Low maintenance garden furniture (table + chairs)

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nt00deep

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I'm looking for best options on low maintenance garden furniture (table and chairs). I don't want wood.

I have seen aluminium based sets and had a lady tell us in a store recently that her daughter bought that one last year and it rusted. Now I did not think Aluminium rusted, but anyway.

I don't want an all-plastic set because I don't want it to take off like a kite.

I am leaning towards an aluminium based set, but are they as maintenance free as I expect?

Any other suggestions?
 
hi nt000deep,

Im sorry I dont have any suggestions for you but am interested to see replys to your question.

I to am about to buy garden furniture. We sont want wood as neither of us wants to be painting it every year or it rotting. Also no plastic as you said youself we dont want it taking of on us.

Mr Blueshoes wants aluminium with some nice spongy cushions or something. My mum said it might rust but doesnt really know as she has plastic seats!!

Its tough, im hopefully going furniture shopping to-morrow/sunday.

There is so much available isnt there, very hard to know what to buy. Im in the midlands and ive seen quite a few bargains to be had so must shop around.

Hope ive helped

Blueshoes;)
 
We have some chairs and a table that are painted/enamled metal of some description. Can't recall where we got them from unfortunately, but they're a couple of years old now, and look like new (and are attractive).

Just thought: I probably shouldn't have posted this without the details, as it's pretty useless! One thing, though: what you're looking for does exist. I'll post again if I find out the details.
 
There's no such thing as no-maintenance garden furniture, period. You either maintain it or watch it go black/break/rot/rust.

If you want quality and style, be prepared to look after it.
 
I am looking to buy some good quality wooden furniture that will last a long time - dont mind doing some maintenance. Any suggestions? We have been told about mc calls in carlow but I would like to look in Dublin.
 
am looking to buy some good quality wooden furniture that will last a long time - dont mind doing some maintenance. Any suggestions? We have been told about mc calls in carlow but I would like to look in Dublin.
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We got a nice wooden set in Woodies a couple of years ago. Decent size table and 4 high back adjustable arm chairs..paid about €400. We had to coat them with three or four coats of wood oil when we bought them. Now they get one coat when they come out of storage and another coat before we store them away for the winter.
 
Just looked at panama table and chairs in B & Q yesterday... they seem to be good quality, has anyone bought these and how well have they stood up to the elements?
 
We purchased an aluminium bistro table and 2 chairs for €230 (there was a choice of colours). Cusions were supplied with the set. They are for outdoor use and do not have to be brought in or covered for the winter. The name of the shop was I think House and Gardens in Ashbourne. Heading out of Ashbourne take a left at the auction rooms. It is the second turn on the left, the unit was at the end of the Industrial Estate. Apologies for being so vague it was early last year when we bought.
 
It looks like we'll be going with a cast aluminium set (not the shiny extruded type, but looks and weighs more like the heavier cast iron). We'll also get one of those garden furniture covers for table+chairs. I wasn't aware they existed until this weekend. The same idea as a BBQ cover. We don't have a shed for winter storage.
 
Supervalu are doing a fantastic deal and i would urge anyone to go for it...199 euro for 6 seater hardwood furniture set (2 double seats and 2 singles) and a table. Its really good quality and well priced. No link whatsoever to them other than i have collected the tokens and should be getting it today.
 
money man said:
Supervalu are doing a fantastic deal and i would urge anyone to go for it...199 euro for 6 seater hardwood furniture set (2 double seats and 2 singles) and a table. Its really good quality and well priced. No link whatsoever to them other than i have collected the tokens and should be getting it today.
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Are the tokens difficult to get? I once paid something like nearly 3 euro for 2 litres of milk in one of those stores (was a Londis but same difference). I really needed it at the time but in general shopping in those stores doesnt make sense
 
My local supervalu is a supermarket and not a convienence store . I dont think that they generally are either so i think you may be confusing it with smaller retailers like londis/spar etc. Sorry about the time you bought the milk but are you sure it was in a supervalu and not spar/eurospar ? The tokens are one for every 10 euro spent and you need 60. We do out weekly shopping in supervalu/tesco so it has been very easy for us. Our family do so aswell so we have the required amount in a very short time frame!!
 
we were looking at a hardwood table with the 2 attached benches (like the old picnic tables). It was only €100 in B&Q but we wouldnt be able to put into a shed in winter. If we covered it in some plastic or something do you think we might get more than one summer out of it? €100 is too much for a few months...
 
I suppose you could only thing is that it would probably look a bit unsightly for the winter? Mine doesnt have the attached but i will probably leave them like that out for the winter and hope that they will be alrite next year as long as i varnish them for the winter they will probably be ok i would imagine. ?
 
Hi, we bought the aluminium bistro set (small round table & two chairs) for our balcony last summer. Bought a couple of cushions and the chairs were lovely & comfy. Chairs are lightweight, table has a bit of weight in it. Left it out all winter (not much choice in an apartment!) with no cover and is still perfect, no rust or anything and it would have gotten a bit of a bashing weatherwise on the second floor.
 
money man said:
My local supervalu is a supermarket and not a convienence store . I dont think that they generally are either so i think you may be confusing it with smaller retailers like londis/spar etc. Sorry about the time you bought the milk but are you sure it was in a supervalu and not spar/eurospar ? The tokens are one for every 10 euro spent and you need 60. We do out weekly shopping in supervalu/tesco so it has been very easy for us. Our family do so aswell so we have the required amount in a very short time frame!!
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It was a small Londis where I got fleeced:eek:
 
To get back to the original question, regarding maintenance, I wouldn't necessarily agree with the following:

extopia said:
There's no such thing as no-maintenance garden furniture, period. You either maintain it or watch it go black/break/rot/rust.

If you want quality and style, be prepared to look after it.
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For wooden furniture, yes. But there are painted metal finishes (e.g. power coated, where the paint is effectively baked onto the metal) in garden furniture available these days that are effectively maintenence free. They can look pretty good too (especially if you put removable cushions on the chairs), and should remain that way unless severely abused.
 
I should have mentioned, we have had some of these for a couple of years, they're outside 365 days a year, had no maintenance whatsoever and look brand new.
 
Woodies do probably the largest range of garden furniture in the country and have both Hardwood sets and aluminium sets.Wooden furniture does need some looking after, I always put teak oil on mine in the Spring and again at the end of the season, this protects them from rain and just as important from the sun, as otherwise the constant wetting and drying would make them crack.I cover mine with covers I got, again in Woodies, and then with sheets of plastic tied down in the corner of the garden for overwintering(must get a shed!!).The aluminium ones are quite lightweight and while needing little or no maintenance I prefer the wood myself and putting on a few coats of teak oil twice a year is still fairly low maintenance for the use they get.
 
I am in the same boat as OP; just thought I'd lash up a few of the options I've come across in my search - might be useful to someone.

* Selection from B&Q...
[broken link removed] [chairs recline and have padded seats and backs]

[broken link removed] [come with removable seat cushions]

[broken link removed]

[broken link removed]

[broken link removed] [folding chairs with removable seat cushions]

[broken link removed]

[broken link removed]

* Habitat also have a nice-looking range of non-wood garden furniture - click & navigate to Products > Outdoor > Garden Furniture for a nose.
 
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