How To Choose Your Garden Furniture And Make It Last
Choosing and maintain your garden furniture with the help of this guide.Make the most of your garden by choosing some gorgeous garden furniture to go in it.
It will be worthwhile doing some research before buying any garden furniture.Doing so will greatly increase your chances of buying garden furniture that is right for you and will last you a long time.Following are some important tips you need to consider before you buy.
Decide whether you want furniture that will fold up to be stored away in the colder months or not.If you want your garden furniture to be a permanent part of your garden for aesthetic reasons then it is recommended that you go for heavy furniture made from hardwood, aluminium or wrought iron with rust proofing.It is well worth spending the money on the heavier more durable materials as this will be much more cost effective in the long run.
Choosing the right type of material and construction is paramount.Take inspiration from your garden or patio area when choosing the material.Try to avoid materials that will upset the balance of your garden.
Wood is the firm favourite for garden furniture it has all the necessary attributes but it will need some maintainance.Tropical woods tend to be high in natural oils e.g. teak, iroko or courbaril, which make them ideal.You can leave such woods outside throughout the seasons.
Examine the joints, ideally they will be mortice and tenon joints as opposed to bolts which might corrode.Any fittings that are metal should be made from aluminium, brass or stainless steel so that they don’t rust when exposed to the elements.
Make sure the construction is only premium grade teak for our garden furniture, so any knots, cracks and other defects are eliminated before the timber is used to build the furniture.The best process for drying teak is to dry it in a kiln, this locks as much moisture as possible making it less likely to crack.
Check that glues containing epoxy resin has been used on the joints – this will ensure that they don’t crack apart in cold weather.
If your teak garden furniture becomes dirty it is easy to clean with warm soapy water and a scrubbing brush which will enable you to restore the beautiful silver grey weathered look.
If required a pressure hose can be used at 60-80 bar [900-1200psi] at a distance of no less than 30cm.Scrub your teak furniture once a year will a small amount of bleach, this will stop algae from growing on the surface.
You can remove any grease spots by washing immediately with light detergent, or just leave nature to take its course.
You may notice small cracks appearing in the timber when the weather is dry.This is natural and no action needs to be taken as when the moisture in the atmosphere increases the timber will return to its original condition.
Teak oil or varnish won’t necessarily improve the lifespan of your garden furniture but it will improve the suface finish if applied when new.Check the manufacturers instructions before you start to apply teak oil.Only use teak oil on dry wood, moisture will cause the surface to turn black.
