Repurpose an Old Grill

Our last major DIY project for 2020 was to cover the street facing underside of our deck with painted boards.  The main reason for this was mostly esthetical, but I also wanted to hide some of the items we were storing under there.  Including our old, rusted out grill. In case you missed that post – here is the link: DIY Deck Skirting.

We’ve done a couple of deck updates this past year and while preparing for a final outside dinner, we realized our grill was finally not up to the task. We bought a new one but were not quite ready to throw the old one away. Instead, it found a temporary home under our deck.  It stayed in the back if my mind though and I was trying to think of a purposeful way to reuse it.

While talking to Pieter one morning, I asked if the base was still sturdy and maybe could be used as a mobile table.  He immediately pulled it out of storage and started taking it apart.  With the grill part removed, it gave us the perfect height for a table and with a bit of cleaning and painting, could really look like new again.

We set off for supplies at our local Home Depot.

Supplies Needed

• Two Pieces of Wood
• Aluminum Angle
• Wood Stain
• Black Spray Paint
• Clear Shellac Spray

Back home from the store, Pieter immediately took out the power washer and gave the old grill a good cleaning.  We placed it in the only sunny spot available that day to dry – the front lawn. 

Making a Table

Next step was to cut and add the two pieces of aluminum angle edging, that would act as side supports for the wooden top.  After they were fastened with metal screws, the whole base got a couple of layers of spray paint and was left to dry.

Pieter started with the work to measure, cut and stain the two pieces of wood – one for the top and one for the bottom. The bottom piece needed some additional cutting on the corners, to fit around the legs of the base.

After the stain dried, we screwed the top piece of wood onto the metal brackets, and placed the other piece of wood onto the bottom support. Final touches included some clear shellac and reattaching the bottle opener to the side of the new table.

A very easy way to repurpose your old rusted grill and get a new handy and very mobile grill side table. We had another opportunity a couple of weeks ago to grill some lamb with visiting family and the new table made it’s first appearance.