Home >
Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Which wood should I choose?
Will my furniture be delivered flat pack?
What do I need to treat my new chair with?
Which finishing oil should I use?
Classic or Basic? Which should I choose?
I have seen other chairs which are cheaper than yours. Why are yours more expensive?
Do you supply cushions?

Which wood should I choose

All of the timbers that we use are naturally durable and selected to give a long life with absolute minimum maintenance. On that basis any of them will do a good job so it is necessary to work out which other factors are most important to you.

Matching Existing Furniture - If you have existing garden furniture in Teak or Iroko, and your new purchase is going to be placed close enough to make similarity of appearance important, then Iroko is the best choice. It will weather naturally to a very similar colour to Teak. If you choose to oil your furniture Iroko will take oil treatment in much the same way that Teak does.

Weight - If light weight is important because you want to be able to move your furniture frequently, then Cedar weighs about half as much as Oak or Iroko (about 11kg). If heavy weight is important (I have several customers who have lost previous furniture to high winds!) then Oak or Iroko are about the same weight at approx 20kg for a chair.

Environmental impact - I believe that timber, as a naturally renewing material, is an ideal choice for outdoor furniture from an environmental standpoint. I also know that the issue of what is "environmentally friendly" is complex and many factors have to be taken into consideration. In general terms:

Oak is the timber with the best environmental credentials as it is all harvested in Europe under government control. The suppliers that I use source the majority of their timber from France with some also coming from Germany.
Cedar is a very close second to Oak. It is harvested in Canada, again under government control but scores a little lower than Oak because it has further to travel to get here. Cedar is a faster growing softwood and Canadian forestry is a well developed industry with careful controls.
Iroko is probably the weakest choice from an environmental standpoint. While the sources we use are harvested under government control it is likely that the level of control is lower than European standards and also the distance traveled is a detraction from this point of view.

Painting - If you intend to paint your chairs then I would recommend Iroko as the best base timber. Cedar is also suitable but can "bleed through" where very light paint colours are used.

Will my furniture be delivered flat pack?

Each chair is fully built by us and is then dis-assembled just enough to get it in a box and ship it at a reasonable cost. That means it arrives with you as a seat, back and 2 arms. Putting it back together takes about 10-15 minutes and involves two screwdrivers and a small spanner or pliers. Its not like real flat pack because it has been a chair once. To give you an idea of what is involved the instructions can be viewed here

What do I need to treat my new chair with?

The simple answer is that you do not need to treat it with anything. Anything you choose to do to your furniture after it arrives is purely decorative, as the timbers that we use are all naturally durable and do not need any treatment. If you decide to put a decorative finish you should make sure that you follow the manufacturers instructions and try a small sample first to make sure that you will like the end result. If you decide to apply an oil finish I would recommend the products sold as "Garden Furniture Oils" rather than traditional Teak oil, simply because they seem to last a little better and are a bit easier to apply. But remember, any finish that you do apply will need to be maintained at some stage.

Which finishing oil should I use?

If you decide to oil your furniture, which is a purely decorative decision, I recommend the use of a good quality "Garden Furniture Oil". All of the main manufacturers supply them and they are generally readily available at good DIY stores or garden centres.

Classic or Basic? Which should I choose?

The experience of sitting in a Basic chair is pretty much identical to the Classic chair. They are the same shape and size and all of the things that need to be done to make the chair comfortable are done to both of them. So the main difference is that the Classic chair looks a bit nicer because most of the screws are hidden and all the edges are rounded over.
The other main difference is that as the Classic chair is also available in Oak or Iroko, both of which are longer lasting than Cedar. As such the Classic chair is probably just as good value in the long run although somewhat more expensive initially

I have seen other chairs which are cheaper than yours. Why are yours more expensive?

We offer two main ranges of furniture. The Basic range is, we believe, priced competitively against any chair available in the UK built in a naturally durable timber. Our Classic chairs are generally a bit more expensive than some other chairs you may see because they are built to a very high standard using quality, naturally durable hardwoods. We take time to do things like concealing most of the screws and fittings which greatly increases the time they take to build. In simple terms, where they cost more it is because they take more time to build. We try to build the best as we think that generally gives better value for money over time.

Do you supply cushions?

I'm afraid not. Most of our customers find the chairs to be comfortable without cushions and I have to say that I always find cushions on outdoor furniture to be a bit of a faff! At home I will sometimes grab a cushion off the settee in the living room to go behind my head but even without that I never have a problem falling asleep in mine on a warm afternoon!

Adirondack Outdoors

Garden Furniture hand made in the UK