Backyard Adventures

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

11. Caulk and water seal the box. See below.

12. Install triangular top corner braces: Apply glue to bottom of remaining four plywood triangles and tack one at each corner of box, edges even with outside of box. Use small nails through triangle and into edges of plywood side and side panels and a long nail down into corner cleat. Countersink nails well into ply. Sand edges. Caulk all joints inside and out and water seal the plywood.

Waterproofing

The table needn't be completely waterproof, but it makes for a better job, dryer kids, and less water waste if it is. Here are three options:

A good bead of sticky, clear acrylic caulk along insides of all seams will seal a well-fastened water table if wood surfaces to be caulked are dry and dust free. But, under repeated soakings, the caulk will work loose and plywood will deteriorate unless covered with a waterproof finish. Better is to caulk and then paint with clear outdoor varnish or several applications of sky blue, glossy, latex-enamel paint intended for house trim.

Better yet is the old way of sealing canoes and covering aircraft. Get ahold of enough lightweight canvas, blue denim, or any open weave, hard-finished fabric to cover the sides and bottom, plus a gallon or two of marine (canoe) paint or airplane dope. Sky blue is the best color. Cut fabric into panels to fit bottom and all sides with a good inch of overlap at seams and over the top of side and end panels. Along bound edges of the fabric, snip off enough 2" wide fabric tape to place over seams. Double-over cut edges and staple edges of fabric panels to the wood, mugging well and stapling into corners and pulling fabric over flat areas as tight as you can. Then apply successive coats of paint (under the second coat put painting tape over seams) till you have a smooth surface. Let the children help paint too; they love it, and modern latex enamels wash off little hands and out of clothes so long as you don't let them dry hard.

You can do a more modern job by replacing the fabric with more costly, but vastly stronger, fiberglass mat and replacing canoe paint with two-part epoxy resin—obtainable with directions at any boating-supply house. The resin comes in two parts; mixed together and with color added, it is applied over the fiberglass just as paint goes over cloth and will make a glossy minipool. (DO NOT let small kids help apply the resin, which is caustic and emits vinegary fumes till cured.)

Land Medium

Kids need something to make land out of. Sod looks good for a few minutes but quickly becomes sodden and gets the water muddy. Crushed rock is arguably the best, as its corners and many angular faces help it stay put better in water than sand or gravel. The heavier pebbles in gravel make more stable land areas under water than sand. Kids will bring in rocks, clumps of sod, grass and leaves, and who knows what all else, and the table can look a proper mess at the end of a day's play. It is easy to move gravel around under water with the hose to wash out peanut butter sandwich leavings, while fine sand grains will compact and hold trash.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print