)
)
I’m happy to report, the benches have been sanded & stained! The only task remaining is sealing, but I am letting the stain cure a little bit. I spent literally the entire afternoon yesterday working on this side of the backyard. Last weekend I worked on the other half. No workout will make you more sore than 4 straight hours of sanding. I think my hands have finally stopped tingling, thank goodness.
This is what happens to wood when you don’t seal it before the season changes. So stupid of me, I knew better but never carved out time to do it, then the sun and rain over the last year bleached them out. GRR.
Here’s a happy GIF for ya :)
What do you think of the stain color? I’m on the fence, but no way am I sanding that beyotch down again. I didn’t have a scrap piece to sample off of, and I had used a version of the stain mix we used in our sunroom and thought it would turn out similar. It’s slightly different, a little darker. The floating benches are made with redwood while our sunroom benches are made with fir (I think). Whatever! Anything is better than sun bleached wood in my opinion.
OH, and look at the growth on my cactus! He’s only been planted for 3 weeks, and the only one that looks to be growing. I hope the others are as happy :)
Oh this is looking fabulous.
Thank you!!
Hi Brittany, I love the stain on your bench it looks fabulous! I’m just in the middle of a garden makeover myself and we are looking to get floating benches installed. Do you have any flex issues with the bench and how are they supported? Have you used decking wood with an overhang or thick pieces of wood (it’s difficult to tell from the photos)
Oooohhhh…I love them!
oh yay! thank you!
This is looking so, so good! Congrats on all that hard work.
Thank you! i’m glad you like them!
What a cool firepit/lounge area! Did you make it originally?
I saw the first few pictures, and kept reading to find out how you got that pretty silvery gray stain. I guess I’m probably in the minority in liking the sun-bleached look. At least if the stain is a little darker than you’d like, maybe the sun will eventually lighten it. I wonder if you could’ve tested it on the underside of the benches to get a sense of the color before you did the staining. Oh well, it still looks great!
Thanks Rachel! I thought about testing it on the underside, but it seemed like a LOT of effort haha. And yes, we designed the benches and the fire pit! More on that soon :)
Your yard looks awesome! And I like the low maintenance aspect.
Great job on those benches! Also, I’ve been wanting to plant a cactus for awhile now but haven’t taken the leap. Any tips and/or suggestions?
marblecrumbs.com
Oh, do it! They’re so easy to maintain! Key is fast drain soil, little water, and a dry environment. Most cacti will do wonderfully indoors, so you dont have to worry about the changes in weather.’ I’m not a pro at all, but they’re definitely the easiest plants to care for.
This area looks awesome!
Thank you!!!
Love these benches. Specifically the larger ‘C’ shaped floating bench. Do the mounts for the wood slabs come right out of the concrete wall?