How to Build a Beer Pong Table

Planning - Before you start this project remember a few things. You don't need to follow what I did step by step. There are so many different ways to build a table it's ridiculous. Also, write down a few ideas and then run to Home Depot or Lowes, etc to check out prices and such. Keep revising until you get something you like.

Step one. Make a list. You can see a quick list of what I used below. Sadly, I don't have the exact measurements of the 2×4's and 2×6's I used, since my design document was used to mop up beer from the first game on the table.

4×8 piece of oak plywood
2×4's
2×6's
2 cans of white spray paint
2 cans of green spray paint
1 gallon of stain
Box of screws
Handful of L brackets
2 adjustable sawhorses
4 spray cans of lacquer
Few rolls of masking or painters tape

A few notes on the above list. A four foot by 8 foot piece of plywood is considered standard size. Obviously the spray paint color you use will differ depending on your design. Buy an extra couple of cans than you think you will need. Lastly , to get a break on the price I used one of those 10% coupons from Home Depot. They give them away in a USPS moving packet. If you need one just run down to the post office and pick one up..

The cornerstone of my table is a 4×8 piece of Oak plywood. I wanted designed mine loosely based on Michigan State's basketball court, so that's the reason for the slightly more expensive plywood. You can buy regular plywood, but don't expect designs to show up as well. Speaking of designs, keep in mind that while making your design, that you will need to create stencils in order to put the design onto the table. So make sure you can easily make those designs into stencils, and even better if you can reuse stencils during the painting.

Assembly

Because you will be staining, spray-painting and lacquering you want to make sure to build your table in a well ventilated area. A garage or barn would be ideal.

After obtaining all the materials, you will want to measure and cut all the wood. In my example I want to place the 2x6 wood as "skirt" underneath the table. To accomplish this I did the following. Place 4 2x4's horizontally onto the bottom of the table, leaving enough room on both sides for the 2x6. The 2x4's will be screwed into the bottom of the table. Then I placed 2 2x4's long ways on top of the now attached 2x4's. This helps spread out the weight of the table when I place it on sawhorses and it helps prevent warping.

To attach the 2x6 skirt, I used L brackets and screwed into the 2x4's. This makes it so no screw holes are showing when the table is being used.

HOWEVER. Before you do any of the above assembly, make your cuts and make sure everything fits together. THEN stain the wood. I put two coats onto the top part of the plywood to achieve what I thought was the right darkness.

With the plywood stained I would then attach the frame as I described above.

PROTIP: Make note of the drying times listed on the materials you are using. Times differ between recoating and full dry time. ALSO, when spray-painting cover the rest of the table with plastic or newspapers to make sure you don't get overspray on the rest of the table.

Now its time to spray-paint your design. To have nice clean edges I recommend putting down painters or masking tape over the area you want to paint. Then cutting the stencil out of the tape. Do this for each color you want. You will also want to put down two coats for each section. For example, if I wanted to put down white lettering on a green background I would do the following. Tape off off the edges of the area where I want the green section. Put down 2 coats of green. Wait for the area to dry. Place masking tape over the entire area. Tape the stencil onto where I want the lettering. Cut the tape out of the inside part of the stencil. Remove stencil and spray-paint two coats of white. Rinse and repeat for the rest of your design.

With the table now spray-painted and your design complete your next step is to lacquer the table. This is one area you do not want to skimp on. Lacquer will not only protect your table, but it also make cleaning it that much easier. Using spray on lacquer you will want to get as many coats as possible. 8-10 would be ideal.

There you have it. Your own beer pong table. Enjoy.