Weekend Remodel: How to Build a Planter Bench

By: Jennifer Stimpson, This Old House magazine

Shopping List

Supplies You Will Need

1. cedar 2×4s Get twenty 8-foot boards to make the 16½-inch planter pieces and the 82½-inch-long seat frame.

2. cedar 1¼×6s Get four 6-foot boards to make the 63-inch-long seat, and one 8-foot board to trim the tall planter.

3. ¾-inch gravel for drainage below the planters and to fill the assembled planters. Get at least 1½ cubic feet (three bags).

4. potting soil to top off the planters filled with gravel. Get four 32-quart bags.

5. construction adhesive Get 4 tubes.

6. 3-inch stainless-steel deck screws

7. 2-inch stainless-steel deck screws

8. 3-inch galvanized siding nails

9. 12-inch galvanized spikes Get eight

Close
Tools List
Tools You Will Need
- 4-foot level
- miter saw
- circular saw
- jigsaw
- Speed Square
- drill/driver fitted with a ⅜-inch paddle bit
- garden spade
- hammer
- hand tamper
- caulk gun
Close

child enjoying a seat on an outdoor planter bench on a beautiful day

< >

Photo: Kolin Smith

Introduction
Overview
Steps:
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
- 16
- 17

8 hours
$350 for cedar construction

Difficulty: Easy The quick cuts and lap joinery make for a simple stacked installation

There is lawn furniture, and then there is what you might call landscape furniture—custom seating built right into the terrain. Done right, it can create a little oasis in your yard or even on your deck. Take, for instance, this bench with planters for piers. Senior technical editor Mark Powers made the entire installation from rot- and weather-resistant cedar lumber using lap joinery, a sturdy construction method meant to keep the planter walls from bowing against pressure from roots, should you decide to plant trees. See how the project comes together step-by-step on the pages that follow.

The cedar lumber for this planter bench costs far less than built teak furniture but is just as weather resistant.