This post is pretty photo heavy, but it's not that difficult a project (however, it is easier with two).
You will need a 60lb bag of Quikrete (I bought two bags and had leftovers after making two tables/stools), 8" diameter concrete builder's tube, a utility knife, stiff cardboard, duct tape, 5-gallon plastic buckets (2) and a cement drill piece if you can borrow one.
First, cut your concrete tube down to 15" tall.
Trace a piece of stiff cardboard to the size of the tube and cut out.
Tape in place with duct tape. This tube is going to keep the centre of your table hollow, so you'll really want to make sure that no concrete can get into it. I added another band of duct tape around the edge after taking this photo.
Pour your concrete into one of the buckets and add water per package instructions.
Hubby had one of these fancy drill bits so he did the stirring. You could do it by hand I'm sure, but it would be TOUGH.
We used a fairly stiff consistency at first and then watered it down to make it easier to work with.
Scoop the concrete into the other bucket until it reaches a depth of about 3".
Then place the closed-off tube on top. Don't push down - the 3" section is going to be the top of the table.
Holding the concrete tube in place (centred in the bucket), fill around the sides with the remaining concrete.
Once the bucket is full, tap the sides to help settle the concrete and release any air bubbles.
Tap on all sides and you'll see the level go down.
(Make sure your inner tube is still held in place.)
Fill again and repeat until full.
Leave in the sun (or garage if it's rainy) to dry.
The instructions in House & Home said to let it dry for 5 full days, but I got impatient at 4 and they were okay.
Use a utility knife to score the inner tube and remove as best you can.
Then score the outside of the bucket, from base to top and peel back.
Once the air breaks the seal the concrete will just slip right out.
IT WORKED!!
I used two different buckets, so one is slightly taller than the other, but basically you will get a 12" side table that is solid, won't move in the weather, will survive the seasons and is sturdy enough to also use as a stool!
I'll stain these eventually, but I need to decide how I want them to look and I need to do a little research on staining concrete.
Today it holds my birdhouse, tomorrow my pina colada!
Cost breakdown:
Concrete mix $3.99 each
Concrete form $9.56 (but I still have a LOT leftover for other projects)
Cardboard $0 (recycled cat litter box)
Buckets $ 3.97 each x 2 = $7.94
Duct Tape $1
Total for one table: ~$12.16
Total for two tables (because you can reuse one bucket) = ~$16.40 or $8.20 each.
See you HAVE to make more than one to save money! lol
What a great project!
Love this one!
Have a great one!
Linked to:
 |
| Between Naps on the Porch |
This is a great tutorial. Don’t apologize for the number of pictures, you can’t have too many.
ReplyDeletei is onset if you first greased the bucket would it slip out without cutting it? Then it could be reused. Great idea!
ReplyDeleteYou could also use a heat gun to release the bucket from the cement it's quicker
ReplyDelete