Restoring an Old Bench with Recycled Materials
Introduction
Hello everyone and welcome back to the channel. In this episode, my brother’s neighbor was throwing away an old, rotten bench. I thought it would be a great idea to bring it home and fully restore it. All the wood was completely rotten and needed to be replaced, but the metal work of the bench was all fine, so I thought I could probably bring this back to pretty much a new condition with recycled materials.
Dismantling the Bench
The first job was to dismantle the whole bench because all the bolts and screws were rusted, so they were quite difficult to get off. I used a maintenance spray on old bolts and screws just to loosen them up a bit and provide a little bit of movement to take them all out. Some bolts were fiddly to remove because they were rusted, but with some patience and a hacksaw, they were eventually removed. All the wood was completely rotten and could not be used, so I had to remove it all. In the end, I was left with just the metal frame of the bench.
Cleaning the Metal Frame
Before starting to restore the bench with recycled materials, I first had to clean the metal frame. I scraped off any loose bits of glue, paint, and rust, and then gave it a light sanding to provide a good base for painting. I used soapy water to rinse off any dirt and rust. After cleaning, I painted the metal frame with a color called Buckingham green, which is a dark, traditional gray that looks really nice in a garden. Since the bench was already green, painting it the same color would provide a nice undercoat.
Preparing the Recycled Wood
To restore the bench with recycled materials, I used some of the old rotten wood as a guideline to find out the thickness I needed when I put it on the table saw. The bench was four feet wide, which is around 120 centimeters wide, so I had to use some really long pallets to make pieces of wood. I cut the pieces of wood for the back of the bench and the two side pieces using a miter saw. I used the old pieces of wood as templates to ensure the new pieces would fit correctly. I also marked up some reference points with a pencil so that when I came to assembly, I would know where everything should be. After that, I sanded the pieces of wood and used teak stain to give the wood a nice color.
Assembly
With everything prepared, it was time to assemble the bench. I attached the pieces of wood to the back using self-tapping screws. Then, I attached the pieces of wood for the seat of the bench using bolts. I also attached the central brace and the two side supports using self-tapping screws, and the bench was finally complete.
Conclusion
In the end, restoring the bench with recycled materials took a while, but it was worth it because it practically brought it back to life. The new wood and newly painted metal frame made it look like a new bench. The goal was to restore the bench for zero cost, as close to zero cost as possible, using recycled materials. Restoring old furniture to give it a new life is an excellent way to reduce waste and get creative. It may take some patience and effort, but it’s worth it to have a unique piece of furniture that you can be proud of.