DIY Wood 2x4 Step with Welded Base

I have a super embarrassing story for you.  As a DIY blogger, I should be ashamed!

When we bought this lakehouse, we drove a small black hatchback.  We eyed up the house's carport and four car garage (it looks like a two car in photos, but it's two car lengths deep) and, although we agreed we'd miss the attached garage we had in the townhouse, we were happy there was a garage at all - and the carport was a nice bonus.

Fast forward a few months and we bought our Ram 2500 truck and plunked on some roof lights and... it wouldn't fit in the garage!  Oops. Well, we figured the garage was pretty far from the house anyway so we'd park in the carport.  Ha! Too wide for the carport!

We parked outside for a winter, maybe two?  It was terribly inconvenient and now my winters are blurring together.

Eventually we realized that the truck would fit in the carport if the concrete step wasn't in the way, so we decided to remove it and build a narrower step which would afford us the extra space to fit the truck in (although we could still only open the doors on the one side, lol).

Before

You know I hate decor/renovating waste, so I was thrilled that my father-in-law had a use for the concrete step.  He happily took it, and gave us his old step until we made our new one.

One Step Forward (haha), Two Steps Back

Well, we got so bogged down in planning super complicated designs (poured concrete with our own form and fancy details and tile and blah blah blah), that winter snuck up on us and we didn't make our new step at all!  Hubby's Dad laughed at us every time he saw that his old step was still in place.

See?  Pretty embarrassing!  

Especially because this year's warmer months almost slipped by again, but we vowed to FINALLY finish that damn step!  On the bright side, the extra year helped us decided we weren't really that smitten with concrete.  I had actually grown to love the weathered wood step Hubby's Dad lent us so we created a bright, shiny new wood step with a welded base, which we hope will weather to a lovely grey.

This is Project #2 in my grand scheme to test out untreated cedar and copper, inspired by my roof/siding combo (Project #1 was our cedar bench with welded base, if you missed it).

For this project, we opted for a simple cubed design and our metal of choice: square metal tubing.

(Don't mind the horrific spider).

 Supplies:

• 4.5" Angle Grinder
• Grinding Disk 
• Flapper Disk 
• Cutting Disk
• 1" Square Metal Tubing
• Welding Magnets
• Steel Step Drill Bit 
• Flux Core Wire Feed Welder
• Rust-Oleum Spray Paint Copper
• Untreated cedar 2x4's

How to Weld the Step:

The basic process is the same as our other welded projects (like the welded bed frame and welded desk we've made).  We sketched out our design and took some measurements before creating a cut list.  It just makes shopping for supplies so much easier!  With everything purchased, we started by cutting out the pieces.

We laid out the framework - measuring it to make sure it's square! - before tack welding it together.  Hubby opted to weld the bottom frames first and then attach them together with the upright legs.  The welding magnets help immensely here - they were such a great purchase!

Once everything was tacked in place and squareness was verified, Hubby went ahead and completed all the welds. 

Here's the step base, before grinding:

Using the angle grinder, he removed any weld spatter and smoothed out the welds.

And, voila!  Such smooth corners:

With the welding and grinding done, I painted the metal the same copper as our DIY bench and DIY firepit.  This is quickly becoming my favorite paint, not just because I love the color, but because it's also so much more forgiving than other spray paint - even other Rust-Oleum products!  I've watched sags and drips magically level out with this paint and the dry time is so much less fussy.  I have been using this high heat enamel for so many different projects, I just love it.

Can you see the tabs Hubby added?  Technically, you could drill through the square metal tubing, but these made it so easy to affix the wood step, which is just 2x4s glued together with waterproof wood glue.

All we did to prep them was to give them a light sand because we're going to let nature take its course and give them a nice grey, weathered finish - I hope.

You can see we upgraded the storm door too, to help showcase the new front door better.  But, if I'm being honest, the wind off Lake Superior grabbed the old one and whipped it against the house, beating it mercilessly, so we were kind of forced to make this update - and we chose one with a better latch!

A certain someone loves the new view for guarding the house, too:

The best part of finally finishing our front step is that I can use the "Go Away" door mat I bought at HomeSense years ago - I had been saving it for the new step!  It works too, because a package that required a signature was just left quietly beside the step, even though I was home to sign for it...

Excellent.... I might have to stock up!  This one is even more direct.

I know my front door is devoid of planters and embellishment and other blogger necessities, but honestly there's no room!  With our massive truck parked in here and the dogs bursting our the door, any kind of decor would just slow us down (and get knocked over, for sure).

But check out that "Before" and "After" - even without tchotchkes, it's such an improvement. While you're at it, picture it with new wood siding too...

Before

After

Did you notice how sparkling clean the concrete is?  I found a pressure washer in our garage and spent three days CLEANING ALL THE THINGS.

P.S. Check out our other welded projects by clicking here.

DIY 2x4 Wood Outdoor Bench with Welded H Legs

This is an unusual DIY furniture project because you'll actually have to come back next year to see the real "after".  I've joked about being the slooooowest amateur decorator and DIYer out there, but this project should fully and officially solidify that title for me. 

Okay, technically this DIY outdoor wood bench - with its awesome welded H legs - is finished.  You can sit on it, place a drink on it, stand up and salsa dance on it (it's sturdy enough, I promise), but I left the wood bare because I want to see how it weathers.  That means that, right now, it's just plain, unfinished cedar, but hopefully next spring it will be a beautiful, driftwood-eqsue grey!

This humble DIY bench - and its long, greying process - is actually serving an important purpose.  One that might save us from making a mistake that costs tens of thousands of dollars.  

Remember how I shared my tentative plans for the lakehouse exterior?  Next spring we plan to replace our mismatched pine and vinyl siding with DIY cedar wood siding, which we hope will grey beautifully for that perfect, coastal vibe.  After spotting a copper-painted metal roof in town, I'm kind of envisioning that paired with the driftwood-grey wood siding but it's such a huge, scary, expensive decision!  I'm so nervous about DIYing our own siding - that feels major - and buying a new metal roof is such a huge expense.  The wood we can always paint, so I'm slightly less nervous about that decision (although doing our own siding still feels intimidating!), but the copper roof we'd be stuck with forever.  I need something to help me make up my mind - a visual aid.

We decided to make this simple bench, with an untreated cedar wood top and welded H legs (painted the same copper hue we painted our DIY welded fire pit) as a trial run.  We're also building a new front step with the same idea, so we'll have two pieces of outdoor furniture I'll see every day, from now until spring, with untreated cedar paired with copper, so I can assess whether I actually like the wood once it's weathered plus I can make sure I'm committed enough to copper to sign up for a 50 year roof!

We needed a new front step anyway and a bench will be such a practical piece.  We're still working on that front step, but here's how we made this modern welded bench! 

Note: if you're not into welding, you can also just buy similar H-legs (or these super chunky X-base legs) and add your own DIY top!  These welded legs, at only $80 or so, are the least expensive ones I've seen.  I also linked some similar benches you can straight up buy, at the bottom of this post.
 
Supplies:

• 4.5" Angle Grinder
• Grinding Disk 
• Flapper Disk 
• Cutting Disk
• Steel Flat Bar (we used 3" width)
• Welding Magnets
• Steel Step Drill Bit 
• Flux Core Wire Feed Welder
• Rust-Oleum Spray Paint Copper
• Untreated cedar 2x4's, two 8' lengths

For the base we used 3" wide steel flat bar, which was something new for us because we almost always work with square metal tubing.  (You know you're an avid DIYer when you have "go-to" metal, haha). 

For the top, we actually used home improvement store lumber, which we never use for furniture.  It's intended for building, so it's really not the right quality for furniture and it irks me when I see people use plywood with biscuits or really warped lumber for DIY home decor projects.  Don't expect quality furniture from builder's grade wood!  We always head to a lumber yard with materials designed for woodworkers - that's where I score my fancy walnut plywood too.  But for this project, we wanted to keep costs down and try using the kind of wood we'd actually use for the siding, so we headed to a home improvement store and reluctantly bought some 2x4's.

Before we built the wood top, though, we made the welded metal legs for the base.  We toyed with some different designs, but ultimately we liked this look:



To make that H leg, we had to make some cuts and cut out two pairs of pieces for each leg.  To do that, we measured out the lengths and cut them using a 4.5" angle grinder with some cutting disks.

With the four pieces cut out (two shorter and two longer), we used welding magnets to hold together the leg shape.

We use these magnets for every welding project, they are seriously handy!

To hold the rectangular H leg together, Hubby started by tack welding the shape (which is the same principle as basting stitches for sewing - you just want to hold everything together and double check for squareness, etc., before committing to an actual weld). 

To remove any slag, Hubby used a wire brush and gave it a brisk brushing. 

Here's a peek at the tack weld:

When we were sure it was perfect, he doubled back and welded all of the joints for good.  At this point, we had to call in the Project Inspector, Szuka.  She'll assess the quality and smell of our welds, indicating whether the project is a pass or fail. 

And, voila! Here's a look at one of the finished bench legs.  After using a flapper disk on the grinder to remove any rogue lumps or bumps (welding splatter), it was ready for some tabs.

To attach the welded legs to the wood top, we affixed some tabs because we didn't have a drill bit to drill through the flat bar because it's so thick.  So we welded on some tabs that we could drill through.

One tip: we originally only did tabs on one side of the metal but then added a second set on the other side to keep the legs straighter and add strength.  This bench is heavy!

For the paint, I chose the same copper spray paint we used for the fire pit - which is a great shade of copper.  For this application, we definitely don't need a high heat paint, but we both liked that the two outdoor pieces would match (Rust-Oleum makes a other copper paint but it's a different shade).  Plus it means we can just keep one can of paint on hand to touch up the fire pit, bench, and step as needed.

To build the top, all we did was cut our 2x4's to the same length and then sanded rough spots and the edges to create a smooth surface.  We edge glued the boards together for a little extra strength and to help hold them in position. 

I could get used to this natural wood thing because skipping the staining and clear coating meant this project was done days faster.  That is my kinda DIY!!!

All we have to do now is let nature takes its course and beautifully weather this wood for us...  This will give me something to look forward to as I wait out the cold winter ahead. 

Right now the bench has found a home on the deck of our guest house - and I love the copper legs paired with my Eames chairs and the turquoise front door/window trim.  Such a pretty color palette of autumnal hues and my perennial favorite: turquoise!

Love the look but definitely not into the DIY?  No worries!  I know not everyone can whip up some welded furniture in their backyard.  Here are a couple of similar options you can purchase: this very similar bench with reclaimed wood top and welded metal H legs from Etsy and this rustic live edge bench with welded legs.   

P.S. If you loved watching this welded bench come together (I like the show, How it's Made, so I'm fascinated by projects even when they're out of our reach just because the assembly process is so mesmerizing), check out our other welding projects:

Walnut Bed with Welded Legs (and check out the Welded Headboard Refresh too!)

Welded Desk with Glossy Pre-Fab Pine Top

Welded Fire Pit

Read more »