Oh joy, time to pick a finish.

Feeling good about how the legs had come together, I figured it was time to pick a finish and get the top installed. Unfortunately, I got delayed when I forgot to charge the drill's battery and had to wait to get the umbrella hole done before staining. Whoops.

Nothing like not being able to fix something you've worked so hard on.

With the hole done, I put in a support strut directly beneath it. This table looks nicer but it's also a lot lighter, and even the old 2x8 table broke when high winds pulled the umbrella out. I thought some support would help, we'll have to wait and see. I screwed it in across the table, and carved out a little cover to hide the screws.

That's a tight fit with the umbrella pole! It works though.

In terms of finish, I decided to start with a semi-transparent deck stain. I liked the cedar as it is and didn't want to change it too much. But I also wanted something low maintenance capable of standing up to the elements, hence semi-transparent cedar toned deck stain. It looked good, and there's plenty left over to try out on the fence posts later this summer. Good times.

First look, before & after. That'll work. 

Out of habit, I put a coat of poly on just to give it a little extra protection. With that on, I got some help to carry it out (even thought I carried it by myself at one point), and popped it on the table to finish drying. Of course, it proceeded to rain the rest of the week, so I could have timed that better. Whoops.

Once I get it attached and put the umbrella in it might be time to throw a dinner. But until then I'll just hope the rest of this week's weather takes it easy on it.