We are about to buy this IKEA patio furniture: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/categories/departments/outdoor/21964/ https://m.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/spr/59048397/
Relatively inexpensive, recommended by wirecutter, great reviews online and it’s comfortable (we’ve visited a show room).
One downside is people complain that after a year or so, it gets weathered but can be restored
I’m wondering if it’s worth it to just apply my own cost of polyurethane at the very beginning rather than waiting for it to weather on its own.
If so, would I just sand it down lightly, apply polyurethane in several coats and then treat with teak oil? Or does the teak oil come before the poly?
Really interested in this set but am nervous about how it’ll hold up. Any recommendations?
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I’m currently in grad school and I don’t have a ton of money to spend so ideally I’d like something nice that will not look terrible in a year. I saw these in person and they’re beautiful, but I’m nervous about how wood will hold up outdoors. This would be on a shaded balcony, that barely sees any sun haha. The balcony ledge is also pretty tall. I live near the ocean so I don’t know if the air will affect the wood too..this is my first place so I’m new to all of this stuff. Any suggestions or things I should know before purchasing?
That table was not painted in the sense that you think. You will notice that in both pictures you can see the wood grain. A paint would have provided a complete cover up of the grain. Instead the finish on that table was a transparent wood stain.
That line from IKEA is built with dark acacia hardwood. This wood is very hard and does not take up wood stain nearly as much as a softer or more open grained wood. If the finish was a water based stain then there is a good possibility that the brushing has simply taken off a good share of the stain on the surface of the wood. With a previous water based finish you may want to consider refinishing it with a semitransparent outdoor water based product. A high quality product (also meaning expensive as well) may be able to restore a uniform color to the table. Some stains of this type will have a manufacturer recommendation of one coat coverage but I have used them with two coat coverage (well dried between coats) and had the color hiding more than semitransparent while yet retaining the look and feel of wood.
If the original finish was an oil based stain then it may be possible to renew the surface by applying a coat of a compatible but similar product. Oil based stains do often tend to penetrate deeper into the grain of the wood than do water based products in my experience.
I have the same table and it is wood. It does turn "white" with ageing, I think the color/light is off in your photo. What I did with mine was to lightly sand it and treat it with boiled linseed oil. It now looks brand new, If the weather permits when I get home tonight I'll take a picture and post it. Then you can decide if you want to go with boiled linseed or some other finish. Ikea also sells a wood finish for this table, there's a youtube video showing a table being refinished with their stain. I've added a picture of the table this was done a few months ago and has lightened slightly since then. This table is over ten years old and before I treated it it looked like your table after the brush.