Concrete Side Table Restoration
In this post I'll share my journey restoring my outdoor side table. It's made out of concrete, but it's not solid. The cheap paint had started to peel after sitting outside for only a year, and in the spirit of keeping it alive, I dediced it was time for a new project.
The restoration process was divided into three major steps:
- Removal of the old paint and primer.
- Repairing the damaged top of the table.
- Re-finishing the table.
Removal of the Old Paint and Primer
To make my life easier (and also just because I wanted one,) I bought a Speed Blaster portable media blaster. I actually had my bicycle restoration in mind when purchasing it, but I knew I would find a lot of uses for it once I got one. After picking up some walnut shell media from Harbor Freight, I got to work blasting the top of the table.
I wasn't too sure how the table would react to the walnut shell blasting, but the process went pretty smoothly. The flaking paint flew off of the table with minimal effort, and the paint that was still holding on came off without too much more effort. I would guess I spent less than fifteen minutes blasting the top of the table clean.
Repairing the Damaged Top of the Table
Once I had the top of the table stripped, it was time to resurface the top of the table. There were some relatively deep pits in the surface, and I wanted to patch them up while I had it in this condition. I picked up a tub of concrete and stucco patch from the home improvement store. The nice thing about buying this was not having to deal with mixing my own concrete. The tub came pre-mixed and wetted.
After cleaning the top of the table with dish soap and water, and gently brushing the pits to ensure all of the debris was cleared, the table was dried to ensure good adhesion. Making sure that the pits were completely filled in, a thin coating of the patch was spread evenly across the top of the table. Once satisfied with the surface, the table is left to dry for a week per the instructions. I'm sure it could be painted sooner since the layer is so thin, but it won't hurt to make sure.
