What timber to use outdoor furniture?

[RonJ]

I’m thinking about making some outdoor furniture. Ie a table and 2 bench seats. I thought about using treated pine but was worried about the safety of that and then considered merbau decking for the bench and table tops but was wondering if I should use hardwood for the legs. I know I could use merbau as well but I am not a massive fan of the glued timber and can’t seem to find solid merbau. Then if I use hardwood it will never match the prestained merbau? So does that mean either I use the glued merbau or use hardwood for the whole project. In which case what timber would be good for the table top and legs? 

[EricL]

Hello @RonJ 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about what timber to use for outdoor furniture.

I see that you've had a think about Merbau timber. I suspect that if you did find a solid piece of Merbau it would be expensive. I totally understand your observation in regards to the hardwood not matching the pre-stained Merbau. My thoughts on this are to wait until both pieces of timber have weathered heavily and then re-staining both to get a measure of uniformity. In regards to the glued Merbau, the choice is up to you, which one do you prefer, and will it fit the design you have in mind? There is always the option of using steel legs instead of timber ones.

I also suggest having a quick look at this discussion - Outdoor table using Merbau fence panels by @daniel4 
 

Let me call on our experienced members @Dave-1 and @Nailbag for their recommendations.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[Nailbag]

Hi @RonJ 

I definitely agree with you not to use treated pine. It's a poor quality timber that deteriorates quickly and hard to maintain. And as @EricL mentioned a solid section of Merbau will be extremely expensive.

I would consider looking at some of the reclaimed timber merchants. They have so many options to select from that you could put your own mark on. Nothing will be cheap, but timber isn't anymore regardless of type.

You could combine using the large range of legs available from Bunnings to help save on expence.

Nailbag

[Dave-1]

Good Evening @RonJ 

Welcome to the community Glad you stopped in and seriously there are so many projects in here that you can pull what you need from them

I have built an outside bench on wheels Outside timber lounge with wheels using a mixture of Pine for the frame, just normalnon structual pine plus merbau and white gum I got on special as end of run from my local Bunnings. Its just gone a year since I built it and its trundling along fine. I would say its under partial cover but everything is sold as and Imove it around a lot.

I have also built an outside Bench Outside bench with the same mixture of timber. It has hgeld up well apart from me installing it too close to a decking post lol But really its held up extremely well. I have only given both 2 coats of oiul. They are due to have another one around now. I used a cabbots clear oil from memory.

I also have built this from hardwood recovered from work, was used for concreting Outdoor table build It has stood up well in the weather with no protection. I had to tighten up the bolts this year was all plus a coat of oil.

So for your question, have you considered using ex timber from houses being pulled down. I have found that a lot of the old timber is red hardwood, much like merbau. Dining table build and seats reupholstering is a inside table project I did a decade ago and it reuses a metal frame and the recyled house timber I am refering to.  A lot of time you will see people advertising it for free, Or if you table and bnch seats are undercover then you could go the route I did. 

Dave