Their deck becomes a preschooler's picnic table
Sunset, May, 1984
A pull-out step turns this deck into a picnic table. How? The 114-inch-long step becomes a bench seat along one side of the multilevel deck. Owners Anne and Jim Young of Tualatin, Oregon, scaled it for use by their small children; it's too low for comfortable adult seating.
When not pulled out, the 12-inch-wide step blends with the 20-inch-high deck, giving little hint of its double identity. The only clues are the notches cut in the riser. Two notches are hand holes; others are for 2-by-4 guides mounted to the underside of the double 2-by-6 step.
The pull-out bench works like a giant drawer. At three points along its length are pairs of 2 by 4's that act as guides. They flank short 2-by-12 joists that project from beneath the deck but are not part of the main deck foundation.
As the sketch below shows, the 2 by 12's are blocked between the deck's support posts. The 2-by-6 blocks were toenailed in place; a nailed 1-by-4 rear brace joins the three 2 by 12's. The blocking, front riser, and rear bracing keep the 2 by 12's rigidly in position.
To make it easy to pull out the step, Mr. Young made sure the 2 by 12's were all square to the deck and projected equally on the front. He cut a notch in the front end of each 2 by 12, so the projecting part is 9 inches high and 11 inches long. The remaining part and the 2-by-6 blocking keep the step from sliding in too far.
The blocking is important; without it, the weight of a child on the pulled-out seat could make it tip backwards. But because the 2-by-4 guides extend beneath the blocking, their upward motion is stopped. Although the step can be completely removed, the Youngs slide it out only 7 or 8 inches, leaving about 5 inches of the 2 by 4's beneath the blocking. (To ensure that guides do not come out or tip over, you could use longer 2 by 4's and add stop blocks to their ends.)
Most Recent Home & Garden Articles
Most Recent Home & Garden Publications
Most Popular Home & Garden Articles
- 29 Awesome things to do this summer! Lazy summer days… Who need's 'em? Not you! You've got all the time in the world, so here's how to make the best of it and beat summer boredom!
- No-Cook Homemade Ice Cream
- Mowing down mower problems - lawn mower troubleshooting
- Perfect picks: how to tell when your summer garden's ready to harvest
- Your 10 most embarrassing body questions answered: you're going through puberty , and you have questions . The only problem? You're afraid to ask! No worries—we took your most baffling body Q's to the experts for you

