Skip to content
Outdoor Furniture

Backyard Table and Chairs: Sizing, Materials, and Wind

Most outdoor dining sets are bought too small and blow over. The clearances a table actually needs, what each material costs you in upkeep, and how to weight it.

By The Grow In Backyard Team 5 min read Save to Pinterest — opens Pinterest in a new tab
A cast iron table and chairs on a paved patio beside hydrangeas
Photo: Acabashi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
On this page

Two things go wrong with outdoor dining furniture, and neither is about the furniture itself. It is bought too small for the space around it, and it blows over.

Both are predictable before you order.

Size it to the space, not to the table

The table’s footprint is not the space it needs. Chairs pull out, and people walk behind them.

Table size and the area it actually occupies
SeatsTable sizeSpace needed with chairs out
436–44 in round or square10 × 10 ft
660 × 36 in rectangular12 × 10 ft
648–54 in round12 × 12 ft
872 × 40 in rectangular14 × 11 ft
1096 × 42 in rectangular16 × 11 ft

The rules underneath those numbers:

  • 24 to 30 inches of table edge per person. Below 24 and people bump elbows.
  • 36 inches minimum clear behind each chair so someone can push back and stand. 48 inches if there is a walkway behind.
  • Table height 28 to 30 inches for dining, with 10 to 12 inches between seat and tabletop.

Round tables seat awkward numbers more gracefully and have no bad seats, but waste corner space. Rectangular fits a narrow patio and extends more easily. Square suits four and looks deliberate in a square courtyard.

Mark it out with a hose before ordering

Lay a garden hose or chalk line on the patio in the full footprint from the table above — including the chair clearance — and live with it for a day. This takes ten minutes and prevents the single most common outdoor furniture regret, which is a set that technically fits and makes the space unusable.

Materials

What each material costs you
MaterialLifeMaintenanceWeightNotes
Teak25+ yrsNone requiredHeavySilvers naturally; the benchmark
Powder-coated aluminium10–20 yrsWash occasionallyLightRustproof; the sensible default
Wrought iron / steel15+ yrsTouch up chipsVery heavyStable in wind; rusts once chipped
Woven resin (over aluminium)7–15 yrsWashLightCheck the frame, not the weave
Acacia, eucalyptus5–10 yrsAnnual oilingMediumCheaper hardwoods; need care
Softwood, painted3–7 yrsAnnual treatmentMediumCheapest wood; shortest life
Plastic resin2–5 yrsNoneVery lightBlows away; becomes brittle in UV
Concrete, stoneDecadesNoneImmovablePermanent by definition

Powder-coated aluminium is the default recommendation for most gardens: it does not rust, needs nothing done to it, and is light enough to rearrange without being so light it moves in wind.

Teak is the long answer. Untreated, its natural oils resist rot and insects for decades, and it weathers from honey to silver-grey — a cosmetic change, not decay. If you keep furniture for twenty years it is cheaper per year than anything else here.

Check the frame under woven furniture. The weave is what you see; an aluminium frame lasts, a steel one rusts from the inside where you cannot see it, and that is what actually fails.

Wind

Lightweight outdoor furniture in an exposed garden ends up somewhere else. Three things reduce it:

  • Slatted or open chair backs. A solid back is a sail. This is the design detail that matters most and it is easy to check.
  • Weight low down. Sand in hollow bases, heavier materials, or a table with a substantial pedestal rather than thin legs.
  • Stack or store in the windy season. Stacking chairs is worth choosing for, not just tolerating.

The umbrella is what usually causes the damage

A parasol turns the whole set into a sail and levers the table over, often breaking a glass top on the way. Never leave an umbrella up unattended, weight the base properly for the canopy size, and close it whenever you leave the garden. See patio umbrellas for base weights.

The details that predict lifespan

Price is a weak signal. These are better:

  • Hardware. Stainless steel or galvanised bolts. Plain steel fixings rust and stain the furniture around them, and they fail long before the frame does.
  • Joints. Welded beats bolted on metal. Mortise-and-tenon beats screwed butt joints on wood.
  • Coating. Powder coating outlasts paint substantially. Ask which it is.
  • Feet. Plastic or rubber feet protect the furniture and the patio, and are replaceable.
  • Glass tops. Must be tempered. They are also the most common breakage in wind.
  • Cushion fabric. Solution-dyed acrylic holds colour for years; printed polyester fades in one season.

Care

Teak: nothing. Wash occasionally. Oil only if you want to preserve the honey colour, and be aware that once you start you are committed to doing it annually.

Aluminium: soapy water.

Steel and iron: touch up chips promptly. Rust starts where the coating breaks.

Wood other than teak: clean and re-treat annually.

Cushions: store them dry and indoors. They are the shortest-lived part of any set and the part most improved by simply bringing them in.

Covers: must breathe. A non-breathable cover traps condensation against the furniture and causes mould and rust — genuinely worse than leaving it uncovered.

Common questions

What size outdoor table do you need?

Allow 24 to 30 inches of table edge per person and at least 36 inches of clear space behind each chair so people can push back and stand — 48 inches if anyone walks behind them. A six-seat table needs roughly a 12 by 12 foot area once chairs are pulled out, which is considerably more than the table's own footprint suggests.

What is the best material for outdoor furniture?

Powder-coated aluminium for most people: it does not rust, needs no maintenance, and is light enough to move but substantial enough to stay put. Teak lasts decades and ages beautifully but costs the most. Steel is heavy and stable but rusts once the coating chips. Plastic resin is cheap and light, which is also why it ends up in the neighbour's garden.

How do you stop patio furniture blowing over?

Weight and airflow. Choose chairs with open or slatted backs rather than solid ones, since a solid back is a sail. Add weight low down — sandbags in hollow bases, or heavier material. Store or stack chairs in the windy season, and never leave an umbrella up unattended, because that is what usually takes the table with it.

Is teak furniture worth the money?

If you will keep it twenty years, yes. Teak's natural oils make it resistant to rot, insects and splitting with no treatment at all, and it can be left outside year round. Left untreated it weathers from honey to silver-grey, which is cosmetic rather than a decline. The cost is roughly three to five times an aluminium set.

Do you need to cover outdoor furniture in winter?

It depends on the material, and a bad cover is worse than none. Teak and powder-coated aluminium are fine uncovered. Steel, untreated softwood and anything with cushions benefit from cover or storage. Whatever you use must breathe and must not trap moisture against the furniture, which causes mould and accelerates rust.

How much should you spend on outdoor furniture?

Enough to avoid replacing it every two years, which is the real cost of the cheapest sets. The material and the fixings determine lifespan far more than the brand — look for stainless or galvanised hardware, welded rather than bolted joints on metal, and mortise-and-tenon joinery on wood. Those details predict longevity better than price alone.

Backyard Weekly

Know what to plant, week by week

Free planting calendar. Join the weekly email for seasonal jobs, fixes for what is going wrong, and gear worth buying.

Set MONETIZATION.email.endpoint in src/config/site.ts to enable this form.

By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy. Grow In Backyard will never sell your address.

Keep reading