Furniture From Construction Waste

There is a lot of waste that is produced from a construction site. There is also heaps of useful materials that go to waste that can be used for furniture. Here are the steps that I took to create a bench using about 90-95% construction waste.

Step 1: Making the Bench Top

First of all lay out the materials you have a where you want them. Try to make them fit in a way that there is no off cuts or that any off cut is still a usable bit of wood

Step 2: Sanding

When you have cut all the bits of wood to size, sand the top surface and the edge surfaces so they are all 90 degrees and flat.

Step 3: Marking the Wood

Put the right sides up and place the bits of wood where they are meant to go. Then with a ruler and pencil mark where each biscuit hole should go. Most of the time one is enough for each join however on larger pieces do 2 or 3. I also wrote numbers for each join so it was easy to put them all back together.

Step 4: Connecting the Wood

With the right sides facing down on your flat work surface, clap the wood in place and use the biscuiter to make a whole where you have marked. Do this for all the wholes. Then glue in the whole and around each surface, place the biscuit in, then clamp the joins together. I used PVA wood glue.

Hint: Do not try to do multiple bits at once, it ends up making them move out of place and you end up with gaps.

Step 5: Doing It in Sections

The easiest way the make this bench is to create sections which then you will glue together. I did it so my smaller sections created two halves then I glued the two halves together.

Step 6: End Joins

I created end joins out of solid bits of wood so that the legs had a sturdy bit to connect to.

Step 7: Making the Legs

For the legs I found that 90mm wood worked very well. So I cut squares at this size. You can make the legs as long as you like.

Step 8: Legs

Once all the squares were cut out I drilled wholes at them so a dowel can go through the middle of them to help with strength and also connecting them to the bench top.

Step 9: Support

From one plank of wood I cut the profile of the centre underneath of the bench. Then glued it to the centre so that the bench had more support. If you are using thicker wood and making the same design into a coffee table, so not much weight goes on it, this step is not necessary.

Step 10: Connecting the Legs to the Bench

To connect the legs I drilled wholes so the dowel from the legs matched up to where I wanted the legs to be on the bench. I did 20mm in from each edge. I glued and clamped each leg.

Step 11: Finishing

I used an orbital sander to sand the top of the bench because of the different grains. Make sure the bench is very smooth. Then I used a clear top coat to finish the bench. You can finish it with whatever you want, you could even paint it a colour.

Step 12: The End

You dont have to do exactly what I did with this bench. I wanted all the internal surfaces to be the raw materials to show where the materials had come from. But you don't have to do this. You can also make whatever furniture you would like from these materials.

Let me know if you make anything using these techniques. I would love to see what you make.

If you have any questions send me an email: [e-mail]