Outdoor Furniture Material

[Mike Goetzke]

My wife and I were at a local garden center a few weeks ago and we saw some patio furniture made from some kind of composite material. I'm a wood lover like most here but this looked like an excellent substitute for outdoor use. Was interesting that fastening with SS screws and pocket hole joints were used like one would use with wood. Aluminum angle iron was added in places like the top as stiffeners.

Anyone have experience using this type of material and know sources?

Thanks
Mike

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[Vtshopdog]

We have some Costco sourced deck chairs in similar synthetic material.  They were sold as a build yourself kit and working with the kit I thought the material resembled many of the synthetic decking products on the market.  Most of the decking seems to have core material unsuitable for furniture but there are some that might work.

A search with "composite wood" as term turns up many results, some might be appropriate

 

[afish]

https://www.kingplastic.com/products/king-starboard-st/

 

[Birdhunter]

I’ve built some outdoor stuff using decking boards. Doesn’t last forever, but far longer than pressure treated wood. Not pretty, but tough. I prefer using Ipe if the item has to look good.

 

[Peter_C]

Pretty much any composite decking material will work and can be found at decent lumber yards. Trex is one of the better known brands. Most public benches today are made from composites or at least it seems so.

 

[Birdhunter]

I use Trex on some outdoor builds. Most Trex boards have a deep ripple pattern on the underside. I have found some that is flat on both sides. The ends of the Trex boards are not pretty. I usually seal the ends where I have cut the boards with the hope that I will not get water intruding.

 

[guybo]

Hi, this works well for end grain.

 

[onocoffee]

A few months ago, I was able to get a deal on some Thermal Oak. This is a heat treated oak that has properties similar to yakisugi, i.e. weather resistant, insect resistant, and made a chair from it to try. It's designed to be exterior cladding, so the chair has been outside on my deck for most of the summer - exposed to the elements. It's looking a bit weathered but not too bad.

Note: while it looks pretty good, it is a bit finicky to work with. The heat treatment makes it very dry - making the wood brittle so a good dust mask is a must when working with it. All the Titebond III joints failed because it's just too dry (Gorilla Glue to the rescue). It's too dry to take on a finish - I used pure tung oil originally and it turned the wood black and basically sat there for a good month before I scraped it off and left it natural. If you like the look, go for it - but I think it's a bit of a PITA for furniture making.

 

[Muttley000]

If you use composite decking and the pieces are in the sun, make sure no one sits on them with shorts on as that stuff gets amazingly hot. I like using cedar for outdoor furniture. It is soft but if you want to put it away in the winter time you will appreciate how light it is.