Patio furniture is a terrific investment. It keeps you and your guests comfortable while enjoying barbecues, parties, and even alone time while providing value and curb appeal to your home. The best outdoor furniture isn’t inexpensive, so you want to ensure those pieces last.
Unfortunately, patio furniture experiences constant weather and circumstances that can cause it to fade, chip, degrade, and otherwise fall apart. Cold and heat, humidity, rain, sunshine, and more can all work together to devalue and eventually destroy your furniture. So, what are the best ways to preserve outdoor furniture?
Sealants and coatings
The best course of action to take to protect outdoor furniture is to ensure all the bad elements stay away. To start, wood furniture can receive a new coat of paint every year. This coat provides functional and affordable protection from the elements, but it’s not a permanent fix. Applying a sealant or varnish is an even better way to protect the wood and is still an affordable embellishment. You can paint metal furniture as well, of course, but powder coating is a longer-lasting treatment. A professionally applied powder coating can last for years.
Keep it covered
When not in use, cover your outdoor furniture with plastic tarps. Plastic covers created to fit the shape of the furniture are ideal, naturally, but any plastic tarp serves as great protection during rain, sleet, or snow. If you don’t have enough room to bring pieces indoors, it’s wise to keep your furniture covered throughout winter. Try not to leave the tarps on for too long during warm or humid weather. Before and after you remove the tarps, wipe down the furniture so that it stays dry and doesn’t encourage mold growth.
Keep it clean
Be sure to clean off your outdoor furniture at least once a week using warm water and a gentle detergent. If you can help it, don’t place furniture below trees—otherwise, you risk sap and bird droppings dripping onto the surface and ruining the finish. Avoid setting furniture in direct sunlight when possible. If direct sun is unavoidable in your yard, set up an umbrella, awning, or similar cover to keep the sun’s UV rays from fading the finish.
Avast, weigh anchor
Here’s one more solution for preserving outdoor furniture: If you live in an area prone to storms and high winds, anchor the furniture. The best way to do this is to use heavy-duty bolts and screws to secure it to the deck or a concrete slab. Use something strong like a stainless-steel chain that won’t rust and resists breaking. Naturally, the smartest thing to do before a big storm is to store your outdoor furniture or chain it all together to prevent it from being blown away.
Take care of your furniture and it’ll bring you years of comfort and pleasure for a very long time!
