Patio & Garden Benches

I recently ordered and received and assembled this bench, and therein hangs a tale. The tale centers on the fact that I had previously ordered a different teak bench from a different supplier at another site, and then returned it due multiple defects/deficiencies in manufacture. I decided to purchase this one instead, even though it was costing me 30% more than the other (and I am not made out of money). I awaited this bench with some trepidation: Unless I paid an arm and a leg, were all teak benches going to be as poorly made as that first one? As it turned out, the difference was of the night-and-day variety. [...]On to the bench itself: Made of Indonesian teak and SUPERBLY crafted. I was stunned, actually. Very easy to assemble, with deep mortise-and-tenon joinery secured by teak dowels (no metal hardware). Easy to assemble but requires some time to finish, as each of the 14 dowels has to be trimmed to near-flush and then sanded to flush. (NOTE: The instructions say to trim with a wood chisel. I, with a fair amount of wood-working experience, attempted this at first but found the dowels susceptible to tear-out even with careful use of a chisel and mallet. I switched to a fine-toothed hand saw and suggest that you do likewise. Also, the instructions say that 12 dowels are needed in total, with two extras provided. Not so with the iteration of the bench sent to me: all 14 are needed, so don't going playing fast and loose with them. One final note here: not all of the dowels came with one end beveled; be sure to sand to a bevel those that are not before attempting to pound them in. OK, while we're at it: a small piece of sandpaper (wet-or-dry, 240 grit) is provided. I soon switched to a sheet of non-clogging 150 grit, followed by finishing with 240 or 320. I suggest this as well.)In sum, this is an absolutely gorgeous--and sturdy--bench, extremely well-made, not "cheap" in the least. You will love it, as I do. Worth (to me) far, far more than the extra 30% I paid vis-a-vis the first one I bought. Also, I am very pleased with this company and would definitely buy from them again."..."  Read more

Since I purchased a total of seven (2 separate orders), I can comment on the consistency of the quality, appearance, etc. Using them side-by-side along 2 walls in a basement game room / play room.First, appearance: The color consistency across them all was excellent, and closely matched the on-line photo. I'm very pleased with the overall look of them, and so is my wife.[...].Assembly: EASY. Well-written instructions and quality hardware. After unpacking, only takes about 30 minutes to assemble. For each step, you should start all of the screws before you fully tighten any, and you won't have any problems. Installing the safely latches was a tad cumbersome - suggest you start wood screws by hand, and finish with a power driver. Also suggest you mount the part that goes to the side frame first, then screw the hardware to the top. The safely latches are a nice touch, and work great on 13 of 14 I have (one does not hold the seat up very well - bad spring?). Finished wood plugs to cover all the screw holes is nice too. Durability: Very good. Impressed overall with how sturdy they are. Only knock is that the wood used for the 4x "panels" on the front/rear, and on the sides, is fairly thin. If a child sits on the bench and kicks a front panel, I think it may crack/break. I can stand on the bench if I want, and not worry it will buckle/break.Excellent look and quality for the price."..."  Read more

I ordered this potting bench to use on my deck as a serving/prep table. I really love how it looks and the quality of the wood is great. It was really easy to put together and the fact that it folds up is perfect for storage. The only problem that I have with the bench is that the hinges are a bit flimsy, and this makes the bench wobbly. I have mine up against the railing of the deck so it's somewhat more stable, but if it was not up against something, I think it might be too unstable. So if you're going to use this bench in a place where it's going to stand alone, you might want to reconsider. Perhaps if the hinges were actually pieces of wood that could be hooked when the bench is open and unhooked for folding, it would be perfect. If you're handy this could be easily done, and is probably what I'll end up doing. For the price you can't beat the quality, except for the hinges."..."  Read more

We ordered 3 of these benches for our rooftop deck and are very pleased. The benches do require assembly but it is fairly simple. The cedar is nice quality wood and we used a semi-transparent stain to darken the wood and it turned out great. One thing to note, the bottom of the storage box is just plywood, not cedar. We are using it to store our cushions for our patio furniture and so far they have been fairly leak free. We just caulked along the inside of the top cushion in order to prevent any leakages and that has helped keep the inside even drier. Overall we are very satisfied with the benches."..."  Read more