I have a patio on the roof of my condo (4th floor), and I’m buying patio furniture for it – i see that umbrellas are offered in wood and aluminum. Common sense would tell me that aluminum is the better route to go because 1) it’s less expensive and 2) it seems like it has a great ability to bend rather than snap with the wind. Any guidance is appreciated…

I have a patio on the roof of my condo (4th floor), and I’m buying patio furniture for it – i see that umbrellas are offered in wood and aluminum. Common sense would tell me that aluminum is the better route to go because 1) it’s less expensive and 2) it seems like it has a great ability to bend rather than snap with the wind. Any guidance is appreciated…

I have a patio on the roof of my condo (4th floor), and I’m buying patio furniture for it – i see that umbrellas are offered in wood and aluminum. Common sense would tell me that aluminum is the better route to go because 1) it’s less expensive and 2) it seems like it has a great ability to bend rather than snap with the wind. Any guidance is appreciated…

My housemate has a set that she called painted wrought iron, but it is definitely not wrought iron. I looked up this set on the internet and found that the material is something called "wrought aluminum" – it is lighter weight and cheaper and flimsier and probably why it broke in the first place. She thinks it can be soldered to fix it, but I think it would not work well. I said I think you can solder on iron, but if it had been iron it probably wouldn’t have broken in the first place. I think it is trash now but she thinks it is fixable and worth fixing. Who is right?

We bought patio furniture a while back, and it’s made of all aluminum, which is great bc after several years, there’s not a spot of rust. We love it. We got the gazebo that went w/it, but it was bamboo, and after several rainy/humid summers, it disintegrated.
Now, we found another gazebo that matches our chairs, but it’s made from "powder-coated rust-resistant steel." We know this stuff will likely still rust, even though it’s "resistant" to it, because we’ve seen it happen w/neighbor’s/family’s stuff etc.

Is there anything you can do to it to prevent it from rusting? We hate to spend the $ on something that’s going to rust out in 2-3 years.

Any opinions of that Rustoleum stuff? My inlaws used it but their patio furniture still rusted apart. I don’t know what to do. Is there some kind of oil protectant or something to rub on it periodically? Any experience with powder-coated steel patio furniture?

Any ideas would be great, thanks!

I want to get a bistro set for our front courtyard and I don’t know which material to pick. I heard cast aluminum is rust resistant and lasts longer. However, I live in a very windy area, and I am afraid it won’t be heavy enough. There’s too much concrete going on in that area, so I don’t want concrete furniture, either. Any opinions or suggestions?

I have tried everything. I have 14 year old cat that has changed her behaviors all the sudden. Nothing in our house has changed and the other cat is fine. In addition to meowing constantly and peeing everywhere, she all the sudden is clawing everything, including our expensive leather bar stools, pool table, and pool table cover. I have set her up with clawing toys and boards. I have tried to file her nails and that was definitely not successful. I’ve also put sprays and aluminum down but she is not deterred. Either I may have to declaw her or I may have to get rid of her. Please help!

Just purchased an aluminum patio dining set and wonder if anyone has suggestions on how to tie it down, or anchor it. Our area gets pretty windy and the aluminum is pretty lightweight. I want something that won’t scratch it, and will keep it from blowing over or away. We were thinking something like pvc pipe, painted of course, because it would keep the chairs tight against each other….. any suggestions?
It’s on a concrete patio…

I purchased a patio set from Chase Pitkin before it closed and now I need the name of the brand to fix a broken item. The table is black aluminum with a greenish tinted glass table top. The chairs are also black aluminum slingback with green meshlike seats/seat back. It also has a black umbrella stand with green umbrella. This set also came in blue. Please help!

I’m designing some furniture for a small kitchen. However, there is a small water heater in the kitchen and it looks ugly. I was wondering if I could cover it with wood or aluminum louver doors… is this safe?
Also, do you know of any good internet sites that might have ideas for small kitchens?
Thanks!