Metal garden furniture: features and benefits

Garden furniture for a summer cottage or your own home is intended for relaxation during leisure hours. The most preferred are metal interior items that are practical, functional, able to fit into any landscape and divide the territory into zones. This category deservedly enjoys the love of consumers, and its advantages are well known to designers.

Many people choose metal furniture for their site. First of all, this is due to its long service life. With proper protection against corrosion, metal objects can serve their owners for several decades and still retain their attractive appearance. Chairs, tables and other furniture are in perfect harmony with the greenery of trees, flower beds, can be created from the same material as the fence. It can be colored many times, and, if desired, made combined.

The main advantages of metal products:

• do not require complex care;
• resistant to any mechanical stress;
• service life - 100 years or more;
• not afraid of moisture and direct ultraviolet rays;
• when using a special protective coating, they are not afraid of the destructive effect of temperature changes.

Summer cottage furniture can be made of different types of metal. They all have their own characteristics and technical characteristics, so when choosing it is worth considering this. For these purposes, iron, cast iron, copper, steel, stainless steel, brass, aluminum and bronze are used.

Let's consider the most common ones in more detail.

• Cast iron. Cast interior items are created from it, which are not afraid of operation in the open air. Cast iron is a versatile alloy that is virtually corrosion resistant. It is strong and durable, it is pretreated with special dyes. Cast iron is wonderfully combined with decorative elements made of wood: for tables it can have a table top, for armchairs - seats and armrests.

• Steel and stainless steel more suitable for the manufacture of large-scale furniture: tables, sun loungers, as well as elements of gazebos. To obtain elegant openwork products, steel alloys with a low carbon content are used - these are grades of metal with a steel content of up to 0.13%. Higher inclusion of this element complicates forging.

• Aluminum has its advantages: it is lightweight, resistant to rust. Such pieces of furniture can be easily moved, used outdoors. But this metal has one significant drawback: it does not have sufficient strength and is subject to mechanical stress.On the other hand, such products can be adjusted to your liking: reduce the height of the legs, remove or add decorative details, and can be easily repaired. Aluminum things are inexpensive, durable with careful use, but they can only have one color - silver.

According to the type of production, all metal garden furniture is divided into welded and forged. Welded products are usually made of iron. They do not differ in particular grace, but they are strong and durable. Forged furniture is another matter: it is created with the help of artistic forging of metal rods, which are then welded. For rods, iron-carbon alloys are more often used: this increases the elasticity of the material.

Today, the following products are the most demanded for the arrangement of the territory.

• Dining tables with a wrought iron frame and legs, while the table top is made of glass, plastic or wood. It is a stable structure, immune to mechanical stress.
• Loved by many rocking chairs with a forged body and a wooden seat. These structures are not afraid of atmospheric precipitation, they are durable, unlike willow vines (natural and even artificial).

• Benches with metal bodies and armrests and seats mostly made of wood. This piece of furniture can last for several decades, and the wooden elements can always be replaced if they are destroyed.
• Forged chaise lounges and armchairs, the back and seats of which are made of polymer or wood. They can be made in the same style as the table, chairs and other products and support the overall fashion trend.

• A durable piece of garden furniture that is not afraid of high temperatures is a metal brazier. In addition to its high technical properties, this attribute is extremely easy to use.
• Swing made entirely of forged metal, with the exception of the seat, which is suitable for wood or plastic.

For a gazebo, veranda, it is quite possible to choose wrought iron furniture, which will last a long time if it is not located in the street. Iron products, of course, do exist, but this metal is difficult to process, since it has hardness and rigidity, which limits the designer's imagination, but in the absence of experience in artistic forging at home, you can make a simple set of reliable welded furniture.

Modern aluminum furniture provides design in several styles: modern, colonial, "modern", "high-tech". Recently, it is customary to decorate winter gardens and greenhouses with such products, because the material is resistant to any weather, high humidity, it is not afraid of sudden changes in temperature.

Competent care is the key to a long service life of metal furniture.

Previously, any metal furniture must be primed, especially at all corners and joints, where moisture can accumulate. Then it is covered with a special protective paint, which should be renewed regularly.

Proper care of metal forged furniture includes:

• cleaning without the use of abrasives that can leave scratches on the product;
• the legs must have special bearings to prevent scratches and other deformations during operation;
• when combining metal with other materials, all parts must be cleaned in accordance with their properties;
• when lacquered forged items, it is undesirable to keep them outside during frosts, as this can cause cracking of the varnish surface, and then the destruction of the metal.

Tarnished metal surfaces can be restored to their natural shine with a composition of ammonia, water and limestone (chalk or tooth powder). The resulting solution should be homogeneous. Wetting a soft cloth in it, thoroughly wipe the metal until gloss appears, rye stains are cleaned using a rust converter.

For information on how to make a garden swing out of metal, see the next video.