If you are picking out furniture for your patio or garden, remember that this it should be furniture that has been especially manufactured for use out of doors. If it is not weather resistant, you will have problems and not get a lot of use out of it. The materials used most commonly for outdoor furniture are treated woods, glass, plastic, vinyl, metal and even stone, all of which resist the elements. The most common group of patio furniture that a homeowner will buy is a grouping that consists of a table, four chairs and an umbrella. Perhaps a chaise lounge may be added.



The most versatile kind of patio furniture is wood. It may or may not have cushions included. The types of wood that are commonly used are birch, beech, maple, cedar, mahogany, teak, cypress, oak and pine. Some woods, called exotic hardwoods, are usually the most impervious to the weather. If you are using any of the others, you will have to treat them by painting, oiling or staining them. This does not apply to teak, which is naturally weather proof, as long as you do not mind that it weathers to a grayish color. If you want you teak to look new, you will have to re-oil it periodically.

Teak is the best choice for outdoor furniture since it is beautiful and yet durable. The top grade is Grade A, which has no cracks or knotholes. It should also be kiln-dried to assure that it is completely dry all the way to the inside. Tb is will assure a moisture content between 12 to 15 percent, which means that it should not move, shrink or slip. When a piece of teak furniture is machine made, you can count on the consistency being good.

The reason that teak withstands weather so well is that it contains natural oils that protect it. It has been used in boat building for centuries for this reason. In warm climates, it resists the damaging rays of the sun as well. Teak has proven to be a very valuable resource for the countries that grow it.

Besides its use for patio furniture, teak has been used for building boats, as mentioned, but also for door frames and window frames, building bridges and wharfs, for panelling and flooring and even for wooden venetian blinds. Teak wood can range in color from the deep or light brown when it is first harvested to silver or yellow grey as it ages. Teak has been used in the manufacturer of furniture since the 19the century, when the Chinese started exporting it to Europe.

You can obtain teak furniture at a number of sources, but you have to be careful where you get it. There are many pieces that are not made well.

If you have decided upon wood patio furniture, teak is probably the best choice compared to other types of wood because of its weather resistant and long lasting qualities.