# small outdoor tables - screws? dowels & glue?



## ceabrm (Dec 29, 2016)

i've had some treated deckboards sitting in the garage for months, so i decided to rip them up and put together a couple small simple end tables for the deck.

i know there's a simple answer but it evades me 
should i use coated screws for the joints? glue & dowels?

the sun on the deck is brutal nearly all day, and even though they've been drying in the garage for nearly a year, i know they're still going to warp out there…


----------



## John Smith_inFL (Dec 15, 2017)

Carol - what did you use to fasten the deck boards to the joists ??

.


----------



## ceabrm (Dec 29, 2016)

actually, i bought 5/4 deck boards when i should have bought 2×6s for the pier :/

i used stainless steel screws to install the new boards on the pier…but i wouldnt spend that kind of money for just these little tables…so…i guess ceramic coated screws it is - those i have by the hundreds lol


----------



## wormil (Nov 19, 2011)

Deck screws


----------



## bugradx2 (May 7, 2018)

Is the better question, will you put a finish over the treated boards or just let them weather?


----------



## ceabrm (Dec 29, 2016)

i'd prob just put some buttons under the feet and let them weather. finished the base for the first little table with blue kreg screws and my good wood glue…cut the boards for the top and mulling how to attach them.

i'm think just deck screws thru the face? i dont really care a lot about these, they'll last until i get tired of looking at them


----------



## LesB (Dec 21, 2008)

I would use the Kreg pocket hole screw system to hold it together. The screws won't be visible…in most uses and if desired you can plug the recess holes. The jigs start as low as $30.

Better would be mortise and tenon construction for the stretchers and aprons to the legs and screw pocked holes on the underside to hold the top boards on..


----------



## Jimothy (Oct 29, 2015)

I think either options could work if you use waterproof glue


----------



## JackDuren (Oct 10, 2015)

Deck screws from the big box should work fine. I threw together a coffee table out of treated a couple years ago. Just galvanized nails from a Senco with the intension of going back with screws. Still haven't done it and it's holding up great…


----------



## ceabrm (Dec 29, 2016)

the deckboards were in the garage for over a year 
ended up using outdoor kreg and coated deck screws and tite bond II glue…they'll last til i'm sick and tired of looking at them lol
they're on either side of the bench i put together a few years ago


----------

