Advice on wood for outside table

[damzel]

I'm building a table for outside but am unsure which wood to use. It needs to be strong as it will hold a large Big Green Egg and they are heavy. However, it doesn't need to be fancy - I quite like the idea of a rough and ready table and also don't want to spend a fortune. Any tips?

[david_carnell]

There's a reclamation yard in Nunhead. Turn down past the Pyrotechnist Arms and keep going till you can't go any further and it's there down by the railway lines.

He's got all sorts of old stock that you could choose from. Nearly all wood is suitable for outdoor use if you treat it first. If you're not going to treat it then eventually everything will begin to rot but exotic hard woods (walnut, teak etc) will last longest. Or greenheart if you can find it. They use it to make canal locks since it gets tougher in water. Nigh on impossible to work with though given how hard it is and weighs a ton.

Also, don't buy new exotic hardwoods - deforestation is a real problem.

[damzel]

Thanks - that sounds interesting. I shall certainly go there!

[david_carnell]

I made a dining table from his stock. Antique pine, over 100 years old, pulled out of an old school if I remember rightly. It's beautiful stuff with amazing colour variation due to oxidization over that time. Lots of planing, sanding and oiling and it came up a treat.

[Salsaboy]

How about old scaffolding planks? They've been outside for years.

[ultraburner]

^^^^^

Thats a very good idea, sanded down roughly would look pretty good I reckon.

[damzel]

I like that idea too. Where do you get those from?

[damzel]

I think the reclamation yard david_carnell mentioned is Surebuild http://surebuild-reclaim.co.uk/contact.html. Do you know if they are open over the weekend? I haven't been able to contact them on the phone

[david_carnell]

I think they are open Sat mornings but not afternoons.

[Salsaboy]

For scaffold boards, why not try a scaffolding company. They must have old boards they want to get rid of.

[Seabag]

The allotments up by the golf course sell scaffold boards. One Gun Hill I think the place is called

A note of caution when setting an BGE into a table, is to rest the base on something non-flamable. I set fire to the wood mine was sitting on a couple of weeks back

Also, I don't know what size you've got, but strip out all the internal liner and fire box before attempting to lift it into place. If its a medium, large or XL, i'd remove the top dome section completely, then reposition and assemble once in place

Great bit of kit though

[damzel]

I'm planning on sitting it on a paving slab. Yes, I've been thinking about how the heck to get it into the table! I believe it arrives unassembled so was hoping to lift the bottom section in and then assemble the top/insides afterwards - do you think that's feasible?

Edited to add that it's the Large one.