We got what I think was a great bargain on a 7-piece patio set at Sams yesterday. The table has a granite top and the chairs are cast aluminum. The set is very nice looking as well as very well constructed. We paid $899 + tax. The reason I think it was so inexpensive is because I believe the manufactured may be going out of business. My set was missing a piece and the 800 number to call in the instructions was no longer in service. I went back to Sams and they gave me the missing piece off the display model. Anyway, for those who are willing to take a chance on no warranty or service after the sale, I think you can get a good deal. The only real down side is that it is very heavy. IÂm guessing the tabletop weighs around 300 lbs. Beeman

We did it four or five years ago. Our 84" oval, glass top table and 6 sling chairs was originally a dark green but had faded terribly over the years. Painters were here doing the outside house trim, and I asked them about it. They bought some kind of paint for metal, cleaned it very well and actually painted it brown with a small brush. It turned out beautifully. Minor touch ups were done last year and it looks brand new. It is a Tropitone set we purchased in 2000 and looks better than anything with which i could replace it. Last year I looked for about three months for something simple, but substantial, with a table the size of ours. To replace it would have been bat double what we paid, so it was touched up and looks brand new. I would recommend painting to anyone. They had to have gotten the paint either at Sherwin Williams or Home Depot or Lowes. This is the only picture I can find at the moment, taken winter before last. The paint job was about three years old at that time and looked original. Most people advise spray painting metal furniture but these guys said that the brush method looked better.

We bought teak patio furniture a little over two years ago. We were told we would need to clean it once or twice a year to keep it looking new, but that if you do it more often, it is much easier and faster to do. If you let if grey, it requires more work to clean it and restore the color. Within a couple of months of us getting the furniture, my mom broke her hip and then she and my dad had other problems. The both passed in the coming months and my youngest graduated from high school and went off to college -- we were busy and I wasn't really up to tackling the patio furniture. It really didn't look brand new, but it wasn't bad. Last year, the other older son graduated from college and both sons had two moves before the summer was over. Patio furniture was once of those things we let slide again. This year we were hit with nearly non-stop rain, and now that the rain has hit the pause button we have dangerous heat ---- so, the teak has been on its own again so far this year. I've seen weathered teak and it is a pretty grey -- soft and the texture is still smooth -- not raised grain like you might think. I'm not sure if we will let ours continue to patina or clean them back to the original color. Both are good. Right now, the two chaises are nearly grey with white slings and the table and chairs are semi-greyish. We have teak rockers we bought from Sam's on the front porch and they have not changed much so far. Teak is not cheap, but it may not run a lot more than quality metal sets and it should last you a lifetime. This is the set we got. I liked the round tables but we didn't have the space for a larger one. The extensions allow us more room to seat 6-8, possibly 10, when needed, but the Laguna chairs are on the narrower side and we can sit 6 even when in the round. But if you have the space, there are so many options out there. BTW, the site I linked has a 10% sale right now. Earlier and later in the season, they have deeper discounts for early birds and end of or off season. The prices will probably go down by $th of July or soon after. If your current set can hold out a little longer, you can save 25-30% with free shipping (I just checked my quote). Of you cose them, they really do crate, pallette and accept free returns (we tried two chairs to decide which was most comfortable -- we ordered one of each style, sent one back and ordered 5 more of the one we wanted. No cost for sending the one back. Great service.

I just sold a large grouping (11 pieces) of vintage Brown Jordan metal furniture that had never been outside. It was used in a sunroom, so the cushions needed recovering. Still had the original receipt from 1986, purchased at market. Let's just say it held its value well! I don't remember the collection name, but I like the Venetian better. It's high quality furniture.