Outdoor Patio Shelving

When someone says Arizona, most people think of hot, dry climate. Well, in SE Arizona, we get 4 seasons, with the monsoons in July and August providing about 90 percent of our annual rainfall. The “monsoons” start in mid July and usually continue until late August. These monsoons are REAL monsoons, too. I have been in monsoons in SE Asia and sometimes these are really comparable! So, when she asked me in mid June to make a shelving unit for her patio, I knew I was under the gun. (Being disabled, I walk real slow and it seems it almost takes me longer to roll my tablesaw in and out of my garage than I take cutting the wood with my table saw.)

Anyway, I designed this with Redwood frame, and exterior plywood. I primarily used pocket hole joinery and slotted screw holes to allow for wood movement. I used oak molding to cover the plywood edges, and finished the entire project with several coats of spar varnish (polyurethane).

The projection in the front is an exterior electric plug that they supplied. I wired it to the exterior plug behind the shelves and stapled the wire to the frame. The joinery is about 95% hidden. The exposed joinery is under the top front edge and two under the rear top edge.

Anyway, the day I got it completed, the monsoons started and it was a wet year this year! Tough for woodworkers that work outside, like me…LOL

God Bless,
Hawg

-- Saving barnwood from the scrapyards