Little Cottage Classic Vineyard Backless Garden Bench

We bought this to replace a pine wood bench that we'd had for years that finally began to disintegrate...wanted something that would hold up to the elements, which this will. It will sit out year round supporting our outdoor 'cat condo', so we needed something that could hold that weight. Nice selection of colors, too.

Really like the bench! We got the bright red one so it would stand out in our garden, and it's perfect. Putting it together should have been an easy thing to do, but lacking pre-drilled pilot holes in the frame, where the legs connect, turns this into a chore. Thankfully, the legs have pre-drilled holes to serve as a guide for where to drill. Here's how I overcame this deficiency: Screw the screws into the pre-drilled holes of the leg until the points of the screws emerge a little on the opposite side. With both screws so positioned, hold the leg against the frame and tap the screws somewhat forcefully with a rubber mallet. No mallet? Use a hammer, but carefully, not as hard. By doing this, the points of the screws will indent into the frame, leaving small marks to show you where to drill a pilot hole into the frame. I used a power screwdriver and a 3/32"" drill bit for the pilot holes. (You can buy a pre-mounted bit on a power screwdriver shank at your local hardware for about $7.) Be sure you fit the legs to the contours of the frame so the screws are properly positioned before make the indentations. A power screwdriver works best for drilling the holes into the frame because the housing of the screwdriver is not as bulky as the housing of a power drill. This will enable you to drive the screws straight in rather than at an angle. After drilling the pilot holes into the frame, you can position the leg by ""feeling"" the points of the screws fitting into the frame's pilot holes that you have just drilled. If you cannot push the leg flush against the frame, it's because you have too much of the screw sticking through the leg. If necessary, just back the screws back into the leg enough so that the points of the screws will allow you to get the leg flush against the frame while it also ""feels"" the holes you have drilled. The leg supports and long ""beam"" have pre-drilled indentations. Drill these out also to make the job easier. Good luck!