Refurbishing An Old Bench

My mom gave us this old bench that used to belong to my grandpa. I'm a sucker for old things. Old things just seem to be made to last. Which is one of the reasons why I'm so excited about our "new" 51 year old house.

My camera was dead when I first started, so this is after I'd already gotten some of the screws and bolts out.



Aren't these the nastiest screws and bolts you've ever seen? I got about half of them out, but then had to use some WD-40 to get two more out. There were still 4 bolts and 1 screw that I asked Shane to work on. I love having a man around. He got the screw out, but there are still 2 bolts left. I really hope he can get them off.



The problem is this... Rust!


This is what I'm up against. Yuck!


I've sanded the boards on the left, but I need to use a coarser sandpaper on the boards on the right. That side was on the underside. Amazing what time and weather does to wood.


Some unsanded wood...

So I went to Orchard Hardware and Supply yesterday to get all the materials. Screws, bolts, coarse sandpaper, wood stain, paint brush, and mineral spirits (to clean the brush). It came out to $48!!

Made me think of how it's so easy to spend $200 on materials to MAKE YOUR OWN quilt!! It shouldn't cost me so much to fix something. For $30 more, I could get a new metal and wood bench.

Anyway, it's annoying. I went to Walmart to find some of the materials at a lower price and found the bolts and nuts. That will save $11! I'll try to find some of the other items today.

Besides being annoying, I'm really enjoying being outside with the kids and working with my hands! Caleb loves helping and watching. And Georgiana loves climbing all over the bench and chewing on the screwdrivers. I'll try to get a picture of them next time.