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*Thank you to DAP Products for sponsoring this project*
Do your kids love playing with chalk? Build them a large chalkboard for your backyard! This step by step tutorial shows you how to build a weatherproof outdoor chalkboard complete with a live roof.
1. Build frame for box around chalkboard. Using 2" x 6" cedar wood, build a frame that is a little bigger than your chalkboard. Join the corners of the frame by cutting 45 degree miter cuts and screw together with 2.5" construction screws.
2. Add sheet of siding to the back & sides of frame. On a level surface, lay the frame down flat. Next, lay the sheet of siding on top and attach using your framing nailer & 2 3/8 inch galvanized framing nails. Also cut down and attach siding to the sides of the frame (the short sides of the rectangle).
3. Rip cedar down for trim & attach to box. Rip down cedar fence pickets. On the box portion, they are 1 inch wide and on the doors, they are 3 inches wide.
4. Build doors. Take the total surface area of the front side of your box and divide it by two to determine the size of your doors.
Cut sheet siding down to size with table saw.
Attach the 3 inch trim to the front of the door with screws coming in from the back side of the door. Our trim goes around each side of the door and then one diagonal piece across the door for added support and to add a little bit of character.
5. Caulk all joints, seams and exposed nail holes.
6. On the cedar trim pieces, start by painting with primer and then move on to exterior paint. We did 2 coats of paint on everything include. No need to worry about priming the siding pieces, they are already preprimed.
7. Once the paint is dry, cut your 4x4 posts and attach to the bottom of the box with four 4-inch screws on each post.
8. Attach hinge straps & lag bolts for doors.
9. Using a post hole digger, dig 2 holes about 12 inches down about 6 inches away from the fence for the posts to sit in.
10. Next attach pressure treated 2x4s directly to the fence where the fence rails are located.
11. Now you had sit the box in the holes and get everything leveled out. You may need to add or remove some more direct from one of the holes to level it. Be sure to level both vertically and horizontally.
12. Using construction screws, attach the box to the support anchors that you added to the fence.
16. Attach handle. Just screw it to the front at a level your toddlers can open it themselves.
17. Attach eyehooks to prevent the doors from swinging shut while the kiddos are playing.
Now do you wanna build a large chalkboard for your backyard too?
Great idea!
I wanted a huge chalkboard in my back yard for my child and her friends to play. One exterior wall of my house faced the backyard. So I bought a standard sheet of marine plywood at Home Depot and do that I wouldn’t need to cut it, I made my chalkboard in that huge but standard size - 4 foot x 8 foot. I bought a $8 chalkboard paint and I followed the steps on the can. It was easy to paint in 2 coats. My fence was being repaired at that time so I had the fence guy frame my chalkboard with leftover wood. Then we attached the board to the outside wall. 7 years later, my child is now 10 but she and her little neighbor friends still like it and are entertained using it.
That is great to know that the plywood and chalkboard paint holds up!
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Wondering how the weather would affect it? Rain, etc....