• Once a year before you set the furniture out for the summer season, review each piece and look for rough spots or areas that the weather damaged. Gently smooth these areas with fine sand paper and then apply your sealer or paint to the areas you have fixed

  
   
• No matter what type of wood is used for your outdoor furniture, all woods are susceptible to rot and decay if left in moist, wet, or shady areas for extended periods of time.  

• In addition, temperature extremes can take a toll on wood furniture. This furniture is made to be outdoors but if you want to add to its lifespan than the following tips should be considered. 
  
  During the cold winter months, keeping your wooden patio furniture protected in a shed or garage is highly recommended.
  
  

  If you live in an area with high humidity or lots of rain the wood is more likely to warp and rot, so using waterproof protective covers when your furniture is not in use is highly recommended to keep your wooden patio furniture in good shape. 
  

• The bases of furniture legs are probably the most vulnerable when it comes to water damage. If wood furniture is kept in the grass, at the poolside, or on a surface that collects even a small level of rain water, the legs can become easily saturated and damaged. This can be prevented by one of the following methods:
  
  

  1. Placing them upon special stands or fittings of metal caps around furniture legs. 
  
  2. Cover the bottoms of each furniture leg with rubberized material or small sections of cedar fencing material
  
  3. Put table and chair legs in treatment of wood preservative several times so that as much solution as possible gets soaked into the wood
  

• It is also important to prevent plastic objects, like plastic table cloths, toys, placemats, and appliance covers, from lying on wood furniture for a long period of time because plastic can discolor wood.  Plastic can also stick to and damage a wood finish.
  
• Finally, exposure to chemicals including solvents and chlorine, and exposure to common items such as alcoholic beverages, plants and flower nectar, and hot items (off of a grill, for example) can stain or damage wood and many wood finishes.  
  

Properly maintaining your outdoor wood furniture can significantly improve its lifespan and maximize your investment