Aluminum Outdoor Furniture and Salt Air?

[45th Birthday]

Does anyone have any experience with cast or extruded aluminum outdoor furniture in salt air? We are thinking we like the look for our place in Florida, but aren't sure about oxidation. The porch is covered, but is directly on the ocean. Most likely, the furniture would be moved inside during May-November. All help appreciated.

[jimnjana]

You can fight it, but expect it sooner or later. We have two year old cast aluminum chairs and table that are in our screen enclosure year round. All show signs of oxidation this fall we will pressure wash and spray paint. You should fare better since they will only be outside part of the time and on a covered porch.

[haha]

Plastic is better for this use.

Ha

[mf15]

I have a house one block from the beach and won't buy anything but powder coated cast aluminum.
The crummy powdered coated steel chairs will always rust in spots,and can stain peoples clothes,rust spots on the deck.
The problem is finding them, I like stackable chairs with cloth fabric.
Sam's club has them for 50 each,they also use a nice Sunbrella fabric. These stay out on the second floor deck, April to November, so far 3 years old and still look pretty good. Powder coated aluminum frame and glass top table, at least 10 years old stays out all year. Some of the powder coating is sand blasted off, but no heavy corrosion.
Rental property in OC NJ.
Old Mike

[wrigley]

PVC Patio Furniture | Outdoor PVC Furniture | PVC Chairs, Umbrellas


This stuff lasts forever and is very comfortable. You can buy casual chairs and even recliners. I live in Florida about 3 miles from the ocean. This stuff stays outside on my porch and patio year round. Cleaning it is simple. A spray bottle with a mixture of bleach and dish detergent then rinse it off with water and let the sun dry it!

Mike

[sengsational]

When I moved to Florida in 1965 the house came with some anodized aluminum patio furniture (gold in color). It sat outside (not even in a screened porch), and our house was 500 feet from the beach on the Atlantic side (everything pretty much always coated with salt). The furniture is solid aluminum (not hollow) and has stretchy plastic straps that you sit on. It looked like it might have been extruded (square cross section about 15mm or so with rounded off corners).

That furniture is still in use today. No longer right on the beach, though. The furniture has been re-strapped, the wheels replaced, but the furniture frames themselves show zero signs of corrosion.

I've seen many PVC sets come and go, that's for sure, so I'd avoid that. Almost nothing survives the salt and the baking sun, but those chairs, lounges and table all came through amazingly well.

[fritz]

This thread reminded me of the pictures I took of these rusting bikes at the first of this year in Florida. Been walking past these for years and finally took pictures of them to show the folks back home what salt air can do. I believe these were brand new when they were locked to that bike rack. The literature they came with (dtd 2006) is still hanging from the rusting handlebars. They haven't moved in the years I've been renting there - so I believe they've never been ridden. They are located outside in an inlet on the common walkway, but under the roof of the building and protected from rain and sun, but not the salt air (we are about 1/2 block off the beach). Gives one a real appreciation for what salt air can do to things. Those black handlebars were shiny chrome, just like what is actually flaking off the fenders of the first bike....

[sengsational]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fritz ...Gives one a real appreciation for what salt air can do to things. ....

Unless you've experienced living on the beach with salt spray, it's hard to fathom how quick things corrode. The inside of our pool heater just was a pile of rust after a couple of years...literally disintigrated. And forget putting two different kinds of metal touching (like a steel screw and an aluminum frame). Something like that would be gone in a month.

[45th Birthday]

The condo management has already told us to forget about putting ceiling fans on the porches because the insides rot in six months.