Teak table cracks

masamune · 1 Jul 2015

I just received a teak table and four reclining chairs about 3 weeks ago.

They were left outside for about a week to weather a bit and then I started applying two layers of water based teak protection. I have yet to do two of the chairs.

From the first week I noticed a couple of hairline cracks appearing around various parts. A couple of weeks later the table and one chair had formed a couple of long deep cracks. Especially the table, two of the planks on the top have started showing splits on the surface.

I imagine some small cracks are to be expected and the furniture is directly under the sun in the morning. I am not an expert but if these progress further they may lead to split pieces. Is teak really meant to form deep cracks?

If it helps I will upload some pics...

Belboz · 1 Jul 2015

Pics would be good.

Doesn't seem right to me.

I assume these were sold as garden furniture and listed as being appropriately treated/constructed?

masamune · 1 Jul 2015

Yes of course, it's a pretty good looking set for the garden and I paid a decent price for it. I thought teak is supposed to be weather resistant so rain and sun should not destroy the furniture...

Here are some pics, these are some examples of the worse cracks,

There are small cracks forming around the chair arms and other parts of the furniture.

Belboz · 1 Jul 2015

By the looks of it, the set came 'bare' i.e. with no sealer/oil/varnish. Is that correct?

What did the instructions say to do before use?

masamune · 1 Jul 2015

That is correct, but what you see is now oiled wood.

The instructions on the teak oil sold by the same company were to allow one week for the furniture to weather and then apply two thin layers.

Note, the cracks started forming before the oiling.

AronSearle · 3 Jul 2015

The fissures are just caused by the timber drying, which will happen in this hot weather.

They could have dried the timber a little better to avoid this issue, something you might take up with them, though can't comment on how sucessfull that will be as they may hide behind the 'timber is a natural material' line.

Belboz · 4 Jul 2015

Aron is correct in that teak will display 'cracks' as it dries out. However, I am surprised at the size of some of those cracks hence why I said it didn't look right. As he said, I would get back in touch with the seller/manufacturer and query it. Some cracking is inevitable and is probably why they said to put it out before treatment but some of those look to be pretty substantial fissures.

masamune · 13 Jul 2015

Thanks for all the replies, is the general consensus that something is wrong with the size of some of these fissures? Do these have anything to do with the quality of the teak e.g grades?

It is funny but I don't have anyone with a teak table nearby to go and check theirs. I was quite surprised as these formed in just 2-3 weeks and perhaps they have now settled, although there are plenty of hairline ones around. I can't possibly know how they will evolve later on.

My understanding is that teak should be durable and resist to weather/sunlight, so I'd expect the furniture to remain in relatively good shape over a period of time, let alone a couple of weeks. This is really how it was being advertised, but I wanted to draw the line of my expectations in case they come back saying this is all natural (which is not really....)

angelboy · 14 Jul 2015

Ours have been outside in all weathers for 9 years and all we do is jet wash them every year. Don't get me wrong, they don't look anything like new/treated teak - but what I'm saying is, structurally, they're OK.

masamune · 20 Jul 2015

angelboy said:
Ours have been outside in all weathers for 9 years and all we do is jet wash them every year. Don't get me wrong, they don't look anything like new/treated teak - but what I'm saying is, structurally, they're OK.

So you have not observed any long or deep splits/fissures?

masamune · 8 Sep 2015

A quick update on my original post.

I sent some photos to the company and they asked to collect the furniture to investigate. They did not commit to anything really, for example they said it is normal as moisture comes out of the wood to form fissures or cracks. So I asked them why they want to collect if this was normal andthey said they wanted to investigate out of courtesy (eh?).

It is good they are willing to take action, but without committing to any course of action (e.g fill the cracks, replace ?) I am a little puzzled. Also a bit frustrated as the weather will not be warm for much longer and the furniture may be taken away for a week or longer.

To be fair I bought the set for years to come, so a bit of time without it for the benefit of having it further down the line is probably an inconvenience I have to take.

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Teak table cracks

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