As soon as I laid eyes on the big-ole patio at our new house, I knew I wanted a DIY patio sectional. Once Spring rolled around, everyone on Pinterest was posting the coolest rustic wood sectionals and benches for their outdoor spaces. After drooling over all the beautiful Pinterest images, I started creeping around our salvage wood pile to formulate a plan for my own DIY patio sectional.
When I came across some railroad ties that were serving no purpose, I knew exactly how I wanted my DIY patio sectional to come together.
Would you rather watch than read? Check out the video of this project here!
The Structure
The frame was the first part of my DIY patio sectional that I tackled. I wanted to create one long and one short section. I grabbed some 2×4 lumber from our salvage pile and cut two long pieces at 113 1/2 inches and two short pieces at 60 inches.
The width of my DIY patio sectional is 18 inches. To get this width I cut eight pieces of 2×4 to 15 inches, then I screwed these in between my longer 2×4 cuts. I ended up using five 15 inch pieces for my longer section and three for the short section.
You may notice the overhang at the end of the bench in some of the photos. Disregard this as I ended up changing my original plan to not include this and all of the measurements correlate to my final product.
To attach the two frame sections, I screwed them together where they would be touching and creating the corner of the sectional. After the frames are attached, I placed my railroad ties where I wanted them and set the frame on top. I used an extra 2×4 as a shim to raise the longer side and create a level seating area since my beams ended up being different heights.
If you don’t have extra railroad ties hanging around but want to re-create this look, you can buy some here.
Angling screws through the frame and into the beams worked to stabilize the frame. If you have a Kreg Jig and wanted to use that here, that would work too.
Reclaimed Bench Top
The seat of the sectional top is made out of 2×8 and 2×4 lumber. I simply cut these pieces to length and screwed them into the frame.
To cover up the frame and the edges of the bench seat, I used some 1×8 boards. These 1×8 shiplap boards were actually part of a chicken coup roof that we recently tore down. Yah for salvaging!
Making the Back Rest
After the “molding” pieces are attached, I cut seven 24 inch pieces of 2×4 to act as supports for the back rest of the sectional. I screwed these pieces into the sectional three inches above the ground. Three pieces are needed for the short section and four for the long.
For the backrest, I attached two 2×8 board to the 2×4 back supports. I screwed the “shorter side” backrest pieces into the “longer side” to add extra support to the corner of the sectional.
Don’t forget lots and lots of sanding!
The Finished DIY Patio Sectional
And this is the finished product. I added the 12″ overhang at one end of the sectional so that I would have a longer side and shorter side. The top of the seat is 13″ high, about the height of a lawn chair.
