Difference between teak furniture for inside and outside
Are you specifically looking for garden furniture, have a look at our selection of garden furniture. Here you can find pictures, prices and information of all our garden furniture. If you're looking for teak furniture for inside the house? Check out our teak cabinets and dressers, and much more for your living room, kitchen or bedroom.
Can teak furniture be used as garden furniture?
Now and then this question reaches us. It depends on different factors. Do you want the furniture to last another 20 years or would 5 years be fine, too? Is it okay if it tears a little? Does it concern a teak table or wardrobe? What type of construction does the furniture have? Will the furniture stand below a canopy or be fully exposed to the sun and rain? I will answer the question by giving an example:
Using teak dining tables and teak chairs for inside on the outside
Let’s take this beautiful teak dining table with teak chairs as an example. This teak table has no special furrows between the planks. Because there are no furrows in the table, water cannot drain off. Even more importantly, the planks (the table top is made of several planks glued to one another..) will expand and shrink considerably. The rain causes the expansion and the sun and warmth cause the shrinkage.
Because of this, this particular table can develop tears if it is placed outside. But that’s no problem at all! The construction and the wood are in perfect shape, it is only the looks that will change slowly. The beautiful thing about massive teak wood is that this can be remedied even after a few years. Take a day off and do the following: Make sure you have some glue and clamps, sandpaper, kneadable wood and go ahead. The bigger chunks that have come loose need to be glued, the smaller parts can probably be filled with kneadable wood. When everything is glued and filled it needs to be sandpapered. You might want to sandpaper the whole table with for example a grinding machine. All in all this does take several hours of work but afterwards the table will look brand new!
The teak chairs on the picture are meant for inside as well, or at least for standing under a canopy. These can be used outside as well, but the same thing as with the teak table’s wood will happen.
In case the teak table stands below a canopy, of course it will be less exposed to the weather. It also helps a lot if you put the table in the garage for a while every year or cover it with a canvas cover and protect the legs from the rain.
Another important note: all teak becomes grey throughout the years, garden furniture or not! This, by the way, does not impair the teak and is therefore no problem at all. In case you want to alleviate or avoid this.
Wardrobe, dressers and the like
We advise you not to use wardrobes and dressers outside. Below a canopy could be possible, but then it really depends on the weather and how it affects the wood. For example, if a heavy rain shower floods the whole floor, despite the canopy, this is not advisable at all. The difference compared to a table is that wardrobes or dressers often have drawers and doors. These drawers and doors will expand if they get wet which means they will not open and close well anymore.
Teak garden table and teak garden chairs
These are a teak garden table (with furrows) and teak garden chairs. These need less maintenance than the teak dining table for inside and the teak chairs for inside – mainly because of the construction, given the furrows in the teak wood table top.
Conclusion
Teak tables and teak chairs for inside can last for years even when they’re placed outside. Do take into account the somewhat shorter life span and a little more maintenance!
For more information you can always contact us by phone or email or drop by in person.