How To Make a Painted Game Board on a Picnic Table
Over a long holiday weekend, we played with our newly made horseshoe pit on the north side of our property. It is a lovely setting under the large oak and pecan trees which give lots of shade.
We soon realized that we needed a place to sit. The husband kept moving folding chairs back and forth from the shed. The process became old fast. We got an idea to bring our old picnic table over and leave it near the horseshoe pit. Then I took the idea one step further and make a painted game board on it.
Set up with materials
In the picture to the left, you can see our old table. It isn’t much, but I didn’t want to buy a picnic table. I noticed they cost a few hundred dollars.
Material needed for this project is a picnic table, yardstick
Getting set up
The first thing is to brush off the tabletop with a brush. Use a hard plastic bristle broom to get all the hard to get dirt and debris off and out of the cresses. My table took a while to work on because it had been outside for a long time.
Next, find the center of the table. This spot will be the starting point for your chessboard. Our table is long enough for two-game boards, but I decided on only one. You make your mind on whether you want one or two boards for your painted game board. Now place a + sign in the center. This is your starting point and guide.
Measuring the board to proper size
A chessboard has a total of 64 squares, both painted and not. This means there are eight squares lying horizontally and eight lying vertically. Now determine the size of the gameboard you can fit on the table. I determined my squares will be 1-7/8 inches for both length and width. That size gave me a nice size board.
Starting with the + sign made earlier, tape down two tape squares catty-corner to each other. Make sure the tape corners are touching. I like using a yardstick to help keep measurement of both the table and the size of the tape squares.
Once all the squares cut and taped down, then it is time to put a border around the gameboard. The painted border doesn’t have to be thick, just enough to wrap around the empty unpainted squares.
Place four large tape pieces on all sides of the board. Place the tape slightly away from the last line of taped rows. Look at the picture to the left. You can see the narrow gap I left in between the border tape and the last row of taped squares. It may look like a mistake but once it is painted it will all come together.
Time to paint
Now for the fun part. Paint the entire interior of the board with Kilz paint first. It is oil-based paint and stands up to the outdoor environments. It will also not soak into the wood like water-based paint. I painted with thick coats and later put a second coat on after it dried.
You can make your board any color you want. I chose white because it shows up better against the old weathered wooden picnic table. Also, don’t pull off the tape until the paint has dried completely. My tape didn’t stick perfectly because of the wood. Some of the paint bled under the tape. Fortunately, it didn’t ruin it. If the tape is hard to come off, use a razor blade to cut the paint and make a nice clean line.
Apply the polyurethane for the final step. Use a sponge brush to apply three coats with each coat dried before reapplying the next. If possible apply polyurethane to the entire table, not just the painted gameboard area.
Games to play on your new board.
As for game pieces, I found some plastic chess pieces
Tell us how your painted gameboard table came out. Let us know what you think down below. Also, check out how we made our block dice yard game for more backyard family fun.
