Restoring Teak Furniture
Teak furniture is one of the most sought after types of furniture by lovers of wood. The charm of teak furniture comes from the inherent natural qualities of teak wood, which make it ideal for several applications, both inside and outside the house.
Teak furniture’s most famous quality is its durability outside the house all year long. It has a great resistance to the elements, and thus it makes for great outdoor, garden, and patio furniture. In addition, it’s also highly resistance to bugs and insects, which can’t make nests on it.
If you add to these qualities that teak furniture has a gorgeous, natural honey color, and that it’s not a common type of wood, you can understand why it has a great value and is generally more expensive than other types of wood.
That is the reason why a lot of people resort to restoring teak furniture when it has a problem or gets damaged somehow. Unlike other types of furniture made of other materials, restoring teak furniture is financially more viable than replacing it.
Fortunately, restoring teak furniture is not something that is commonly needed, as the natural durability of teak wood prevents it from getting damaged easily.
One of the most common forms of restoring teak furniture is by sanding it. While it doesn’t break or splinter easily, it can get scratched like every other type of wood, specially if children are allowed to eat or play on it. Fortunately, since it doesn’t usually need any covering, restoring teak furniture by sanding it will solve this problem.
One mistake that people often make is varnishing their teak furniture. This damages the furniture as teak wood needs to breathe, that is, it needs to release its natural oils in order to keep its qualities. Overtime, this results in the creating of bubbles, and in the worst cases, cracking and splintering. In addition, certain kinds of oil might cause mold or mildew to grow on the furniture. Restoring teak furniture for the first case will require sanding, while for the second one, it will require washing the furniture with bleach and soap.
If the damage is serious, for example, a broken leg or a crack that goes through the top of a table, restoring teak furniture should be done only by experienced carpenters. It will be a bit expensive, but not as expensive as restoring the piece. Moreover, if you don’t know how to restore such types of damage, restoring teak furniture by yourself may well end up rendering the piece useless. A carpenter, on the other hand, will either guarantee his work, or let you know in advance of the risk, letting you make an informed decision.