I have always wanted Adirondack chairs along the lake. So we took the challenge and built an Adirondack chair for each family member and now I have free printable Adirondack Chair Plans for you!
It’s not that difficult either and in a few hours, you’ll have your own Adirondack chair to sit on! It’s a perfect project for those of you who love DIY!
You’ll also want to learn How To Build A Cornhole Game for more backyard fun and discover some great tips on How to get your backyard party ready!
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Our Experience Following the Adirondack Chair Plans
These rustic outdoor chairs not only enhanced our backyard, but building them also provided a fun family activity. Together we created a great space for us to relax as a family for years to come!
The Adirondack design is a perfect style for sturdy outdoor furniture, and they go together quite easily with a basic material list. This DIY Adirondack chair is a great way to get the whole family building, with a comfortable seat as their reward! The instructions for the Adirondack chair plans are simple to follow. Even our young daughter was able to help out and participate in the building of her own chair!
How To Build Adirondack Chairs
First, download the Adirondack chair plans at the link below. The template is actual size so you will have to have it printed on 24″ by 36″ paper at a local copy shop. Many copy shops will allow you to email the file to be printed.
Then all you have to do is trace around the pieces, no measuring! Super easy! Follow along with our step-by-step instructions and photos below, and you’ll see how easily these classic chairs come together.
Download the Free Adirondack Template, gather the supplies and you are ready to build.
Adirondack Chair Supplies
Here is your shopping list for these easy to build chairs. The parts list for our free plans include:
- 60 -1 1/2″ deck screws
- 10 – 2″ X 1/4″ carriage bolts along with flat nuts and washers
- 2 – 12 ft 1 X 6 pressure treated lumber (on one cut the middle back of the chair, upper back support, one seat, and two arms) (on the second cut two legs, the first seat piece/bottom support for back, and two seat pieces)
- 1 – 8 ft 1 x 4 treated lumber (cut both support for arms, the front cross piece of chair, and two legs)
- 1 – 10 ft 1 x 4 treated lumber (cut all four of the remaining back of the chair)
- power tools (drill, hand sander) and a chop saw and band saw
- level
- socket set
- printable plans
Step by Step How To Build Adirondack Chairs
Download and lay out all the templates out before cutting, They will be your cut list. Carefully place templates to get the most pieces from one board. Trace, cut and sand.
Bolt legs together with 2-inch carriage bolts.
Once the legs are assembled, screw the front cross piece between the front legs.
Next, screw the bottom support to the back legs.
Now screw arm supports to the side of each front leg. For the entire chair, drill pilot holes to keep the wood from splitting.
Screw on the arms of the chair onto the front legs.
Again, drill pilot holes and then bolt on the back seat support piece.
Screw the middle back piece on the chair. Make sure both arms and the vertical back piece are level before attaching.
Screw on the next two back pieces. You want the slats to be spaced evenly, making sure to keep arms level.
Evenly screw on the remaining back pieces.
Finally, screw on seat slats.
And there you have it – an amazing and comfortable Adirondack chair! We considered painting the chairs, but in the end, we decided the natural wood look was too beautiful to change. This rustic lounge chair is truly the perfect piece of furniture for your patio, porch, deck or yard.
Adirondack Chairs: A Brief Background
The traditional Adirondack chair design first made the scene in the early 1900s. The designer, Thomas Lee, wanted a comfortable chair for his cottage on Lake Champlain near the Adirondack mountain range in upstate New York. This iconic piece of outdoor furniture may have grown in popularity amongst the east coast cottages, but it is now a must have piece of patio furniture for summer enjoyment coast to coast!
The comfortable design summons you to sit down and rest. The wide armrests and the slanted back with a gentle recline help the weight of your day disappear. The design is so comfortable that even cushions are not needed.
You can line these chairs up and face the lake to watch the sunset or create a friendly space for friends and neighbors on the patio. Circle the chairs up around the fire-pit and enjoy an evening cocktail or a warm s’more, laugh, and tell some stories. The Adirondack chair style is perfect for any outdoor space that you want to feel comfortable and inviting!
Adirondack chair plan tips
I encourage you to give this outdoor seating project a try. Gather up the supplies and round up the family. You could order the chairs online and pay the hefty shipping fees, but you would miss out on a great opportunity for the family to not only create memories but also create a fun place where you relax and enjoy each other’s company!
Building these from scratch is the perfect DIY woodworking project for beginners, and they are very affordable to make at home. After putting a few of these together for your own lawn, porch or garden, you may find yourself building more for friends and relatives – or even selling some on the side! Everybody loves settling into the deep scoop of these chairs, sitting around a fire and letting the evening go by.
Looking for more tips on how to build Adirondack chairs? Consider the following ideas:
- Paint or stain these chairs for a unique touch. Varying colors of painted Adirondack chairs look so nice together!
- If you already have some outdoor furniture like rocking chairs, patio furniture, or swings, Adirondack chairs are easily coordinated with some weather resistant throw pillows. The eclectic, mix-and-match look is all the rage!
- You may want to coat them with a weather resistant sealant if they will be exposed to the elements on your deck or in the backyard.
- Use cedar instead of pine for even more beautiful results.
- Do you have pallets laying around? If you have sturdy pallet planks in good condition, try recycling the wood!
The easiest thing to do is print off the actual size template at your local copy shop for the Adirondack Chair Plans here.
Adirondack Chair Templates (print and trace around these)
If you want dimensions instead, we have done our best to recreate them for you. Click the link below.
Adirondack Chair Dimensions
Disclosure, Lowe’s provided me with a gift card for supplies.
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Interesting that the people who actually built the chair and supplied the photos and the plans never respond to questions about the project.
Debi, I made mine using 5/4 cedar which cost about $80 at Lowe’s. Add another $15.00 for stainless steel carriage bolts and 2 1/2″ stainless steel screws
Not sure why Staples couldn’t print the file for you. That’s where I had it done. Got 2 pages printed out on their wide format printer. I had the graphic mounted and laminated on foam core board and used a razor knife to cut the templates, which I transferred to the wood. I would assume all Staples copy and print centers have the same equipment.
Just left Staples and they could not print the plans to “full size” on 24 x36 ” paper. It looks more like a child size chair.
Does anyone have the actual dimensions of each piece.
Thanks
Wondering what the cost to make one chair is estimated on material needed
FYI to the inquiries of printing out the templates to the actual sizing of the boards … I ran into this issue to of not having a printing store local to print this out for me.
not sure if you all are able to do this but maybe you can, I printed mine off at work using 8.5″x 14″ legal size paper(can be done on 8.5×11 paper but uses more pages). when you are ready to print out the template from computer, I was able to change the page set-up under “page sizing and handling” select “Poster” and then print. this will print the correct size of template onto several pages and I cut out the templates and taped or pieced together the cut-outs .
Hope this will help some or all.
It’s easy. at the very top of this page you’ll see:
Free Adirondack Chair Plans Printable Download.
Click the link and it opens a pdf file with the drawings. Save the file to a flash drive, take it to Staples copy and print center and tell them to print it full size. You’ll get 2 pages of plans you can cut out, lay on the wood and trace.
how do I get the templates for this Adirondack chair? You can feel free to call me on my cell for this @ 361-446-2757.
Good question, Dan. It should have been addressed by now but it wasn’t. I didn’t run into that issue until I started building, and then realized there were no bolt hole markers on the back piece and no dimension give for the overhang of the arms. I went with 2″ over hang measured from the front of the vertical front leg. Keep in mind more or less overhang ultimately determines the comfort of the chair back. Too much overhang and you’re sitting up straight. Too little and you’re lounging. Good luck.
how much overhang on the front arms?
where do you place the bolt holes for the front and back of the arms?
Guys, if you download the plans as the pdf file, then copy the file to a flash drive or email it directly to your nearest Staples copy and print center, they will print the plans full scale. I had them print, laminate and mount them to foam core so I could cut out each piece and save the template for future chair projects. They print full size, so you just trace and cut the material.
There are several choices of wood for the project, Redwood and Teak are both good for their ability to withstand the outdoors and won’t rot or get attacked by termites. Pressure treated lumber is fine (cheaper) but usually requires some re-staining or re-treating every couple years. Don’t use oak. It splits in dry weather and turns black in the sun if left untreated. pine or yellow pine is okay if you want to paint the chair. You can’t leave it untreated because it does not respond well to weather. I used Cyprus which has great workability with saw, sander and router, if extremely outdoor friendly and requires almost no upkeep. A light coat of food-safe oil is all that’s needed to keep it great looking for years.
Tools required are minimal, although they should be capable of doing the job. Table saw, power miter, band saw, spindle sander, router, and drill press are the ideal. In lieu of the above, a circular saw can replace the table saw, a portable sander replaces the spindle sander, a jig saw replaces the band saw and a sanding block and sheet sandpaper replaces the router. A cordless drill replaces the drill press.
Keep in mind, the chair will not look as professional or as clean using the replacements, nor will it be as easy to build. Nothing rips straight and true as a table saw and nothing makes rounded edges like a router. Nothing cuts curves like a band saw.
That being said, with some extra time and a slower pace invested in the project, you can make it almost as good as what is shown.
Extra Note: Use stainless steel or galvanized screws and carriage bolts. Spend the extra money. It’s worth it. Next year when you’re looking at all the rust streaks coming from the screw holes, you’ll understand why.
Good luck.
I made a chair with your plans; it turned out great. I need to make one more! Do have a plan for a stool to go with it? Thanks again!
I’m having trouble getting dimensions to print to the correct scale. The plans when printed at 24
“x36″make the board widths 6″ wide and 4″ wide however when buying lumber when you buy 1″ x 6″ boards you are actually getting 3/4” x 51/2 “.
Question. Do we scale the print down to actual size of boards one is able to buy? And if so would we need to get 5/4″ thickness to get the actual wanted thickness of 1”?
Is anyone else running into this?
My husband made these chairs and we love them. Wanting to make some kid ones. Anyone know the scale conversion to print?
PLEASE where can I get dimensions for the individual pieces? I am retired and want to enjoy one of these chairs – actually 2 of them, my wife wants her own. Would like to start so I can finish by next week. Thanks. Eustace