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.

I have the same situation as you. We converted an old small carport to a decent patio (doesn't that sound fancier, LOL) by extending the length and width, laying mortared patio brick in place. This resulted in half the patio/porch being under roof and the entended part being open. This gives me a sheltered, shady seating area and an open, sunny area. I have a faux vinyl wicker set with very nice cushions (loveseat, two chairs, a cocktail table, and an end table) under roof. I also have/had a cheaper, glass-top table with vinyl slinged chairs that came with cushions. The cushions were always wet/damp in the morning or after a rain, so we just used the chairs with the vinyl strips. They were very closely woven and were extremely comfortable without the cushions. We had a severe hail storm last spring and destroyed my chairs so I am also on the quest for a new user friendly set for that area. I DO NOT WANT CUSHIONS, so will probably go with the sling-back style that is some type of woven mesh material. These are more commonly seen in the discount stores - Walmart on-line has a nice selection - and usually have the glass or tile top. I do not want to sit on wet cushions or have to dry a seat when I step outside to have my coffee in the morning. I will also say, I love how easy my faux wicker set from Target is to maintain. They stay outside, minus the cushions, year around, and even though they are under roof, they still get exposed to wind, rain, blowing snow, etc. I just give them a good water hose and soft brush scrubbing in the spring.

I obtained an outdoor folding teak dining table that had been stained with a red stain. The table is made of slats; some run horizontal and some vertical. There are a lot of gaps between the slats. I attempted to sand off the layer with the stain. The range of results is considerable. Some have the honey color. A few are grey. Most are shades of red. A few remain quite red. The slats are not all perfectly even in height and some slats are harder to get at for that reason. Also, the stained corners of the sides of the slats are quite apparent. I found it very difficult to sand in between them. If I could disassemble it completely, I might be able to sand every part evenly, but I do not know whether that would get the stain out. Also, as the outer ring of the table is joined with dovetails, I am unsure that I can do that.

for a pair, that's a good price. I've seen similar ones for 1100 each. I think Houzz has those exact chairs at 600 each? as for the drinks, use coasters. and a placemat. seriously. When you use wax for the finish, any water that hits it is going to leave those 'waxy water rings'. that's just the nature of the wax finish. so, use coasters, or use the glasses that prevent condensation. the kids are old enough to learn to use coasters or to be careful. and if they're not, then maybe you need a diff material for your table! (although, I have one too so I get it) Just keep the placements handy