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DIY Outdoor Sectional Sofa Woodworking Plans & Tutorial

Written by Cass

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How To Build A Modern Plywood DIY Outdoor Sectional Sofa With Cushion Storage Remodelaholic

This DIY outdoor sectional sofa is built from plywood and features storage for the cushions. See our source for affordable patio seat cushions and build your own patio seating/daybed with this outdoor furniture plan. 

We built this patio sectional sofa for our deck — it pairs nicely with this outdoor coffee table with drink trough! Plus see how we refinished the deck (after this photo!), built that garden wedding arbor, and added a new modern deck pergola.

DIY Outdoor Sectional Sofa | Plywood Woodworking Plans

As part of our #PlywoodPretty Challenge that we are hosting during our all plywood project Plywood Pretty week, we designed this modern plywood outdoor sofa for our deck. It’s sturdy and comfortable, the perfect outdoor couch for our patio! It’s nice and deep (24 inches!) so it can also work as a type of patio daybed if you like.

This post contains affiliate links. Learn more and read our full disclosure policy here. 

DIY Outdoor Sectional Sofa with Cushion Storage

As we were designing this outdoor sectional sofa, we knew we wanted these features:

  • an L-shaped sectional sofa to fit our deck
  • designed to fit these affordable 24″ outdoor cushions
  • cushion storage to keep them dry and last longer.

Each section of the sofa will be made out of two sheets of 3/4″ inch birch plywood.

The pieces of the sofa are joined using pocket holes. To prevent wasps or other bugs from living in those small holes, we designed the sofa to be finished on all ends so the pocket holes are covered. We also added an extra block behind the seat support to prevent wasp nests.

Build a plywood outdoor sofa sectional with affordable patio cushions | Woodworking plans from Remodelaholic #remodelaholic

See more details of the deck furniture and decor here:Outdoor Sofa Sectional Reveal

Be sure to check out all the #PlywoodPretty Challenge projects on our playlist and links below, and subscribe by email or RSS and follow along over on YouTube and Facebook and Instagram with #PlywoodPretty so you won’t miss any of these new tutorials!

How to Build an Outdoor Sectional Sofa from Plywood

 


Materials For One Sectional

Build 2 sections as shown in the video to form an L-shaped outdoor sectional, or 3 sections for a U-shaped outdoor sectional.

  • (2) 4 ‘x 8’ x 3/4″ Sheets of Birch Plywood
  • (1) 4 ‘x 8’ x 1/4″  Sheet of Birch Plywood (optional bottom cover)
  • (1) 2 x 4 x 8’  Redwood
  • (55+) 1 ¼”  Kreg Jig Pocket Screws
  • (12+) ¾”  wood screws (for optional bottom cover)
  • (12+) 1 ¼”  wood screws (for optional bottom cover)
  • (1+) Elmer’s Carpenter’s Wood Glue Max
  • (1) Elmers Pro Bond Wood Filler
  • plus (3) 24″ deep patio cushions
I wish I had my table saw workbench when I built this sectional! It makes big rip cuts so easy and precise. See the details here. 

Tools Used

  • Table Saw
  • Miter Saw
  • Circular Saw
  • Kreg Jig pocket hole jig
  • Drill
  • Spring Clamps (lots of them)
  • Tape Measure
  • Pencil
  • 80/120/220 Sandpaper and Sanding Block
  • (2+) Saw Horses
  • Putty Knife

Get the outdoor sectional woodworking plans here

The 13-page printable woodworking plan includes materials list, cut list, and assembly diagrams and photos.

See more outdoor furniture plans to build this summer

DIY Outdoor Sectional Sofa | Plywood Woodworking Plans

New to working with plywood? Read our best tips for building with plywood here. 

DIY Modern Plywood Outdoor Sofa Sectional FAQs

What size is the outdoor sectional?

The L-shaped sectional is formed from 2 sections, each measuring 72 3/8″ L x 24 1/4″ D x 24″ H.

One sectional has a back along all 3 edges; the other has a back only along 2 edges to allow for the corner seat.

DIY Outdoor Sectional Sofa and Daybed | Plywood Woodworking Plans

How is the sectional assembled?

As you can see in the video tutorial, we used pocket hole joinery to attach the pieces of plywood together to form each of the sectional arms. All the pocket holes are covered by the finishing panels, so no worries of bugs and wasps nesting there!

DIY Outdoor Sectional Sofa | Plywood Woodworking Plans

We used a redwood 2×4 as a bench support to ensure that the sectional is sturdy, so the whole family can enjoy this outdoor couch seating together!

The seat is 2 panels of plywood, glued and screwed together to form a very strong sofa base to sit on. Clamps are your friend for this part of the process so it wouldn’t hurt to buy them in bulk if you don’t already have a great collection of clamps.

 

 

 

DIY Outdoor Sectional Sofa | Plywood Woodworking Plans

See our mobile clamp rack and dust collection solution.

After assembling, the plywood sofa is finished with side pieces to hide the pocket holes. DIY Outdoor Sectional Sofa | Plywood Woodworking Plans

 

 

 

 

How do you waterproof plywood for outdoor use?

For finishing, first fill in any holes with Elmer’s Pro Bond Wood Filler, let that dry then sand everything smooth. Don’t forget to remove the tags before sanding and finishing!

DIY Outdoor Sectional Sofa | Plywood Woodworking Plans

 

Filling all of the plywood gaps and voids to smooth will help prevent water or dirt from building up in those places.

We love the look of raw plywood — like the banded edges we featured prominently in this stacked plywood bench — so we decided to leave the wood natural and seal it for waterproof.

DIY Outdoor Sectional Sofa With Storage For Cushions, Built From Plywood Remodelaholic

We added several coats of an outdoor captain’s spar varnish to make it water-tight. You could also use a clear epoxy resin or a penetrating oil, such as tung oil. Whatever you choose, pay close attention to the plywood edges to ensure that they are sealed well to prevent leaks and warping.

Plywood DIY Outdoor Sectional Sofa on a Painted Concrete Covered Patio

Since this outdoor sofa doesn’t have drainage holes, even after sealing properly, you’ll want to be sure to dry it off after a rain storm (or if it gets watered by the sprinklers). It would be best for an outdoor area that is still covered — and we have since moved it to our large covered patio at our other house (with the drink cooler coffee table) since we installed our modern pergola on this deck.

See more plywood projects in the #PlywoodPretty challenge posts here:

outdoor sectional sofa | Remodelaholic (you are here!)
mini barn door for a crawl space | The Cofran Home
handlettered “hello” sign | Lemon Thistle
easy TV tray | Practical and Pretty
rolling storage drawers | Happy Go Lucky
mid-century modular lego table | The Created Home
entryway bench | Woodshop Diaries
farmhouse sign | Our Crafty Mom
mid-century daybed | Paper Daisy Design
produce bins | Anika’s DIY Life
plywood accent wall | Diva of DIY
kids chairs with storage | Our House Now a Home

4 PlywoodPretty Challenge

How To Build A Modern Plywood DIY Outdoor Sectional Sofa With Cushion Storage Remodelaholic

It's Plywood BUT Pretty! 12 New DIY Plywood Projects + Tutorials

Published 04.01.2017 // Updated 03.13.2020

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Remodelaholic is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Please see our full disclosure here.
We love hearing from fellow Remodelaholics, so let us know what you like about this and leave any questions below in the comments. If you've followed a tutorial or been inspired by something you've seen here, we'd love to see pictures! Submit pictures here or by messaging us over on Facebook.

Published: April 1, 2017Filed Under: *Our Projects, $20 to $250, $250 and up, Advanced, Beginner, Build, By Cost, By Level, By Material, By Tool, Circular Saw, DIY, DIY Project Plans, Furniture Building Projects and Plans, How To, Intermediate, Pocket Hole Jig, Seating, Table Saw, Tutorials, Wood and Plywoods Etc. Tagged: building plans, Outdoor Furniture, outdoor furniture plans, Outdoor living, outdoor spaces, patio, plywood, plywood furniture, Plywood Pretty, Plywood Sofa

About Cass

Cassity started Remodelaholic with her husband, Justin, to share their love for knocking out walls together. Since then, Remodelaholic has become a great community and resource for all those wanting to know how to make their builder-grade home BEAUTIFUL on a budget!


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Comments

  1. Michelle James says

    April 3, 2017 at 9:28 am

    What an amazing project!! The step by step tutorial actually makes me think I could build this & I am a novice!! Thank you for the inspiration and for organizing this great challenge. I am blown away by the incredible projects all from plywood! #plywoodpretty

    Reply
    • Cassity says

      September 5, 2017 at 11:32 am

      You can totally do it Michelle!! Thank you for joining in on our plywood pretty week!

      Reply
  2. Kara says

    April 4, 2017 at 8:05 pm

    Oh my goodness! Your Outdoor Sectional is fabulous. Thanks for the awesome tutorial. My deck is in need of a major makeover and this is exactly what we need for it.

    Reply
    • Cassity says

      September 5, 2017 at 11:31 am

      Thank you so much we really love it! It’s amazing how pleasant it is to be able to go out in the backyard and sit really comfortably on the sofa just makes you want to go outside more often !

      Reply
  3. Larissa Swayze says

    July 3, 2017 at 8:25 am

    This is such a good idea! I’ve wanted an outdoor sectional for ages, but just haven’t been able to make it work budget-wise. I never even thought of a DIY plywood one. Super awesome post – thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Cass says

      July 5, 2017 at 11:21 am

      Thanks, Larissa!

      Reply
  4. Rob says

    September 2, 2017 at 11:03 pm

    Awesome project.
    I’m thinking of doing the same out of pine plywood. For outdoor use. Would you recommend treated, or untreated and sealed with a varnish?

    Cheers.

    Reply
    • Cassity says

      September 5, 2017 at 11:30 am

      I do think pine (or cedar – but that’s more expensive!) would be a good choice for outdoors! We ended up putting hours under a roof to keep it safe and it’s holding up fine there but it really doesn’t get wet!

      I think if I were finishing it I would do an oil that penetrates the word rather than a poly that will heat and peel in the sun ! That way when you need to put on an extra coat you won’t need to remove the previous coat of poly you can just add another coat of oil and it makes the word stronger and stronger every yea coat of poly you can just add another coat of oil and it makes the word stronger and stronger every year!

      I want to see your project when you’re done !!

      Reply
  5. Samantha says

    December 4, 2017 at 2:02 am

    Thank you for this awesome design! I always see so many outdoor sectionals I love but the cost keeps me away. I used to build a lot with my dad when I was younger and this inspires me to get back into it! Hoping to build this over the winter and have it ready come Spring time 🙂

    Reply
    • Cass says

      December 7, 2017 at 10:55 am

      We’d love to see pictures when you do, Samantha!

      Reply
  6. Krista says

    January 8, 2019 at 9:08 am

    Is the back a strong enough support since it is just ply wood? Is their an oil sealant that you would reccomend?

    Reply
    • Justin says

      September 26, 2019 at 12:25 pm

      The back is really strong and I did seal it with captains varnish to protect it. I just have not done a video about that yet.

      Reply

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We love hearing from fellow Remodelaholics, so let us know what you like about this and leave any questions below in the comments. If you have followed a tutorial or been inspired by something you have seen here, we would love to see pictures! Submit pictures here or by messaging us over on Facebook.
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Hey there, I am Cassity! Nice to virtually meet you!

This blog is about DIY at its finest. We are obsessed with it and so are you, so while we're working and have nothing to show you of our own projects we show off yours. So submit your projects! More About Us…

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