Dec 21 2009
What Garden Furniture Should I Buy?
If you plan to leave your patio or garden furniture outside throughout the year will need to be sure that it can stand extreme weather conditions.It would be helpful if all garden furniture was able to cope with such conditions but it seems some falls short of the grade.Ironically, the less you pay upfront for garden furniture, the more you are likely to have to pay in the long run as it is likely to need replacing very soon after you have bought it.
OK, so you know you don’t just want the cheapest furniture that you can find, what is the next step?The first step is to decide what type of Garden Furniture that you like. This you can basically separate into two categories:
Metal Garden Furniture & Hardwood Garden Furniture
Metal Garden Furniture
Having decided that you would like metal furniture, your safest bet is Aluminium which is sure to stand the test of time.Aluminium will not corrode over time so it is perfect for use in outdoor furniture.Choosing Aluminium doesn’t mean that you have to go for tubular aluminium, you can still achieve that country garden look by purchasing cast aluminium, this looks just like wrought iron but has all the attributes of aluminium.
Aluminium is definitely the best material for garden furniture, it will last for ages so has to be worth taking the plunge.
Hardwood Garden Furniture
This is my favourite, because no two pieces are “exactly” the same.Like a finger print no two trees will have the same grain.There are many different options when it comes to wooden garden furniture so I will not attempt to mention every one.
However after selling Garden Furniture for over ten years, my choice has narrowed right down to only one type, which is “Teak Garden Furniture”.Teak is the best material for the job because it can withstand exposure to the high moisture content that is often present in the air, not to mention the rain.
Although it is certainly more expensive than most other types of wood, it is very hard wearing and will last for many years, with (or without) any treatment, so really does justifies the higher price.
Teak is a hard wood that grows very slowly.Look out for the Forest Stewardship Councils (FSC) seal of approval on your teak furniture, to be sure that it has been produced in a responsible forest management system.
If you buy good quality teak furniture, it should last as long as 20 to 25 years so is probably worth the initial investment.
