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Here is an easy to follow set of plans on how to build a picnic table with detached benches! Measurements are in Imperial units. Included are:
Check out the full build tutorial video HERE
$4.99
The entire plan is included in one PDF document.
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
© 2012 - 2023 Wilker Do's
Kelvin Kellner (verified owner) –
Solid plans. Comes with handy material list, multiple angles of cuts and assembly. Exactly the quality I was hoping for 🙂
Also, regarding the other review from Bill Ley, I am assuming they did not know where to look. To download the plans I clicked on My Account up at the top, then I clicked the Downloads tab, and clicked on the link under the Download column.
Roman Fraulini (verified owner) –
It looked to be a nice project with good table, however the plans leave a lot to be desired. I emailed with my concerns and never received a response. Here is my complaint. The legs on the bench are cut at almost 18″ then add in the 1.5″ bench material and your bench height is over 18′ tall… which turned out to be a great bench height. The issue here is the table legs are cut at 30″, once angled it’s more like 27″… so between the top of the bench and the bottom of the table you have about 10″. Legs can barely fit under the table… and the overall table height is too low at less than 30″. If you follow the plans, you’ll cut all your lumber to the cut list and then realize the issue once it’s assembled… leaving you with an unusable table and requiring you to go by more 2×6 material to cut new table legs… disassemble the table, drill holes trying to line up to the original holes in the cross bracing etc… total pain in the @ss.
Aside from that, the table top really should be 6 boards wide vs 5 as 5 just isn’t quite enough room for people to eat at with food pots/pans/trays/bowls in the middle and enough room for each person and their plates too. Think about it… 5.5″ x 5 boards it 27.5″ and plates are at least 10″ so people sitting opposite of each other will have 7″ between their plates assuming each plate is all the way at the edge of the table. That doesn’t leave enough room for a plate of burgers or a bowl of whatever if you want to eat using the table. Not much thought into this whole plan… I wasn’t impressed and was expecting a better product.
I stored my table and benches covered under a tarp for the winter… both of them bowed/sagged in the middle so they are now upside down on the concrete floor trying to straighten them out and brace them better. April… you failed on this one. While it didn’t cost much, it’s the principle of it… if you are going to put such shoddy plans out there you shouldn’t actually charge money for them… your design flaw with the table height cost me more in lumber than the actual plans cost… meaning you and your half baked plans wasted my money on replacing lumber for table legs that were too short.
Roman Fraulini (verified owner) –
Roman Fraulini (verified owner) – May 13, 2021
It looked to be a nice project with good table, however the plans leave a lot to be desired. I emailed with my concerns and never received a response. Here is my complaint. The legs on the bench are cut at almost 18″ then add in the 1.5″ bench material and your bench height is over 18″ tall… which turned out to be a great bench height. The issue here is the table legs are cut at 30″, once they are angled it’s more like 27″… so between the top of the bench, and the bottom of the table, you have about 10″. Legs can barely fit under the table… and the overall table height is too low at less than 30″. If you follow the plans, you’ll first cut all your lumber to the cut list, and then realize the issue once it’s assembled… leaving you with an unusable table and requiring you to go buy more 2×6 material to cut new table legs… disassemble the table, drill holes trying to line up to the original holes in the cross bracing etc… total pain in the @ss.
Aside from that, the table top really should be 6 boards wide vs 5, as 5 just isn’t quite enough room for people to eat at with food pots/pans/trays/bowls in the middle and enough room for each person and their plates too. Think about it… 5.5″ x 5 boards it 27.5″ and plates are at least 10″ so people sitting opposite of each other will have 7″ between their plates assuming each plate is all the way at the edge of the table. That doesn’t leave enough room for a plate of burgers or a bowl of whatever if you want to eat using the table. It can work with 2 people, but if you fill up the bench on either side you won’t have enough room on the table. Not much thought into this whole plan… I wasn’t impressed, and was expecting a better product.
Lastly, I stored my table and benches covered under a tarp for the winter… all three of them bowed/sagged in the middle so they are now upside down on the concrete floor trying to straighten them out and brace them better. April… you failed on this one. While the plans didn’t cost much, it’s the principle of it… if you are going to put such a shoddy plan out there you shouldn’t actually charge money for it… your design flaw with the table height cost me more in lumber than the actual plans cost… meaning you and your half baked plans wasted my money on replacing lumber for table legs that were too short.
David Reed (verified owner) –
The overall picnic table plans were very helpful and worth the $4.99. I built 2 sets of picnic tables. I like the fact that the benches are separate, which adds versatility so they can be used around our fire pit…etc.. Good looking design too. The visual plans, lumber layout and bill of materials all helped a great deal. Criticism; Roman is right. Proper bench height should be 18” and table at 30”. The plans fail to account for the angle. If you do the math, with a on-line hypotenuse calculator, the table legs need to be cut to 30-1/2” not 27-3/4”. Otherwise the table is too low. Similarly the bench legs need to be cut to 16-5/8’, not 17-1/4”. Otherwise the benches are too high. The plans also fail to specify exactly where the table leg and bench leg (cross) supports should go, as this directly effects how wide the legs will be. I had to guesstimate and it worked out fine, but this should be called out on the plans. I made a few other alterations; I used only one center table cleat (2×4) on edge (not flat) that the two diagonal table braces butt against, so that they oppose each other (offset slightly so I could drive screws). I also put the table legs about 7” in, and the bench legs only 3” so that the benches could fit further under the table if needed. I used 3” carriage bolts all around, and drilled counter sink so that the bolt heads are recessed. Inspired by April’s build video, I used a $40 Kreg pocket drill jig along with 2-1/2” deck screws, so that all of my screws are driven from the underside, and no screw holes on the table or bench tops. First time using a pocket drill jig, and after testing on a couple 2×4 scraps, quickly gained confidence and loved it. This is all probably overkill, but it looks great. The table and benches are very very solid and robust. I’ll probably use a TWP Stain in 6 months or a year, once the pressure treated wood has dried and seasoned properly. I hope my comments are helpful to others who want to build this picnic table. Great plans – – Thanks April!