The inspiration for this chair came from seeing one on a pier at Lake Tahoe. It’s big – seating two pretty comfortably – and tall, affording a nice view along with protection from cannonballs and wet dogs. After sitting in it I decided I had to build one for myself.
This one is made from lumber recycled from a redwood deck we ripped out. The weathering, stains and screw holes all add to character of the chair even after rigorous sanding on the seat, footrest, arms and back. With ‘free’ lumber, the cost for this chair was two boxes of screws, some glue and sand paper. (And in my case, a belt sander – but that’s an investment, right?)
Though not particularly difficult to build, it did take a few days and some table saw skills. There are a number of angled cuts and a couple of dados to contend with. I would not recommend taking this on without a table saw, a belt sander and a good drill.
I made an Instructable for the chair: www.instructables.com/id/Lifeguard-Chair-from-Recycled-Lumber
The finished chair
The plans were created using SketchUp from photos taken of the inspirational chair, with a few modifications for aesthetics and ease of construction.
This shot has my son in it for scale. I also built the two Adirondack chairs next to it about 10 years ago (and that's the umbrella that the bat lives in).