A patio set lasts four summers. This is about the other thirty.
Everything on this bench is built from one of five species, cut thick, joined so it can move, and priced off the board. No veneer, no particle board, no staples.
See the five woods and what they costThe board
The only honest way to compare outdoor furniture is by what it is made of, so this is the whole shop reduced to that. Years outside is untreated, unfinished, in Missouri, on a piece that gets rain and does not sit in standing water.
| Species | Years outside | Per board foot | Movement | What it is right for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White oakQuercus alba | 30+ | $9.50 | Low | Dining tables, benches, anything that has to stay flat. The cells are plugged, so it does not drink, which is why boats were built out of it. The default here and the one we will steer you to. |
| Black locustRobinia pseudoacacia | 40+ | $8.00 | Low | Posts, legs, anything touching soil. Harder than oak and grown on fence rows all over this county, so it is local in a way nothing else here is. Ugly boards, beautiful once planed, and hard on tooling. |
| Eastern red cedarJuniperus virginiana | 25 | $6.25 | Medium | Planters, chairs, storage boxes, anything where light weight matters more than a flat surface. Smells like a cedar chest for about two years. Knotty, and the knots are the point. |
| WalnutJuglans nigra | 12 | $14.00 | Low | Covered porches only. It is the most beautiful wood in this state and it goes silver-grey in open sun faster than anything else on the board. We will build it and we will tell you where to put it. |
| Douglas firPseudotsuga menziesii | 8 | $4.75 | High | Big, cheap, structural. Pergolas, arbours, anything long that is going to be painted anyway. Not for a tabletop, because it will cup and the cup will hold water. |
Three we build most weeks
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SHOTSix foot white oak trestle table, three quarter view on grass, wedged tenon visible.
Trestle table, six foot
White oak, breadboard ends, wedged through-tenons so it comes apart in two minutes and goes through a gate.
from $1,850eight foot, from $2,240
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SHOTBlack locust bench under a tree, from behind at hip height, joinery against dappled light.
Garden bench, five foot
Black locust, no hardware in the frame at all, seat slats spaced so leaves fall through instead of sitting on it.
from $690
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SHOTTwo cedar raised planters, top down and angled, one planted one empty, drainage gap visible.
Raised planter, pair
Cedar, mitred corners, feet that hold the box off the ground so the bottom board dries instead of rotting.
from $420 the pair
Tell me the dimension you are stuck on, and I will tell you what it costs.
Most conversations start with a width, a doorway or a deck. Ring during the day and you will get me, not an office, and you will get a real number inside ten minutes rather than a form and a wait.
- Shop
- 123 Main St, Gladstone, Missouri
- Visits
- By arrangement. It is a working bench, so ring first and I will make room.
- Lead time
- Six to ten weeks, and longer between April and June.
- Delivery
- Free inside twenty-five miles. Two of us carry it in and set it where you want it.