I have a friend whose company builds and imports teak furniture from Indonesia--David Smith Company, they're on the web. I have a large outdoor table and about 10 deck chairs. I even have a large chair made from teak roots. All of it stays out year round. Here's what I've learned... You either oil them, or you let them go natural and silver. Both ways look nice, so it's more about realistically assessing you personal energy level. If you know eventually you'll stop the oiling, don't bother in the first place, just let them silver. How often you oil depends on your location, sun exposure and rain. If they're out in full sun and you have a wet winters, figure on 2 coats a year. If it's full sun and little rain, figure 3--to keep them "catalog" pretty. If you cover them in the winter, or they're under a roof, you'll need to oil less. You can start oiling and then stop, and the teak will eventually silver off, it will just take a little longer. You can go silver and then oil, but it will take many, many coats to bring back the color, and it will never be as good as if you started oiling from day one. If you oil, get a guality teak oil. The box store stuff is typically poor quality oil. My root chair, in full sun and 36" of rain annually, has been sitting on bare dirt for 3 years. It doesn't have any black spots or rot. Also, teak grain doesn't raise, or crack with this kind exposure. It's as smooth as the day I bought it. If it's ever rough, a quick pass with some fine sand paper clears that right up...assuming I haven't been oiling, which I don't. (Also a good trick to remove the occasional drink stain.) Teak comes in various grades. Higher grades have uniform color and are darker in color. Lesser grades have uneven color and often have reddish streaks through the wood, (this comes from excess iron in the soil). My experience has been that my chairs, made from the lesser grade, will get black spots if left exposed all winter--although I live in a very wet climate. A quick scrub with a light bleach solution and sanding in the spring cleans it right up. But considering I get these chairs for $25 on sale, compared to $150 for the high grade, it's a small inconvenience. Teak is well worth it. It will last forever.

Greenhaven I suspect that Smith&Hawken has tons of U.S. made or other high-quality products... I am sick and tired of made-in-China craaaap, as I call it... the stuff that breaks in a month or less... It is soooo hard for me to find U.S made tools.. I am constantly looking for made-in-U.S. and it is sooo hard to find. Only the Europeans, Canadians, Japanese make products, besides the U.S. that I can trust...I'd rather shell out for EXPENSIVE and for the highest quality...All my garden tools made-from-China-Home-Depot have been crap! awkward, heavy and blunt! and wish I hadn't wasted my money on these cheapos but sadly there were no! American made that I could find locally. If anyone has any made-in-U.S. gardening tools that they bought online, please! let me know... I am sad to see Smith and Hawken go...you all are lucky to have them in your city...If they were in Kansas City, I'd be raiding their shelves...

Four Seasons is a great company, they are a family owned business. I am a designer and I have a wholesale account. I have many accounts with different companies from very high end to medium. There furniture is nice medium to higher end for excellent prices. All companies were having problems with production during COVID and other for reasons. I am surprised to hear it is taking this long to receive orders from them. I live in NC, orders normally take around 4 weeks unless they are out of the fabric that was selected. A few things could be holding up orders, it depends on who you buy it from. When you select a piece, look at the details, measurements, cushions, mattress. Standard is fine for some people and it sits fine but you have choices to upgrade to fit your needs and your budget. I think there upgrade prices are very fair and worth it if you like a down softer feel, if you buy a sleeper I would advice not to order firm because a sleeper sits firmer than a sofa. My clients have never had a problem with what they bought, they have been pleased. I am working on a Multi Project right now I am ordering 5 sofas, 10 chair and many dining chairs. Since I am on a tight budget I am ordering standard but I am happy with a standard feel. I am ordering the Benton Sofa Queen sleeper 41” deep for a client in white sunbrella, we upgraded all the cushions to down feather blend, throw pillows in down,upgraded mattress to Memory Flex Mattress. Before you order from a store or designer ask them to call and ask Four Seasons what the receiving date will be. It may vary some but it shouldn’t be long unless they are out of the fabric but they can check this to. The back orders that I have had have taken around 1 to 2 weeks. If there is a problem getting a date you might want to select another fabric or buy what you need and send it in as COM order which is a grade 1-3 price, sunbrella is a 10 grade. Good luck!

Thanks budge! Oh cliff and joann! I have always loved your deck and yard. I only dream of having one as nice. As far as the deck, the reason it looks so bad is it went through alot with the remodel, the dogs' scooby doo impersonations and a bad choice of a dark color (by me.) The dogs don't "go" on the deck. (I think that would be Oceanna's.) I do want to work on it as soon as the weather cooperates so thanks for the advice/instructions. AS far as tables, I do have a dining set with six chairs on the other side of the deck and two adirondacks on a small patio. For the wicker set area I have one side table and would like to make another one. (I spent so much money on the equipment and need to use it!) Then I was thinking of a big ottoman in the middle that could also serve as a table if you put a tray on it. Here is my DIY table: Here is a pic of the dining set with a little snow: This pic was taken earlier this season. The bad news is that there is even more snow out there today :( I really love the privacy side of your deck. Is that freestanding or built in?