Bar-height table made from concrete and wood: perfect for your garden

You need: Cordless jigsaw, Jigsaw blade for straight cuts, folding rule, pencil, brackets, 6 thermo-pine boards (25 x 120 x 1,650 mm), 4 thermo-pine boards (25 x 120 x 1,200 mm), 2 thermo-pine boards (25 x 120 x 700 mm), 2 thermo-pine boards (25 x 120 x 450 mm)

The table top should be more than just an eye-catcher. It should also be able to withstand a lot, no matter what you plan to use the table for later. That’s why we use thermo-pine boards for the table top and the lower shelf, because they are very resistant to environmental influences and also very durable. This bar-height table is perfect to use anywhere in your garden.

First, use a cordless jigsaw to cut all the boards you need to make the table top and the lower shelf. The clear-cut guide prevents tearout (splintering) when cutting the boards to size. You can also use a square as a saw guide for a clean and straight cut. You can find the exact dimensions for the individual components in the list of materials.

You need: Cordless rotary hammer, 6 mm concrete drill bit, 12 mm concrete drill bit, masking tape, folding rule, pencil, 2 L-shaped concrete blocks (500 x 400 x 600 mm), 4 concrete lawn edging slabs (60 x 250 x 1,000 mm)

This step will see you prepare to assemble the concrete table legs. We use threaded rods to connect the L-shaped concrete blocks to the slabs. To do so, first mark the exact position of the drill holes. Tip: Place masking tape over the appropriate places so you can mark the spots on the concrete. It is much easier to draw on masking tape than on concrete and you can make any corrections, if necessary.

Use a cordless rotary hammer to drill four holes in each of the two L-shaped concrete blocks. They need to be 1,250 mm from the outer edge at a height of 80 mm and 220 mm from the top edge.

Drill the holes in the centre of the side faces at a height of 180 mm and 420 mm, enabling them to be attached to the L-shaped concrete block afterwards.

The holes need to have a diameter of 12 mm so that the threaded rods can pass through them. However, we recommend pre-drilling the holes using a smaller drill bit. We suggest using a 6 mm concrete drill to start with.

You need: Cordless angle grinder, Cutting disc for metal, g-clamps, L-shaped concrete blocks, Concrete lawn edging slabs, Threaded rods, M12 cover nuts, Washers

The threaded rods need to be cut to size for the specific object you’re using in order to connect the L-shaped concrete blocks to the slabs. You have two options for this.

You can either cut the threaded rods ahead of time. To do so, use a cordless angle grinder to shorten four threaded rods to 180 mm and four to 200 mm in length. A word of caution: The L-shaped concrete block is slightly thick towards the bottom, so the threaded rods need to be a little longer to accommodate for that.

To be on the safe side, you can also cut the threaded rods to size when working on the object directly. To do so, first use G-clamps to hold the L-shaped concrete blocks and the concrete lawn edging slabs together. Then insert the threaded rod through the holes in the L-shaped concrete blocks and concrete lawn edging slabs and use a cordless angle grinder  to cut them to the right length.

Finally, screw the concrete lawn edging slabs to the L-shaped concrete blocks using the cover nuts. Use a washer for both ends of the threaded rod.

You need: Cordless rotary hammer, 8 mm concrete drill bit, rubber hammer, masking tape, pencil, folding rule, 8 concrete anchors (40 mm)

You also need to drill holes in the top faces of the concrete lawn edging slabs to ensure that the table top can be securely fastened to the table legs.

For the drill holes, place a mark in the centre that is 30 mm and 125 mm away from the edge of the block. Use a cordless rotary hammer  to drill holes 50 mm deep. We recommend using an 8 mm concrete drill bit to do this.

Tip: You can also put masking tape directly on the drill bit to mark the desired depth so you don’t drill too deep.

Then use a rubber mallet to carefully drop the concrete anchors into the concrete lawn edging slabs.

You need: Cordless combi drill, 3 mm Brad point drill bit, g-clamps, 6 thermo-pine boards (25 x 120 x 1,650 mm), 4 thermo-pine boards (25 x 120 x 1,200 mm), 2 thermo-pine boards (25 x 120 x 700 mm), 2 thermo-pine boards (25 x 120 x 450 mm), 40 countersunk screws (5 x 40 mm), 4 countersunk screws (5 x 70 mm)

You’re nearly done! Finally, you assemble the individual parts of the table top. To get started with that, lay the two 700 mm thermo-pine boards crosswise as a base. A word of caution: These boards will later be screwed into the top face of the concrete lawn edging slabs. So they need to be placed at the correct distance.

The six longer boards (1,650 mm in length) are used to construct the table top. They are placed under the shorter boards (700 mm) in the next step so that they extend approximately 100 mm outward to the left and right. Once the boards are in their correct position, secure them in place with G-clamps so that they do not move around. Use two countersunk screws per board to attach the six long boards to the two 700 mm boards. Pre-drill the holes in the corresponding spots with a 3 mm wood drill bit.

You will need to take the table top apart again once you have it completely assembled. This is because you first need to attach the two 700 mm boards with the pre-drilled holes to the top of the concrete lawn edging slabs. To do so, screw the 70 mm screws into the holes for the anchors on the concrete lawn edging slabs.

Once you have attached both boards, you can fully reassemble the table top.

Proceed in exactly the same way for the lower shelf. Use the two 450 mm boards for underneath and screw the four 1,200 mm boards on top. You can then simply place the finished assembly on the L-shaped concrete blocks. Your DIY bar-height table is finally ready!

What do you think about adding a DIY table to your living room to give it more charm? Take a look at our living room table from fruit crates. Or would you like to have a smaller project? Our handy picnic table with holders for glasses will serve you well everywhere, no matter whether you’re in the garden or a nearby park. Just like our stylish DIY outdoor camping table. And we also have a handy storage helper for small balconies: the corner balcony table with handy storage compartments. We hope you have lots of fun working on this DIY project.