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How to ..... ?

This blog is intended to be helpful to English-speaking foreign residents in Spain by explaining "How to ... " do certain things. "The DIY Guy" has lived in Spain full time since 2008. A fluent Spanish-speaker he reckons he knows his way round the bureaucracy, the indifference and sometimes downright rudeness of "funcionarios". He's also pretty good with his hands, doing up houses and renovating things.

HOW TO ..... renovate a COFFEE TABLE?
Wednesday, October 16, 2024 @ 7:05 PM

Everytime I go to Ronda I have to pass the local rubbish depository. There is often something discarded there that is crying out to be recycled.

The Spanish don't really go in for selling things de segunda mano (second-hand), so they just chuck it away.

I don't mind. Over the years I have acquired a number of items, usually furniture, that are in perfectly good condition. These items include dining chairs, tables, garden items, children's toys, even original paintings!

I renovate and clean these things up and either put them to good use or sell them on.

 

Coffee table - October 2024

What do Spaniards have against wood? They throw away perfectly good solid wood furniture and buy modern c**p made of laminates, formica, metal and plastic!

The other day I spotted what looked like a coffee table. It was rather splendid. Solid wood with a carved pattern. The table top was missing, probably it had been a glass insert.

I checked for woodworm, rot and other infestations - no sign of anything bad, so I opened the car boot and popped it in.

 

 

The renovation

After a ponder I decided to replace the missing glass with a ceramic top, made from tiles I had left over from other jobs. As a base I used a piece of thick plywood, also picked up at the dump.

So, I gave the table a light rub-down with sandpaper, cut the plywood to size and fixed it in place using screws and decided on the tiles I would use.

Next, I removed the dust and painted the table to seal it and give it a distressed look. I chose the colour nogal (walnut).

The following day I fixed the tiles which I had previously cut to size.

The day after that I grouted the gaps and cleaned the table up.

 

My "good-as-new" coffee table

The recovered and renovated coffee table is now usable. Ideal for a glass of cava before dinner.

 

The only cost was a bag of tile adhesive. I found some left-over grout in my almacé​​​​​n.

I'm very pleased with the result. What do YOU think?

***

All photos by "The DIY Guy" except cover photo by Diario.es

 

© The DIY Guy

 

Tags:

coffee table, Diario.es, dump, formica, good-as-new, infestation, laminates, metal, plastic, recycling, renovation, Ronda, second-hand, The DIY Guy, tile adhesive, white grout, wood, woodworm

 



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1 Comments


Vickya said:
Sunday, October 20, 2024 @ 10:49 AM

Hi

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