Unfortunately, I started this project without the intent of ever sharing the photos with anyone, so I mostly only have photos of the finished project, but like any project it started with a plan. This plan didn’t come from self reflection, speaking to a higher being, or a spirit vision. No no, this plan came from the internet. So I found a decent plan for an Adirondack chair (you can view it here) and I hit the hardware store.

Now the lumber aisle of the hardware store was sort of foreign place for me. Lots of numbers being thrown around, different types of wood, and strangely shaped shopping carts. Speaking of types of wood, this was where I made my first mistake. I don’t like to use the word “mistake”, I prefer “lesson learned”. So this is actually where I learned my first lesson as a complete project amateur. As I browsed the lumber aisles I quickly noticed that some wood was very white while some of the wood was greenish and wet. So I frantically got out my phone and started searching for the difference online so I didn’t look like a total rookie in front of the staff.

I quickly learned the wet greenish wood was “pressure-treated lumber” which is lumber which is put into a pressurized chemical tank. The chemicals absorb deep into the wood and stop it from rotting. It’s the stuff you’d build a deck out of. Anyways my logic was, my chairs will be outside so they must be treated! Wrong. I ended up throwing some spar urethane on these after staining so it’s double protection and unnecessary. A man once told me “It’s like wearing your belt and suspenders at the same time”. This was an old man in case the suspenders reference wasn’t a dead giveaway.

So I gathered my pressure treated wood and headed to my garage. The tools I ended up using for the construction were a cordless power drill, a 12-inch miter saw, and a jigsaw. The power drill was a gift from my old man as a housewarming gift, and the jigsaw was $5 at a neighborhood garage sale (It’s only a good deal if you brag about it). The miter saw was something I pulled off of a Facebook marketplace post and may have been the best purchase I’ve made to date.

I have a rule when I’m woodworking: Don’t crack open your first beer until you’ve made all your cuts. I have very symmetric hands (it’s one of my top 5 features), and I would hate for a sloppy cut to ruin that. So I patiently measured and cut all of my lumber into the required pieces, then I cracked open a cold one (I’ve been on a hazy IPA kick lately), and began the assembly process.

Here is where I realized the other shortcoming of freshly treated wood. I am a huge fan of using wood glue during the assembly process. Before I put screws into any nice woodworking project, I always glue, clamp, and wait. It really helps avoid having the pieces move around on you as you drill/drive. It also just results in an overall sturdier build. Well with freshly treated wood, the wood is still wet, so the glue doesn’t really ever dry up, so for the first chair assembly, I ended up bailing on the glue all together because it didn’t seem to make a difference. For the second chair, I wised up and let the wood dry out in the sun for a day before gluing. So. Much. Better.