4-Foot Ellsworth Wood Garden Glider

Pretty, comfortable, but...

Although the instructions only had very basic pictures and no text, the assembly of my new shorea wood swing was pretty easy. All tools were included except a Philips-head screw driver, which the instructions...Read complete review

Although the instructions only had very basic pictures and no text, the assembly of my new shorea wood swing was pretty easy. All tools were included except a Philips-head screw driver, which the instructions called for but which was in fact not needed. There is a lot of literature on shorea wood for outdoor furniture, but it is very contradictory. Some sites describe it as teak's equal, and some describe it as below average for outdoor use. I suspect this is because many different species are called shorea. This bench comes from Vietnam, so I suspect the wood comes from there. By the light weight and dryness of this wood (teak gets its weathering ability from its density and oily nature), I am pretty confident when I say it will not weather like teak -- but then again, I didn't pay the price of teak. So, it looked nice when assembled and was very comfortable until my wife sat down next to me, and the center support cracked -- right through. And neither my wife nor I are heavy. The problem was not the design, but rather the support piece had a large knot, right at the center and most vulnerable spot. I am a woodworker, and it was pretty easy to fashion a replacement (this time twice the size of the original), and the swing is now really comfortable AND strong. So, I don't know if I can recommend the bench to others. I am sure Porchswings.com would have replaced it for me, but that would have been one large hassle.