Porch Swing

Good news and bad news.

Good news: Summer is finally over, which means that it’s bearable enough outside to actually enjoy sitting on the front porch. (Compare this to the past few months, which have been more like trying to lounge about on the surface of Venus.)

Bad news: We don’t have anywhere to sit on the front porch. Well, unless you count the folding chairs that have been out there for over a year. Technically these do the job, but it makes it look like we either live in a crackhouse (which is not true) or we can’t afford nice rocking chairs like the rest of the neighborhood (which IS true, but no-one needs to know that).

Also, Nicole’s sister is getting married and since the Bachelorette Party is going to be hosted at our house, Michael’s kicked out on his own for a whole afternoon and evening. {Note: this actually took place in July… :)} Whatever is he going to do?

Projects. That’s what. Front porch projects. Perhaps even a porch swing.

Design

First, measure the space you have available for the swing. We have a porch that’s about 7 feet wide, so in order to leave space on either side of the swing, we decided ours was going to be about 4’ long. 4’-4” long, actually, including the support outriggers. With 2-1/2” thick arms, that left us about 3’-7” (or 41”) in clear sitting width. Perfectly cozy for two people.

Next, we decided the seat depth should be about 20” in total depth. In hindsight, however, we wish we had made it a couple inches deeper to accommodate some cushions and a little more slouch room. Next time we’ll go with something more like 22”-24” deep.

The height of the backrest is also important. We decided to go with an even 18” from the top of the seat to the top of the backrest, but that can vary depending on what you think will be comfortable to you. If we had to make ours again, we would consider making it 16” instead of 18”.

If we had had more time, we would also have designed the back to be at a 15 degree obtuse angle from the seat, but we were on a deadline and that would have made for some complicated cuts. And there are such things as pillows to make up for that!

So, off to the Big Box Home Improvement Store to grab some wood’n’stuff.

Materials

• One (1) 2x6x8’ (really you only need 4’ of this, but that was the lowest length available)
• Four (4) 2x3x8’ (Or Three (3) if you have a spare 2×3 that’s about 4’ long)
• Six (6) 1x3x8’ (You could maybe get by with just five if you’re really super careful, but nothing is worse than having to go back to the store to get more of one thing if you mess up.)
• One (1) 2x2x8’
• 1-lb of 1-5/8” trim head screws
• 1-lb of 3” coarse thread drywall screws
• 1-lb of 1” or 1-1/4” coarse thread drywall screws
• Eight (8) 1-1/2” x 2” galvanized “L” clips/brackets
• Wood putty
• Sandpaper (80 grit is fine for this project)
• Porch swing chain and eye-bolt kit
• Four (4) ¼”x 2” Eye Screws (ensure these are rated for 100-lb minimum)
• Six (6) 1/8” Stainless Steel Quick-links (Do yourself a favor and buy an extra pack of these so you have 3-4 extra links.)

Tools

• Tape Measure
• Pencil
• Circular saw (or miter saw if available)
• Drill & Impact Driver
• Countersink drill bit
• Drill bit per eye-bolt size (possibly 3/16″ – 1/4” depending on the eye bolts you purchase)
• 18”-24” bar clamps
• 90 degree corner clamp
• Speed Square
• Framing square
• Crescent Wrench

Right then. Let’s begin. We’ll start with the seat assembly .

Seat

Cut two of the 2×3’s to 52” (or whatever the length of your long runners will be). Remember that the total length of these will be the desired width of clear sitting space in the middle, plus the thickness of the armrests on either side (2.5”), then another 2” on either side for anchoring the eye screws. The eye screws will be the suspension points from the chain above, so don’t forget to leave enough space for them to get a good “bite” into the board.

Next, we’re going to cut 3 lengths of 2×3 to be 21” long. These will be the end and middle “girders” of the seat. These lengths will be the difference between the total deisred depth of the seat (24” for the sake of this tutorial) and the total thickness of the two 2×3’s (3”). 24-3=21. If you want a shorter seat depth (like 22”), cut these shorter (like 19”). Like we said earlier, we had a total seat depth of 20”, which we wish had been deeper.

Ok, now here’s where we get a little fancy. Our design calls for the slats of the seat to be recessed from the top of the “girders” so that everything is all flush with each other. That means we need some little ledger pieces attached to the girders to create a little pocket for them. Cut 4 lengths of 2×2 to the same dimension as the girders. Then attach them to the girder pieces with the long drywall screws so that the top of the 2×2 ledger is about ¾” (the thickness of a 1×3) below the top of the 2×3 girder.

One trick to doing this is to lay the 2×3 in between two of your 1×3 boards, then rest the 2×2 on top of the 1×3. That way you’ll know that the final offset will be equal to the thickness of the 1×3.

NOTE: These girder assemblies will each be different! One will have one 2×2 on the left side, one will have the 2×2 on the right side, and one will have one 2×2 on both sides.

Once you have all 3 assemblies together, bring them over to the runner boards. Using a framing square to make sure the runner boards are square and parallel, arrange the girder assemblies in between them. Center the middle one, and position the left and right sides so that the outside faces are 4.5” (armrest thickness plus anchor point length) from the ends of the runner boards. (The resulting measurement between the inside faces of the outer 2×3’s should be the desired clear width of the sitting space, btw).

Now attach the girder assemblies to the runner boards using the 3” screws so that the tops of all the 2x3s are flush with each other. Use a countersink bit here to keep the screwheads flush with the face of the wood. Then use the little 1” screws to attach the little metal “L” clips between the long runners and the inside faces of the 2×2 ledgers. Make sure the clips don’t stick up past the tops of the 2×2 ledgers.

Alright! The seat base is now complete! Moving on to the Backrest!

Backrest

OK, here’s where having a precise miter saw would come in handy (if you have one). If you don’t have one, that’s fine, just make sure to be extra careful and focused on these cuts.

Take a new length of 2×3 and your speed square, and draw a PERFECT 45 degree angle on one end, leaving ½” or so of margin from the tip of the angle to the end of the board. CAREFULLY cut this little triangle off with your circular saw, going slowly and watching the blade as it just barely touches the line.

Once that end is cut, measure back from the short edge (now the bottom edge) of the board to a dimension equal to the desired clear sitting width (43” for us) and make a mark. From that mark draw a 45 degree angle up the board opposite of the angle you cut on the other end. This angle should NOT be parallel, but rather orthogonal to the angle you initially cut. Now CAREFULLY cut this angle as well. You should now have a 2×3 with a top edge that’s about 5” longer than the bottom edge.

Next, cut your 2×6 to the same length as the top (long) edge of the 2×3 you just cut. Then, at each end, measure 2.5” inward from the end and make a mark on the tip-top of the broad face of the board. On that face, draw two 45 degree angles going away from that mark down towards the ends. This should leave two little 2.5” x 2.5” triangles on the top corners of the board. Carefully cut these triangles out of the board.

Now, for the sake of simplicity, we’re going to say that our desired seat height is 18”. This is important because the next pieces we cut will determine that height.

Lay the angled 2×3 and the trimmed 2×6 on the ground parallel and square with each other. Now separate them so that the length between the top (long edge) of the 2×3 is 22.5” from the bottom (untrimmed edge) of the 2×6. The 22.5” figure comes from the 18” desired seat height plus the 2.5” depth of the seat assembly. If you want your seat shorter than 18”, reduce 22.5” by the difference between 18” and whatever it is you want.

Make sure each end is spaced the same 22.5”, then measure the length between the top point of the top 2×3 and the lower point of the angle you trimmed from the 2×6.  

Now,  cut another length of 2×3 to that measurement. Next, cut 45 degrees off of the very ends of this short board the same as you did the top 2×3. This piece should now fit in between the top board and bottom 2×6 running perpendicularly to those two. The mitered ends should be joining each other.

Next, cut another 2×3 the same way for the other side.

Using a 90 degree angle clamp, position the top and newly cut side boards so that they are joined at the miter, making sure the very tip points of each touch each other. Now, using a countersink bit, pre-drill some holes for the 3” screws, one from the top down into the side, and two from the side horizontally into the top piece. Drive in the 3 screws to secure the pieces together.

Attach the other side piece to the top board the same way.

Now, using a framing square to keep everything square, position the bottom 2×6 where the trim cuts meet the bottom angles of the side pieces, and both the left and right ends of the 2×6 are flush with the outer edges of the 2×3. Secure these with two screws on each side (from the outside edges going inward through the miter).

Lastly, cut a short length of 2×3 with squared ends to fit in between the top and bottom rails. Position the piece in the center of the backrest and secure at the top using two countersunk screws and at the bottom using one screw “toenailed” (or pocked driven, or driven at an angle) through the 2×3 into the 2×6.

With all of these attachments, take care to ensure the broad faces of the boards are all flush with each other.

Now that the backrest is ready, we can attach it to the seat assembly. Simply stand the backrest up so that the bottom of the 2×6 aligns with the bottom of the seat assembly, center it on the back runner of the seat, and drive in something like six to eight 3” screws through the runner into the bottom of the 2×6. Use clamps to help hold it in place while you attach it.

Armrests

For the armrests, cut two pieces of 2×3 to 10” posts. Attach these vertically to the face of the front runner so that their outside edges are aligned with the outside edges of the backrest. Use clamps to hold these pieces in place and check them with a speed square to ensure they’re perfectly vertical relative to the seat. Use 3” screws driven from back of the front runner into the 10” posts. Drive these screws at a bit of an angle so that the screws don’t punch through the front face of the 10” posts.

Next, simply measure the length between the face of the backrest to the front face of the 10” posts. Cut two more 2×3’s to that length. Then, using countersunk 3” screws, attach them to the top ends of the posts so that all sides are flush with each other.

Finally, attach them to the backrest via 3” screws through the back into the armrest. Use a speed square and clamps to hold these armrests perpendicular to the front posts and backrest. There you have it! The primary frame is now complete! All that left are the seat slats and bracing before you’re ready to finish!

Seat Slats

These are easy. Simply measure the length between the inside faces of the girder assembly 2x3s and cut some 1×3’s to that length! If you’re building the 24” seat depth model, there should be (7x) 1x3s on each side. These should all fit within the little pocket created by the 2×2 below.

One tip here, though, would be to cut lengths separately for each side. Don’t just assume that since you tried your best to center the middle girder assembly that the pocket lengths will be the same (they weren’t exactly the same for ours, so we had two different slat lengths – one for each side).

Lastly, go ahead and pre-drill two pilot holes at each end of each board for the trim head screws that will hold them in place. Put these at 5/8” in one direction from the end and 5/8” in the other direction from the edges. The more precise and consistent you can get with these screw locations, the better the final result will be, so spend a little time getting this detail exact.

Do not, however, attach these just yet. There will be some small spaces in between the slats, and it will be so much easier to paint / stain everything before attaching them than it would be to try to get into all those little nooks and gaps. 

X-Bracing

Here’s another place where a precise miter saw is helpful, since we have more tricky angles to cut.

First, clamp a 1×3 diagonally to the back of the backrest so that the top edge intersects the inside corner of the joint between the middle 2×3 post and the bottom 2×6 rail. Now, maneuver the top of the diagonal 1×3 so that bottom edge of the 1×3 intersects the inside corner of the joint between the outside 2×3 post and the top 2×3 rail. Continue to shimmy the diagonal 1×3 so that its top edge aligns with the bottom left corner, and the bottom edge of the 1×3 aligns with the top right corner. Clamp the board on both ends, and scribe a line on the 1×3 right across where it touches the top and bottom rails. Draw the line as close as possible along the rails; remember that it’s better to cut this slightly too long than slightly too short.

Now, remove the clamps and CAREFULLY cut along the lines you marked, making sure to leave the center length intact. This should leave you with a parallelogram with two long faces and two short angled faces.

Dry-fit this piece into the opening in the backrest and make minor cuts and sanding to tweak the shape so that it fits just right.

Once you’re satisfied with the piece, use the trim head screws to attach the 1×3 to the backrest. Starting in the bottom corner of the opening, center the board between the broad faces of the backrest 2x’s, and countersink a pilot hole through the top edge of the 1×3, through the angle cut of the 1×3, and into the 2×6. Then drive a trim head screw through that pilot hole to pin that piece in place. Repeat this process for the top corner, except this time go through the bottom edge of the 1×3 into the 2×3.

Now that the first diagonal is in place, clamp another length of 1×3 to the back of the backrest running the opposite way. Align the top and bottom edges with their respective corners and clamp it in place. Now scribe lines at the top and bottom, PLUS lines where the new board intersects the one you just screwed in. This will create two separate shapes to be cut out of the 1×3.

Now CAREFULLY cut these two little shapes out of the board and attach them flush with the main diagonal in a similar way that the main diagonal was attached. An adjustable angle clamp is helpful here.

However, attaching the short diagonals to the main diagonal is a bit different. Here we will need to carefully toenail or pocket screw these in. You’ll definitely want to do this on the back side of the swing. Two trim head screws per small diagonal is plenty.

Alright! Now just do the same thing for the bracing in the other opening, and you are all ready to finish!!

Finish

Use wood putty to cover any screw holes or other major gaps in the swing, then give everything a really good sanding. Take care to round the edges, even of the seat slats, so that everything will be smooth and comfortable and there will be now sharp edges or splinters anywhere to snag someone’s skin or clothing.

Finally, paint or stain ALL of the exposed surfaces as you desire. Remember that this will be an exterior piece, so make sure that whatever you select as a finish is durable and will provide adequate protection to the wood. For us, this was always intended to be a painted swing, so we chose our materials and construction methods accordingly. Like, you can’t use putty to cover mistakes or holes if you’re going to stain… Once you’re done and everything is dry/cured, attach the seat slats to the seat with the trim-head screws through the pilot holes you already drilled. Take care to space them equally.

Hang

OK, so finally we come to the last (and most critical) step in the process. What’s the point of having a swing if it doesn’t swing, right? Unfortunately, this also one of the most variable steps in the process, since every porch is built a little bit differently, with different heights and ceiling structure configurations.

Our porch ceiling is just vinyl soffit hung from ¾” purlins supported by 2×8 ceiling joists. There’s no way that the little ¾” purlins would support the swing, so we needed to somehow get the swing to hang from the 2×8 structure. Fortunately for us, our 2×8 ceiling joists were running the right way to attach the top eye screw directly into one of them. On top of that, there was even one in just the right spot that would allow plenty of room forward and backward for the swing to… well, swing. What luck! (If this had not have been the case, we would have had to come up with some type of heavy blocking or bridging beam between joists attached with some bigger structural connectors.)

What we did to locate the joist from below is go up into our attic and drill some little tiny pilot holes down through the vinyl soffit right underneath the center of the joist. That way, when we attached the eye screw from below we knew the location of the centerline of the joist above and knew that the screw would be secure in the joist. Drill a pilot hole before driving the screw eye in with a wrench or other lever device.  Make sure the eyes are spaced 50” apart and so that the swing will be centered on the porch (or in whatever position you want it to be).

We went the easy route and just picked up a porch swing attachment kit from the Home Improvement Store. This included the ceiling eye screws and chain lengths.

What the kit did not include was a way to attach the chains to the porch swing itself. So, we had to drive in some 2” eye screws of our own into the ends of the long seat runners. Center these on the board between the edges and between the armrests and the ends. Drill a pilot hole thinner than the total diameter of the screw, and use a wrench to drive the screw all the way in. Then add one of the 1/8” quick-links to the eye.

Note that you may have to force the links in a little bit. Some of them may bend while you try to put them in and will not be able to rethread themselves. If that happens, take them off and replace them; the quick-links need to be able to fully re-secure to themselves in order to hold the weight.

You’ll notice from the pictures that we did this before painting. This is because we had no idea what color to paint the thing for the longest time and just wanted to hang the thing to enjoy it for a bit while we figured it out. You can do it either way.

Now, attach the top of the chains to the ceiling screw eyes. Then, with the swing supported, thread the bottom of the chains through the quick-links on swing screw eyes. Close the quick-links fully before allowing the load to be placed on the links. Also, attach these so that the front links are attached higher on the chain than the back links. You want a slight (5 degrees or so) backward tilt to the swing for optimum lounging position. Lastly, remove the temporary swing supports and test the swing.

Finally, finally, finally, go get some pillows, snacks, and a book, and enjoy your latest addition to your porch.