Am selling green oak tables at a garden center near me with the following info - may adjust slightly.
Price to garden center for a 6 foot table - £220-00 +vat.
Price they will sell at £380-00 inc vat.
I'll deliver locally for free but anything outside of 5 miles will be charged according to distance.
Really did not want to get involved in delivering as always takes longer than you think - but they had no way of delilvering so it was take it or leave it....
What does ‘green oak’ or ‘green’ wood in general refer to?
It means the timber is relatively freshly sawn and un dried.
Pros – you save a lot of time and money making fresh timber straight into furniture.
Cons – you never know how the wood will behave as it starts to dry
What is it meant by ‘live edge’?
This is the natural edge which makes the table look rustic. With oak the live edge is not durable and so it tends to get woodworm and decompose if not treated.
What do I treat the table with? What is best?
Whatever you like! There is no best treatment – stains will last longer but take away some of the natural rustic look. There seems a lot of mystique in how best to treat wood. Go to B and Q, purchase an outdoor treatment that suits you, slap it on – not really much mystique in that is there
What happens if I leave it outside untreated? Will it rot?
The outer sapwood may decay – but the heartwood is raw oak – they didn’t build ships and buildings out of oak for nothing – it is very decay resistant so will last years upon years.
If you start treating wood you will be doing it every 3 to 4 months or so – if you’re the sort of person that enjoys this it’s probably worth doing. If you’re the sort of person who just likes ‘the idea’ of doing this – prob not worth doing.
Can I put this table inside?
Course you can – but indoors it will more likely bend and warp faster. It could stain carpets. Several of the hex bolts on the brackets may snap. Best would be to keep it outdoors for a couple of years – then sand it, treat it and bring it inside. Most of the water will have escaped from the wood by then and if nothing else it will be lighter (in weight!)
One of the screws that held the brackets in place snapped – what do I do?
Just replace it! It happens!
Ok we are really interested in buying one of these tables – but are concerned about how much it may bend or if it cracks...
If you’ve read the above you will have or should have come to the conclusion these tables are not for you!