Cylinder suet feeder8/11/2023 ![]() If they aren’t painted, they are absorbing water, so the wood will be sitting in holes that are constantly wet when it rains.Įven though the posts will be stained and coated with urethane, they will be much more likely to rot. By painting the blocks, you are waterproofing them. The reason you should paint the cinder blocks is that it will help preserve the wood posts. You’ll need to figure in drying times after washing the blocks, then priming, flipping the blocks, painting, flipping and then repeating for one more coat. It can be done in three days, but you’ll have to stay on top of your timing. Ideally, you’ll need 3-4 continuous days without rain if you are doing this outside. I consider this to be the better looking side.Īesthetically you’ll want to note this when assembling the bench, and I will reference these edges in the steps below. One side has longer holes and thinner edges and the other side has shorter openings and thicker, cleaner edges. Each side is a little different around the hole openings. Standard cinder blocks are made to be stacked horizontally.For cleaning, a power washer is ideal, but if you don’t have one, just use a bucket and nylon scrub brush.The interior holes are a minimum of 5×5” and your 4×4’s will be about 3 ½”x 3 ½”. Just in case you have a very specific space you need to accommodate for a standard cinder block is listed at 16x8x8, but will actually measure 15 ⅝” x 7 ⅝” x 7 ⅝”. ![]() If you are painting them, pressure-treated isn’t necessary since they are going to be in contact with the ground or constant moisture and could take weeks to dry out enough to be ready for staining. You will need pressure-treated 4x4s if you don’t paint the blocks, to help delay rotting. You don’t need pressure-treated wood unless you aren’t painting the cinder blocks.Sandpaper for orbital #240 and possibly #180.Paint sprayer– (ideally)-roller or brush is fine.Acrylic exterior paint or masonry paint.Materials For How To Make A DIY Cinder Block Bench It actually gets easier when you assemble the bench, where you can use your legs to do the lifting. This makes it difficult to lift with your legs.Īfter all, you don’t have much leverage because you are bending more than lifting and moving, which means you will be working your lower back muscles a lot. The cinder blocks weigh 35lbs each.Īnd during the cleaning, priming and painting steps, you are working with them on the ground. I’m rating this a moderate difficulty due to the physicality. Click here to read my full disclosure policy. I only recommend products I’ve used and loved, unless otherwise stated. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. Some of the links on this page have been provided as a convenience for finding materials. Here is part two of this series, the concrete block decorative planter box add-ons!įor other ideas for ways to spruce up your paver patio check out these 39 creative and easy DIY patio tutorials. Here are some other great ideas for inexpensive outdoor furniture you can make –just by adding a few pieces of wood. You can use them for just about anything. These blocks really are a flexible building material. I think of cinder blocks as the hollow ones and concrete blocks as the solid, more slender ones. They are made of concrete mixed with other aggregates, sometimes including fly ash. It wasn’t so bad, we ended up building up one end by creating a raised bed with timbers, and it only added one extra day of work.īy the way, cinder blocks are commonly called concrete blocks or cement blocks. This forced us to do some extra site prep work before making this cool, minimalistic outdoor bench. We wanted to correct this so we weren’t sliding down the bench every time we sat down. The unfortunate thing about this location is that it’s on a slope and it’s a whole 7” difference from one end to the other. It also has a nice view of our front yard. Plus we do a lot of our DIY project work on this part of our driveway, so it would be great to have a nearby spot to sit and take a break. It’s a really cute spot too, in part, because it has a picket fence for the backdrop. This would give us a place for loading and unloading our cars. However, it works perfectly at the front end of our driveway where there is a garden bed area. I just re-did our paver patio, but a bench this size is a little too big for that space. I built a large cinder block planter wall several years ago and since then, cinder block benches have been on my radar.īut until we moved to a new house last year, it didn’t make sense to make one since we just didn’t have a good location for one. A cinder block bench is a great way to add some comfort and ambience to an outdoor area, such as your patio, or garden –on the cheap.
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