All-Weather Furniture Blog

I’ve recently purchased an old wrought iron patio set and would like to restore it to a new-looking black finish.

First, you will need to remove the old finish plus all of the rust that is on there. You need a bare metal to start a good finish with. You can go to Sears and buy a sand blaster for about $75 or rent one for about $7 a day . Add sand to it and blast off the old finish and rust too. I took an old bench I had to a fabrication shop here locally and they sand blasted it clean for me for $15. Shops that weld and do “ironwork” also do sand blasting. Once clean, its ready to start finishing it. The best finish around is that on Automobiles. No question about it, its the best and most durable and costs are very reasonable for such a finish. So buy a quart of Automotive primer. Spray the set with a coat or two using an ordinary spray gun. Then apply the base coat color. Here you have a big choice of colors, but you say black, so spray it with base coat black. Then spray on the clear coat Polyurethane with a bit of hardener in it. Give it two coats of this finish. You will have the best set around and it will last for at least 20 years out in the sun, rain, snow, anywhere. The total cost of this is about the same as going to Lowes and buying some kind of a paint that will surely not stay on there because it is not resistant to the sun, rain, and weather like an auto paint is.

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I leave vinyl plastic furniture outside in midwest winters. I haven’t had any problems with it although I am sure it will tend to shorten the life of the items. A word of caution … freezing temperatures causes the plastic to become “brittle” and it may fail if you sit on it in very cold temperatures. It regains it’s pliability and strength when the weather warms up. I learned this the hard way. Good luck with your winter storage efforts.

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I agree with the person who suggested a mix of the 2 kinds of chairs if you have a table large enough for 6 chairs. If you are just getting four chairs, having them all the same will probably look better. Swivel chairs can be very comfortable for just sitting, but I always feel like I have to lean forward uncomfortably to eat at the table because they tend to tilt back slightly. So it really depends, are you planning on using the set mostly for sitting at the table and eating, or for sitting and relaxing? I’ve never had a problem with the legs on non-swivel chairs getting caught in the deck cracks–but it is something to consider if the cracks on your deck are wider, or the legs are particularly small. Hope you enjoy your deck this summer!

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You can get a chemical spray from the pet store that deters animals from chewing. It is like a bitter, unharmful chemical that animals find unpleasant. I have a pet squirrel and bought some to keep her from doing precisely what your outdoor squirrels are doing. She would chew up my couch pillows and use the stuffing to haul back in her cage to stuff in her nest box;0) It worked.

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Find a blanket that he really likes, my cat will always make a point of sitting on this particular blanket. Try a really soft fleece type, cats seem to love this. Put the blanket where he usually sits. Also, if you go over the sofas with a sticky lint roller morning and night it would significantly reduce the amount of hair sticking to your house mates clothes! And it would only take 2mins twice a day. You can get really cheep packs of 5 off ebay.

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I used the krylon for plastics on some of those cheap plastic outdoor chairs. The can costs around 5 dollars, I think, might be more. I don’t remember if the directions said to but I lightly sanded with a piece of sand paper. Works great no problems.

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Enamel coated extruded cast aluminum will outlast both of us. In any climate. It is a bit pricey, but if you wait until fall, you will find great sales.

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