Outdoor furniture feet

[Andy]

Good question - smart to think about this at the design stage rather than a couple years down the road. A few ideas (I haven't tried them, just some thoughts...) You could include wood "feet" of some sort that expose long grain to the ground - kind of like a traditional workbench. Look around - there's a picture (though it doesn't show the feet closely) at

on the project, you could also use some sort of leveling feet or even large-diameter bolts that screw into T-nuts in the ends of the legs. For example, luck, Andy

[SWDeveloper]

What can be done with outdoor furniture that rests on the ground? Although I'm using PT lumber, the end-grain of the furniture legs make direct contact with the ground.

[Roy]

FWIW....

Furniture on the lawn (glider, bench) get nylon slides tapped into the bottom of the legs, then are set on bricks. The bricks keep the legs out of the damp grass and a little bit above the weed whacker level.

Furniture on the patio gets nylon glides tapped into the bottom of the leg. This gives about a quarter inch of clearance from the concrete, and isn't really noticeable. The slides tend to crack over time and need to be replaced every year or two. They're fairly cheap from Wally World.

It doesn't hurt to seal the bottom of the legs with a couple coats of finish, epoxy being our favorite for the bottom of outdoor legs. We still put on the slides and use the bricks, but I wear a belt and suspenders too..

Probably a dozen other ways to protect the lumber, but this seems to work for us.

Regards,

Roy

[Chris Friesen]

If it's on a hard surface, what about basic nail-in furniture glides?

If its on ground/grass, maybe fiberglass around the feet? Copper/brass/aluminum/stainless "cups" on the bottom few inches?

Chris

[Jerry]

On a redwood bench I applied thinned (heated) epoxy to the bottom end grain -- soakes in deep.

[WoodButcher]

Cut a shallow rabbet around the bottom edges of each leg. Screw 3 or 4 screws into the bottom of each leg leaving the heads about 1/4 inch proud of the leg bottom. Wrap each leg with packing or duct tape and make a dam around each leg. The edge of the tape should be at least 1/2 inch below the end of each leg. Invert the chair/table and pour epoxy onto the end of each leg and fill the cavity/pocket. When the epoxy has completely cured sand everything smooth.

Make sure your PT wood is dry before doing this or your new end cap will break loose as the wood dries and shrinks.

Art

[Lew Hodgett]

SWDeveloper wrote: >

As others have suggested, furniture glides.

I'd make them from 1/2" sheet PVC stock using #14 Coarse thread, pan head, S/S, sheet metal screws.

You can make them any size needed.

C'bore the PVC plastic to allow the screw heads to be recessed.

I use them as a standard,

Thew won't cold flow, and are UV resistant.

Lew

[EXT]

If you need special sized feet for the bottom of wooden legs where they will get constantly wet, use a cheap plastic cutting board. You can trim to size and shape it with woodworking tools. They keep the water from the end grain and prevent any damage.