As thermometer readings climb progressively higher, everyone is getting ready for the summer season. At Marina’s Crafts, we typically start to see more customers interested in refreshing their outdoor furniture: benches, tables, chairs, and any other wood and upholstered furniture that helps them enjoy the blissful evenings outdoors. The number one question typically is: how affordable can our service be?

As always, everything depends on the specifics of the project at hand. Outdoor furniture requires especially durable coatings if it is to be left in direct sunlight, and withstand the UV light from the sun for a long period of time. The price of refinishing the furniture piece is typically determined by three factors: (1) difficulty of removing the old finish, (2) shape of the furniture piece (how many non-flat surfaces there are which require special handling to remove old finish), and (3) type and quality of new finish to be applied. At times, there are also unforeseen complications which affect the price of the refinishing service, but these are usually minial with outdoor furniture.

As one of the more straightforward examples, let’s take a look at the commercial center outdoor refinishing project that we undertook last summer. Here, the customer asked us to refinish their benches, garden boxes and tables, with a specific emphasis on bringing out the deep-grain precious wood look of all the outdoor furniture they have. The original state of the furniture was fairly good, and there were few complex surfaces, so we could use a 80 /120 grit sandpaper to remove the old finish without problem. We then went ahead to apply the premium oil-based finish, which is specifically designed for outdoors, and typically lasts approximately 2-3 years in direct sunlight, with some fading over this time period. As you can see in the pictures, the results were outstanding.

Another example is a restaurant outdoor furniture project we undertook last year. As they wanted their furniture to withstand a lot of abuse from customer traffic, we decided to go with a Marine Spar varnish, which has the greatest durability in direct sunlight of all the finishes we have worked with in the past. This project was more challenging, as the old Marine Spar finish we had to strip down was very difficult to get off. We had to start with 40 grit sandpaper and work our way up to 120 grit before applying the new finish. The additional time and effort required here, coupled with more complex shapes of the tables, and the higher cost of the finishing material (marine spar varnish) resulted in a higher per piece price tag. But the customer was ready for it, as they know they can rely on this finish protecting their outdoor tables and benches for years to come - typically these pieces don’t need refinishing for 3-5 years.

As you can see, the price of the outdoor refinishing project depends greatly on the complexity of the project, as well as the desired look, feel and durability. Contact us today to get a quote, and to learn more about the services available for outdoor furniture - including replacing the fabric on outdoor cushions and furniture! Here are some more pictures our our recent outdoor projects:

Marina’s Crafts also creates custom-made furniture of all kinds, including outdoor furniture. We are the premier furniture restoration and manufacturing business, serving the San Francisco peninsula and the larger San Francisco Bay Area. Contact us now to begin work on the outdoor furniture piece of your dreams!