Repairing and protecting wooden garden furniture

[d000hg]

Our house came with some pretty decent wooden garden furniture but it's been left to deteriorate; some joints are slack and the getf have varying degrees of rot, some up to a couple of inches is crumbling.

I already planned to sand and paint them but what else should I do to fix issues and protect them better?

I can saw off rotten feet but then the chairs are lower. Should the paint I use act as a preservative or should I apply that first? What's an easy way to strengthen loose joints for a non carpenter... Etc.

 

[foxhole]

Paint is of no use on garden furniture , you need oil , usually teak oil. But I find decking oil effective and cheaper which I dye with can or two of wood dye .(not the water based dye).Quick to apply as you can brush or wipe on.

 

[d000hg]

The furniture is already either painted or varnished - it's flaking off. Sanding back to bare wood seems impractical considering the time needed
Why do you say paint is no good?

To answer one of my questions, the paint I was looking at appears to include protection so I guess it's got chemicals in to inhibit decay as well as forming a barrier?

In terms of the rotting feet, what I was thinking is if buy a length of treated timber the same size as the legs and cut the rotten parts off the furniture, I can somehow splice on new 'extensions' of a few inches. As a non-carpenter I was thinking to use dowel to join it. Someone who knew how could use a plane to get it nice and smooth, I will probably end up with it a visible join.

 

[foxhole]

Flaking off because not suitable for garden furniture . Burn off with hot air gun and then oil . Stand on a bit of decking if you want to raise after trimming legs.

Timber outside shrinks and expands which a surface protection like paint cannot cope with so it cracks and flakes.

 

[blup]

You can fill a suitably cut down plastic jar with the preservative and stand the feet in them (the jars) to help absorption.

Blup

 

[cwhaley]

You can fill a suitably cut down plastic jar with the preservative and stand the feet in them (the jars) to help absorption.

Blup

Excellent tip. Mine were grey and starting to absorb water in the rain, so I sanded them down on a dry day then put on two coats of linseed oil and also stood the legs in small tupperwares.

The feet of the table and chairs had no protection on weirdly, so putting plastic feet gliders on raised it off the ground to prevent water absorption.

EDIT - grammar

 

[d000hg]

Flaking off because not suitable for garden furniture . Burn off with hot air gun and then oil . Stand on a bit of decking if you want to raise after trimming legs.

Timber outside shrinks and expands which a surface protection like paint cannot cope with so it cracks and flakes.

surely that's a question of the wrong paint, though? You see painted wooden houses or structures, my front door and windows are all painted wood, etc.

Though those need repainting periodically, maybe you mean furniture has the same requirements if painted and it's better to avoid the work?

 

[foxhole]

Your windows and doors are mainly vertical surfaces , garden furniture is mainly horizontal surfaces, small print on many exterior paints and stains states not guaranteed on horizontal surfaces.

 

[d000hg]

Interesting distinction, I can see that is relevant.

I've been beavering away and it's slow progress but it seems decent paint stripper followed by coarse sanding is the most effective. In some places the wood comes up looking new, in others it still looks patchy and ugly - oddly the paint that is most damaged are the harder areas to clean up. But I think that is because the wood itself is stained/damaged and in some places not flat so sanding is a pain.

The table-top is one area that's come up nice so I'm considering staining that, but painting the sides/legs because those are not coming up well and I don't want to sink weeks into this Could give a nice effect actually.

On the benches, a couple of the slats have rotted right through at the join and I've no idea what to do here. It looks like the only way to get a slat in is to take the bench apart, which I do not want to do. Any suggestions here other than a)leave it b)take it out and leave a gap?

 

[foxhole]

I would use it to keep warm on November 5th .

 

[d000hg]

I was thinking that until I looked up how much decent solid wood garden furniture costs, as opposed to flimsy stuff. Yikes

 

[cwhaley]

Without sounding like an advert for them, take a look on Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace for outdoor furniture. My parents spent £1k on an admittedly very decent patio set whereas I spent ~£50 on Gumtree for a second-hand oak furniture set. I cleaned it up and oil it twice a year and it looks almost brand new. No need to buy new at all.

 

[d000hg]

Without sounding like an advert for them, take a look on Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace for outdoor furniture. My parents spent £1k on an admittedly very decent patio set whereas I spent ~£50 on Gumtree for a second-hand oak furniture set. I cleaned it up and oil it twice a year and it looks almost brand new. No need to buy new at all.

Probably not a bad shout. I can imagine this is exactly the kind of stuff that would sell for peanuts when people move, or decide to buy a new one because it looks a bit tatty.
I feel like I'm committed to this project now, if only as a learning experience but I love a bargain so will keep an eye out