Have you ever wished you could get your hands on some old, reclaimed lumber to build something unique?? I’ve been there! But it’s not only expensive, it’s hard to find reclaimed lumber. I’m about to show you how to make new lumber look reclaimed (and it’s not as hard as you think).
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For our project, we wanted a large dining table to seat up to 12 people. We asked Brad’s grandpa to weld us a frame for the table. But for the tabletop, we wanted something unique. Originally, we wanted a concrete top, but we didn’t have time to do that this year so we decided to build a wood top instead to use for the next few years. It only cost us $60 for the lumber and it turned out better than I imagined..so good I don’t even want to replace it with concrete now.
So how did we get the new lumber to look old??
First, we went to Home Depot and bought 4 – 10′ boards that were 2″x10″. We found the best ones that were straight but still had a little roughness to them because I was planning to go home and beat them up anyway.
Since they were cut to the length I wanted them, I didn’t need to cut off the ends at all. You may need to trim your’s to the length you want for your specific project. After they are cut to length, you are ready to distress them.
Here is how I distressed them to look old:
First, I took a reciprocating saw and cut the ends of the boards to look like saw marks. I made these cuts random and in different spacings so it looks natural. I also used this saw to put some distressing marks into the face of the board.
Next, I took a manual hand planer (this would’ve been a lot easier with a power hand planer but I didn’t want to buy one just for this project) and took some random chunks out of the boards. I caught a lot the of edges and used the planer in different directions, again to make it look as natural as possible.
After that, I took a hammer and hammered down an old chain to give the boards some bigger dents. I even just smacked it with the hammer a couple times. Careful not to do it too many times thought because the hammer leaves a pretty perfect circle dent and that doesn’t look natural.
Next, I took the smallest drill bit (1/16) I could find and made what I call “worm holes”. I just drilled in and out a bunch of different times in a small area, to make it look like natural worm holes.
The last thing I did to distress the boards was use a wire brush attachment for a drill and went over the entire piece with that to open up the grain of the boards. This helps make all those areas that didn’t get a beating look worn as well.
After I finished this entire process, I went over the boards lightly with a sander and 120 grit paper. This just helped to smooth any burs from the distressing and pounding and get it ready for stain.
For the stain, I think this part can either make or break this project. If I would’ve stained them dark, I think I would’ve lost the natural and reclaimed look I was after. I bought a bunch of samples of this semi-transparent stain from Home Depot and practiced on the backside of these boards (since nobody would see the underside of the table). I finally came up with the stain combo of Navajo White and Boot Hill Grey that gave me the perfect look I was after! I used the Navajo White first, let it dry according to the instructions on the can, then went over it with the Boot Hill Grey. This stain has a 6 year warranty on decks so I’m hoping it protects the wood and lasts us at least that long.
After I had the boards just how I wanted them, we attached them together with some scrap boards we had here and screwed them together from the bottom. Then we attached to our frame and we were done!! We now have a beautiful and unique tabletop for under $100!
This project probably took me 2 hours to prep and distress 4 boards and another hour to stain (not counting the dry time). So 3 hours total to create some pretty neat “reclaimed” looking lumber!
And that’s how we created our own “reclaimed lumber” on a budget and in less than a half day!!
