Jan 30, 2016

Big Green Egg: The Perfect Table


The perfect Big Green Egg table with concrete top and barn door | The Lowcountry Lady

We've had our Big Green Egg in a nest for some time now, just waiting until we (and by we I mean, my husband - I can't claim much credit for this one) could finish the new table.  This is the second table he's made, and this one turned out amazing!

The top looks like marble, but it is concrete, believe it or not.


The perfect Big Green Egg table with concrete top and barn door | The Lowcountry Lady

This table has some fun details.  A mini barn door that closes in a space for charcoal and whatnot.

The perfect Big Green Egg table with concrete top, barn door, and built in lights | The Lowcountry Lady

And, built in lights for night time grilling, too.

The perfect Big Green Egg table with concrete top, barn door, and built in lights | The Lowcountry Lady

We drew up the plans for this table (the only part I CAN take credit for helping with), based on a few variations we've seen on blogs and social media, and incorporated a few ideas of our own.

I'll share plans with measurements and materials in an upcoming post.  Update - I've added the plans for this table here.

In the meantime, what do you think of the table?

54 comments:

  1. I would love to get the plans for the table and top. The barn door is a genius idea

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  2. This is a super cool idea for incorporating your big green egg into a table! I love the the rustic look that you were able to put into the design. How long did it take for you guys to finish this? I'm not sure if I am handy enough to do this, but thanks for sharing!

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    1. Thanks Nathan! The concrete top is so versatile and I love the rustic look too! After letting the wood dry for a few weeks (recommended if you're going to stain the wood), it took about a week to build. I hope to get the detailed steps & plans up in the next week or so. It really wasn't too hard to make!

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    2. Hello Kim
      After months of looking at hundreds of Carts You're design was the one I couldn't put out of my mine;) I've decided not to tackle the concrete top though, That's a little be on my my scope and know how. I got the idea for my top from another plan I found, they used 5/4 decking boards. I'm almost finished with the frame I'll post a picture when I'm done.
      Thanks Mike

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  3. Just got my green egg, and will be delivered Friday. This is exactly what i'm looking for... just perfect. Looking forward to the plans!

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    1. Congrats on your new egg, you'll love it! Check back next week for the table plans!

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    2. No doubt that I will. Thank you! You have a new follower! Great blog.

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    3. Plans are up - best of luck building a table for your new egg!
      http://thelowcountrylady.blogspot.com/2016/03/big-green-egg-concrete-top-table-plans.html

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  4. Nice! How was the concrete top manufactured, or was it purchased then cut? Where from? Looking forward to seeing the plans!

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    1. We made the top by creating a melamine mold. I just posted plans here -
      http://thelowcountrylady.blogspot.com/2016/03/big-green-egg-concrete-top-table-plans.html

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  5. Anywhere I can find these plans??? I really want to make this table. Thanks.

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    1. Hey Bart! I just posted plans. Take a look. Good luck with your table!
      http://thelowcountrylady.blogspot.com/2016/03/big-green-egg-concrete-top-table-plans.html

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  6. Great table! Where did you find the barn door hardware? Thanks.

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    1. Thanks! We actually made the barn door hardware with materials from the local big box hardware store. The track is a piece of 1/4" flatiron. The wheels were pulley wheels. We painted all of the metal flat black. We did consider several barn door kits that we found online and I'm sure those would have worked just as well.

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  7. Kim, what was your total cost when all was said and done? Thank you!

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    1. Hi Marissa - all in, about $500. That includes the cost of renting an orbital sander to finish the concrete top. If you haven't already, check out my post with the plans. I listed out all of the materials we used... that could be a good starting place for an estimate. Good luck if you decide to build one. Please share pictures if you do!
      http://thelowcountrylady.blogspot.com/2016/03/big-green-egg-concrete-top-table-plans.html

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  8. What size is your BGE? Just wanting to know if I need to adjust the opening size

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    1. Hi Sagen - we have a large BGE. Thanks for asking, I'll update the plans to reflect that!

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  9. Now that is a thing of beauty. I would love to grill out on that green egg any day. I might be biased but I love the concrete top!

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    1. Thanks Jason, we loved the look and have also found the concrete to be super functional!

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  10. Great looking table. I've bought all the lumber, but I'm waiting for it to dry before I start. I was wondering if you could list all the parts for you barn door hardware and which big box store you bought it from. Thanks,

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    1. Hi Trey! Hope you'll share pictures when you finish your table. I will try to gather the materials for the barn door and post this week. We used treated 1x6s that we bought from Lowes. Most of the hardware came from Home Depot... we bought and disassembled a pulley and cut flatiron to make the barn door hardware, but there are several kits out there if you don't want to go through the trouble of making your own. I'll get back on with specific details soon.

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  11. Anyone make a cover for this big green egg??????? My son made this and I have to make the cover.

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    1. Elle - you must be so talented! We ordered a cover from http://www.duckcovers.com/ and it has served us well. I would love for you to share patterns or pictures of a cover if you make one. Would it be helpful for you to see a picture of ours?

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  12. Anyone make a cover for this????????

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  13. Hello. This is a nice looking table. Are you able to tell me how many bags of quickrete the table top took to make? Thank you.

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  14. This is a good looking table. Are you able to tell me how many bags of Quickrete it took to make the table top? Thank you.

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    1. Thank you, Brian! It took about three and a half 80lb bags.

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  15. What does the inside of the storage area look like? Did you add a shelf or a floor to the space? Looks awesome by the way!!

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  16. What does the inside of the storage area look like? Did you add a floor or any kind of shelf to the cabinet? Looks awesome!!

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    1. Hey Michael - I'll update the post with a picture of the inside tomorrow and comment again. We did add a floor shelf and store charcoal and whatnot in there.

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  17. Thanks Kim. One last question. What color acid stain did you use? Thanks. Brian

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    1. Hi Brian - we didn't end up using any acid stain on the concrete (though I know many people do). We used Olympic stain in Mushroom for the wood table frame.

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  18. Hey Kim, great table. I've been looking at it for a while. Plan on building it soon. A few questions for you...
    1.I plan on putting heavy duty casters on bottom. I assume that thing ways a ton, and want to be able to move around if need be. Did you consider using casters? DO you think that would take away from the aesthetics of the table?
    2.We are using an XL BGE. I assume you dont have dimensions for that size, right?
    3. Did you ever get a chance to upload the photos of the inside of cabinet piece?

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Hi there - glad you like our table! As for your questions -
      1. We didn't put casters on this one, but did put casters on one side of a slightly smaller table we built. That smaller table was so heavy that even with the casters it wasn't super easy to move around. We determined this was the right space for this table, so didn't bother with casters for this one.
      2. I don't have dimensions for the XL. We determine the circumferance dimensions by looking on egghead forum.com. The most important measurement, after the circumference, is going to be the distance from the table top to the shelf you place your egg on... take your time with that one.
      4. I've looked at looked and don't have any pictures of the cabinet... I will get one up as soon as I can. In the meantime, take a look at this one from my other post
      https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9xd6uyP32ow/Vun89yxAFbI/AAAAAAAAiA4/xrhotGK7s9EX8Enksdu1DZICLH19WB3oQ/s1600/Egg%2BTable%2B11.JPG
      It's really nothing more than a bottom shelf. We keep a medium sized rubbermaid container in there that holds charcoal in there, like this one - http://amzn.to/2dvsyhD

      I'll answer your other questions below. :)

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  19. Kim,
    Sorry I hit publish before completing my thoughts. Last question....
    Did the concrete leak into the styrofoam disc? Causing any irregular texture on the inside of the concrete? IF so, would you use anything different if building again?

    Your project looks awesome and I am sure the whole BGE community appreciates your openness to sharing your plans.

    I am excited to start mine!

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    1. Hello again! The concrete didn't seep into the concrete. In fact, we've been able to use that same disc for three table tops so far.

      Best of luck to you when you build your table. Please stop back by with a link to pictures if you can!

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  20. Kim,

    Thank you so much for posting all of this for others to enjoy!

    I am going to take the plunge soon on a wet grinder/polisher. I see that you used the Makita 4' model. Did that polisher work well for you? Was there ever a time when you felt that you could have used more weight/power from it? I am asking because I see that Makita now offers a larger version...a 5" grinder/polisher that weighs quite a bit more and has more power. I will get it if I need that one, but trying to get a feel for the 4" model that you used, as it is cheaper and has good reviews. I think the larger model must be a new release because I cant find reviews on it.

    also, I did not see the lighting you used in your plans etc. Did you use LED?

    Looking forward to making one of these for my BGE!

    thanks,
    JIm

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    1. Hi Jim - a larger grinder would have made the process faster, but the 4" worked fine. I'd say, if you're just going to build one, save the $, but if you plan to use on more projects it might be worth investing.

      Here is a link to the lights that we used: http://amzn.to/2fjLPSd

      Best of luck building your table, Jim. I hope you'll let me know how it turns out.

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  21. I have been looking for that foam circle, was that a custom circle by the company you bought it from? how did you do the cabinet hardware?

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    1. Hey Mike! The foam circle was custom, but super easy to order. We called them and asked for a circle with 22” diameter and 1 ½” thick. We've ordered a few different times from that company and they are fast and send exactly what we requested.

      We made the barn door hardware with materials from the local big box hardware store. The track is a piece of 1/4" flatiron. The wheels were pulley wheels. We painted all of the metal flat black. We did consider several barn door kits that we found online and I'm sure those would have worked just as well.

      Best of luck! Please come back and comment again when you build your table.

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  22. Can you tell me how you installed the tin? Do you have pics? Instructions? Love the table. Thanks for posting!

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    1. I have the same question!! I've never worked with the corrugated tin, and I'd love to know how you cut/installed it!! Thanks in advance!

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    2. Hi there! We cut the tin using tin snips, about 1-2 inches larger than the opening where we were going to place it. The tin snips are much easier to handle than you might think. We already had the tin snips in our tool collection, but they are much like these - http://amzn.to/2njTBzr
      Then, we used wood screws (about 1/2 inch, because you don't want them to go through the wood) to secure the tin in place. If you don't like the look of the exposed edge of the tin inside your table, you can cover the seem with another piece of wood.

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  23. Love the table! Now that you have had for while, any changes you would make? Is the cabinet pretty water proof? Would you use cedar over PT pine?

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    1. Hey Robbie! We wouldn't change a thing. That said, I don't think I went into detail in this post, but this was the 2nd table we built. The first time around, the table was two thirds the size and we really found ourselves wanting more "counter" space for prep and setting stuff as we pulled it off the grill. We find the size of our new table (outlined in this post) is just right.
      The cabinet does stay dry, but I'm not sure if it's 100% water proof. We store the charcoal in an airtight container like this one http://amzn.to/2dvsyhD, because we live in a humid climate, but we do store other tools and such inside the cabinet too and they are always dry. We like the way the pine looks, especially after we stained it, and it has held up well. I'm sure cedar would look awesome, too! Best of luck to you if you decide to build a table of your own.

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  24. One other question, how did you line inside of cabinet floor for the storage part? Slats like for the egg and below?

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    1. Hi Robbie, I'm so sorry, I overlooked your question and you're probably way past this. Anyway, I ended up adding a separate post to show the inside of the table because I got so many questions. https://thelowcountrylady.blogspot.com/2017/08/big-green-egg-inside-of-cabinet.html

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  25. How do you empty the ashes?

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  26. Just finished mine and it’s awesome! What did you use for lights??

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    1. Fantastic, congrats on your table! We used LED rope lights that we purchased through Amazon. Here's a link to the exact set https://amzn.to/2wVmuJ5

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  27. I see this is an old post, but I have just read it a few times. It is amazing and I am considering making it in the fall when it cools iff a bit. Just wants to say thank you for your posts with the plans and all your answers to the questions. Very helpful.

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    1. We are happy that so many have found these plans useful!

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