DIY Zinc Top Kitchen Table

Happy KnocktoberFest!

Knocktoberfest Button

Have you been hopping all around blogland this week checking out all the great Knock Off projects from many talented and creative bloggers?

They are amazing, and I can’t wait to make a few of those projects myself.  I LOVE getting the look of designer items for a lot less cash!

That’s why I jumped at the chance to participate in this year’s KnocktoberFest hosted my Lindsay at Makely School for Girls.

And I knew exactly which item I was going to Knock Off.

This little beauty…

Messina Dining Table

Messina Dining Table

$799.00

I’ve been wanting to do a makeover on my kitchen table for a couple years now because my boys had destroyed the top of it.

I would love to purchase this Ballard’s table but I didn’t have the over $800 to purchase it.

So with some creativity and some help from my husband, I created my own zinc top table!

Why buy it when you can make it, right?!!

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

{I used this post from VanHook & Co. as my inspiration for this project.}

Here is what my table originally looked like…

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

Y’all, that picture makes me cringe because it was when we first started our kitchen makeover when we moved in over two years ago!  This is the only picture I could find of the table with black legs.

I used Annie Sloan white chalk paint to paint the legs of the table first.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

Then I sanded the legs with a sanding sponge and sealed them with Annie Sloan clear wax.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

Have four boys that are continuing to grow everyday, I wanted to make our table as big as I could.  So I asked my husband to help me lengthen it.  DIY Aged Zinc Table TopWe pulled the table out farther than it normally extends and supported it with 2×4’s.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

We also attached some 2×4’s in the middle of the table where the gap now was.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

We always apply PL Construction Adhesive to every board before we screw it to the table to make it extra strong.

This is what our table now looked like…

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

Next, we spread PL Construction Adhesive {available at Lowe’s} to the entire top of the table.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

Then Cy screwed a large sheet of MDF board to the top of the table.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

Our table measured almost 4 ft x 8ft, but you would cut the board to whatever size you want your table to be.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

To the edges of the table, we glued and screwed 2×2 boards.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

Then we spread more PL adhesive to the top of the MDF board.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

We bought our piece of galvanized sheet metal from Harbor Steel in Lexington, Kentucky, and a 4 ft x 10 ft piece cost about $50.

Now here is where things got a little tricky.  We needed our galvanized steel to cover the edges of the table, so we took it to a friend of ours who owns a steel company, and he has a huge machine that does it perfectly.  And get this….he did it for us for FREE!  Woohoo.

Check out your local steel shops to see if you can find someone to do it for you for a small fee.  It should cost less than $100 to do.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

If you want to see a tutorial of how to bend the sides of the steel yourself, click HERE.

Next, we sprayed the table top with Muriatic Acid to give the zinc an aged look.

CAUTION:  Muriatic Acid is VERY DANGEROUS!!  Be sure to wear gloves and preferably use it outside.  It was raining the night we did this, so we had to do it inside, but we had all the doors and windows open.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

You can also brush the acid on, but I wanted the look we got from spraying it on.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

We left the acid on the table for about an hour, and then we neutralized it with baking soda and wiped it off.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

I was already thrilled with the results.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

Then we needed to solder the edges of the table.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

We used a gas torch and some flux, but we should have used a paste as well.  There is a better tutorial of this process at VanHook & Co.  Click HERE to view it.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

{Side note:  I am going to buy some paste and re-do the edges later.}  Smile

After the corners are soldered, file them smooth.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

Last step is to seal the table with wax.  We used Butcher’s Wax.

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

And now we have a beautiful, LARGE table to enjoy in our kitchen!

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

I am so very happy with how it turned out, and you will be seeing this table in a lot of furniture posts from now on! Smile

Won’t it look beautiful at Christmas?!

DIY Aged Zinc Table Top

If you were stopping by from Not Just a Housewife, THANK YOU for visiting me!

Next stop on the KnocktoberFest tour is my buddy Brooke, from All Things Thrifty!

 

You can check out all of the KnocktoberFest participants by clicking on the links below:

Please check out the other lovely projects:

Monday, October 21
1.  Lindsay – Makely School for Girls
2.  Beth – Home Stories A to Z
3.  Gina – Shabby Creek Cottage
4.  Beckie – Infarrantly Creative
5.  Emily – Decorchick!
6.  Wendy – The Shabby Nest
Tuesday, October 22
1.  Donna – Funky Junk Interiors
2.  Jess and Monica – East Coast Creative
3.  Jackie – Teal and Lime
4.  Jen – Tatertots and Jello
5.  Carmel – Our Fifth House
Wednesday, October 23
1.  Chris – Just a Girl
3.  Melissa – The Inspired Room
4.  Ana – Ana White
5.  Marianne – Songbird
6.  Karianne – Thistlewood Farms
Thursday, October 24
1.  Roeshel – DIY Showoff
2.  Sandra – Sawdust Girl
3.  Jamie – C.R.A.F.T.
4.  Cassity – Remodelaholic
5.  Melissa – 320 Sycamore
6.  Mandi – Vintage Revivals
Friday, October 25
1.  Ashley – The Handmade Home
2.  Stacy – Not JUST a Housewife
3.  Traci – Beneath My Heart
4.  Brooke – All Things Thrifty
5.  Laura – Finding Home
6.  Sarah – Sarah M Dorsey Designs

 

Have a blessed day!

 

P.S.  We still have a gap in the side of our table where we lengthened it that I need to fill in with wood, but I ran out of time this week.  I will update this post as soon as I get that part finished.   Smile

 

Linking this project to Home Stories A to Z’s Tutorials and Tips Linky Party!

and Thrifty Decor Chick’s Before and After Party!

52 Comments

  1. My mother and I are currently ogling this fabulous table transformation Traci. She’s writing a Home Depot List for my father as we speak :). Seriously this is the coolest Dining table transformation I’ve seen yet! Thanks for sharing all the tips and tricks.

    Amy*

  2. I’ve been coveting that table for AGES and have the VanHook & Co tute bookmarked! I’ve just been too timid to jump in and TRY to do it! I’m on it now! Thanks for the inspiration!

  3. Hi Traci! I have been coveting that Ballard table for over 2 years. I love your knock off.

    I live in Lexington too. Can you tell me which Steel company you used? My husband used to own Southeast Steel in Lexington before he died, so I know Harry Gordon Steel. Were they the ones who cut it for you? Thanks, I appreciate it. I would love to do this too. Great job!

  4. This is fabulous!!! You are so blessed to have a husband that can do most anything. By the way, how is Champ?? Please let us know.

  5. I saw the table at the Ballard outlet in Cincy yesterday for $399. Their design is bad because tall people like my husband ( former pro basketball player so he’s tall) can’t get their legs under it. This is my dream table. Thanks for the instructions. My hairdressers husband is a sheet metal guy. I’m sure he can do the top for me. Wil find a table on Craig’s List.

    1. I didn’t know that about the Ballard’s table.
      I like the way we made this table because you can find any table you want and do the same thing. I hope you find a table perfect for you and your tall hubby! :)

  6. Hi Traci.

    I LOVE the table. I have a piece that I would like to turn into a kitchen island. Is the galvanized steel food safe? I would want to use it for rolling out dough and such.

    Carol

  7. Love the table!! My husband is working on the table as we speak!! When you said you used the Butcher’s Wax, did you use the bowling alley wax they have?

  8. Clearly, I’m a little late to the party. But that doesn’t mean I don’t L-O-V-E this! I’m wondering if I could paint something to look like this on my countertops. It looks beautiful!

  9. wow! just found your blog through pinterest… I can already tell I’m going to be spending a lot of time here this rainy day browsing past posts… :)

  10. your table looks great! When you had your friend make the bends in the table did he make two 90degree bends (one for the top and another to wrap around the apron?). If so, how did you ‘unbend’ it to put it on the table? I talked to someone in a sheet metal shop who will make the bends for me, but then I’m wondering how to get it around my table top. Does that make sense? Thx!!

  11. Just curious to how the zinc is holding up? How often do you have to reapply the wax? I have 2 messy boys and need to be able to scrub the table clean.

  12. wow, I’ve only just seen this. Such a fantastic transformation – I love the final finish of the table. I’d really like to try something like this myself :)

  13. Your ‘how to’ in this table is awesome! Thank you so much for sharing!! Quick question, how heavy is your table with the steel in it?

  14. Hi love this! I so want a steel top table, my family is very hard on wood tops :/ Between art projects and water rings are table has taken a beating, How is clean up on these? Any issue so far? Thanks!

    1. Super easy to clean up! I love it. :) Anything acidic, like ketchup, leaves a mark if you don’t clean it up quickly, but that doesn’t bother me. I like the look of the stains and all. Gives it character and charm. :)

  15. Wow, what a beautiful table!! We are looking to purchase a table with a zinc top, and I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about how yours has held up to your children?! Does it scratch easily? We have three little ones, and I’m trying to decide between a metal top and wood! Thank you!

    1. Hi Charlie! I love our zinc table. It does not scratch at all, it only shows stains if you get something acidic on it and it sits for a while, like ketchup, etc. But that doesn’t bother me, because I just think it gives the table a nice patina. :)
      I have four boys and our table has survived…that’s saying a lot! haha!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *