another outdoor furniture question - anyway to prevent rust?

[purbeast0]

there is this dining set that i'm interested in picking up:

http://www.sears.com/16inch-santa/p-07120309000P?sellerId=SEARS&prdNo=3&blockNo=3&blockType=G3

however many of the reviews say that it rusts very quickly. considering this will be in the elements year round, that is a problem.

is there any kind of protection you can put on this stuff to prevent rusting? or is that just something that comes with steel furniture?

 

[SMOGZINN]

You could put a clear metal varnish on it. Any way around it metal that is left outside in the weather will probably have to have it reapplied every couple of years.

 

[edro]

Higher end outdoor furniture is aluminum.
We bought a used set of Woodward outdoor aluminum furniture on craigslist years ago and it is still great.

 

[purbeast0]

just went to HD and saw 2 sets that I liked. they even said they are built with "rust resistant steel" however, when reading reviews, multiple people (but not all) talk about rust after just a very short amount of time.

one of the sets is this one:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-Bay-Belleville-7-Piece-Patio-Dining-Set-FCS80198ST/204355242

so i'm not sure what to do now. we like that set as well as this one:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-...-Dining-Set-D9976-5PCT/204395535?N=5yc1vZbxdl

but would get that one in a larger table with 6 chairs, however, people in those reviews say the same thing.

 

[edro]

It will rust quickly because it is made of steel. Powder coat painting can only coat the outside of the tubular frames. Any nick or imperfection in the paint will rust, as well as the entire inside surface of the tubular sections due simply to high humidity.

There is nothing you can do to stop outdoor steel furniture from rusting. In 2 years, it will be rusting quite a bit, marking up your patio or deck and you will toss it out and buy another set.

I would go with a lower end aluminum set than a high end steel set.
This is especially true if it will be sitting on stone, concrete or another abrasive surface that will chew the paint off the bottom quickly.

That being said $400 patio set might get you further down the road of life and you can toss it after it breaks down. Even aluminum furniture can break it other areas (straps, plastic feet, etc), but you can usually repair those features and you can always repaint aluminum. Repainting a steel set won't work because the rust can come from the inside where paint can't reach.

 

[purbeast0]

ah okay. well if that is the case and aluminum won't rust, i may just get some aluminum stuff. i really don't want to deal with stuff rusting and getting all over my patio either.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Well, nothing but iron can rust, since rust is by definition iron oxide.
Aluminum is a more chemically reactive metal than iron thus is more prone to corrosion, but unlike iron, Aluminum oxidizes in a even layer which is impermeable to oxygen, which then protects the rest of the Aluminium from further oxidation. But it will form a dull grey grainy textured surface.

 

[MadScientist]

Cast aluminum patio furniture is the way to go. It's not cheap but will last forever. We purchased a Hanamint set 6 years ago and it looks like new. http://www.hanamint.com/