First, I read that teak can be either sealed or left as is to weather. If I seal the wood, it will probably never dry out or split (splinters, ouch), right? But if I don't seal it, I will save myself a lot of work (have unfond memories of sealing decking with Woodlife long ago, every 2 years, what a PITA). Am assuming that once teak is sealed, you commit to regular maintenance (an all or nothing approach)?

Next question is about the furniture legs. If we get this set, it will have to go directly onto the grass (we have no patio) and be out year round. I know teak is supposed to be impervious to wet, they build boats from it and all that, but I keep thinking those chair and table legs will wick up water from the ground and eventually deteriorate. Does this stuff REALLY not need to be protected from contact with the ground, or is all that just a marketing ploy?

Would hate to plunk down this kind of $$$$ only to find that 5 years from now the legs are turning black from the ground up, so would appreciate any real-life advice from those who have had unsealed teak furniture in place, on grass, for a while now.

Thanks!

Sue

You either oil them, or you let them go natural and silver. Both ways look nice, so it's more about realistically assessing you personal energy level. If you know eventually you'll stop the oiling, don't bother in the first place, just let them silver.

How often you oil depends on your location, sun exposure and rain. If they're out in full sun and you have a wet winters, figure on 2 coats a year. If it's full sun and little rain, figure 3--to keep them "catalog" pretty. If you cover them in the winter, or they're under a roof, you'll need to oil less.

You can start oiling and then stop, and the teak will eventually silver off, it will just take a little longer. You can go silver and then oil, but it will take many, many coats to bring back the color, and it will never be as good as if you started oiling from day one. If you oil, get a guality teak oil. The box store stuff is typically poor quality oil.

My root chair, in full sun and 36" of rain annually, has been sitting on bare dirt for 3 years. It doesn't have any black spots or rot. Also, teak grain doesn't raise, or crack with this kind exposure. It's as smooth as the day I bought it. If it's ever rough, a quick pass with some fine sand paper clears that right up...assuming I haven't been oiling, which I don't. (Also a good trick to remove the occasional drink stain.)

Teak comes in various grades. Higher grades have uniform color and are darker in color. Lesser grades have uneven color and often have reddish streaks through the wood, (this comes from excess iron in the soil). My experience has been that my chairs, made from the lesser grade, will get black spots if left exposed all winter--although I live in a very wet climate. A quick scrub with a light bleach solution and sanding in the spring cleans it right up. But considering I get these chairs for $25 on sale, compared to $150 for the high grade, it's a small inconvenience.

Teak is well worth it. It will last forever.

So unless all that is total marketing hype, it sounds like it should be good stuff.

I'm lazy, so thanks for the input on oiling. I won't start, because I know I won't want to be saddled with that job twice or even once a year!

Smith & Hawken also sells teak maintenance products including a Teak Cleaner (" To restore teak to its original color, our Cleaner whisks away mildew spots and dirt as it brightens the surface to a honey tone.") which doesn't sound like something we'd want to use, if we want to keep the silvered color. But confusingly they also sell something called a Patinizer ("Or to maintain teak’s weathered look, our new Patinizer keeps the grey a silvery hue. Water-based for easy cleanup.") Not sure whether the intention is to clean the teak back to a honey color and then put Patinizer on to bring it back to grey? Sounds weird to me. I think a better plan is to do what you do (light bleach solution) if any black spots (I guess that's mildew?) ever show up.

Thanks!