Having beautiful furniture set up outdoors helps expand the living space you have to a comfortable place outside. Whether it is a sleek patio table or a group of Adirondack chairs set up around a fire pit, wooden furniture definitely offers an attraction with its flawless ability to blend in with natural surroundings. However, wooden outdoor furniture also requires a little extra upkeep and maintenance. Perhaps the biggest problem with wooden furniture is its tendency to warp and bow with age. To better understand how to avoid this problem with your own wooden outdoor pieces, take a look at a few of the reasons wooden furniture warps:
The wooden furniture is built with softer wood varieties.
Wooden furniture for the outdoors can range from inexpensive to more on the high-end side of the cost scale. Even though you may be tempted to go for the cheaper varieties, it is usually best to stick with the more pricey designs, because they are typically built with wood that is better equipped to handle outdoor exposure. For example, if you pick up a piece that is made from pine wood or another coniferous type of wood, you will probably find that warping is a bigger problem because these woods have fewer structures and have soft fibers in the grain.
The wooden furniture is exposed to too much rain and sun.
Repeated exposure to moisture and heat causes wood to expand and contract tremendously. With moisture, the wooden furniture can absorb the liquid inside and with heat, the wood can dehydrate and shrink. This repeated exposure and process can easily cause the wood to warp over the years, so avoid this problem by keeping your wooden furniture parked out of the direct sunlight and use covers during periods of rain.
The wooden furniture is not properly sealed with protective products.
Just like other wood features on the outside of your home, like your wooden deck or patio, the wooden furniture should be coated with a protective finish that repels moisture and protects it from damaging UV rays. Most wooden furniture pieces will come from the manufacturer with this finish, but over the years, this finish should be reapplied to continue to keep the wood protected. As soon as you notice a change in the finished surface of the wood, take the time to refinish the wood with a new coat of quality wood protection product.
