harry Bloomfield, Stupot wrote:
Make the bench legs about 1"/25mm shorter than the desired length and screw
two 'rubber' doorstops to the bottom of each leg. They are not actually rubber
but a very hard plastic-like compound that will easily take the weight. I have
two garden benches and each has a doorstop screwed to the bottom of each leg.
Works very well.

--
for full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/uk-diy...ot-820860-.htm