Legs for Outdoor Use

When talking about "being suitable" for outdoor use, there are a number of levels of durability to consider, each coming at greater cost. This guide will help you choose the most suitable level.

You can view our full range of outdoor legs here

Summary

For the majority of home garden use a painted steel is suitable, assuming protective feet are used and the legs are kept in reasonable condition.

Painted Steels

Steel, or more technically, "mild steel" or "carbon steel" will rust very quickly when exposed to moisture, unless it is a stainless steel, which is uncommon outside of commercial grade furniture.

Powder coat paints offer good protection against the underlying steel from rusting, assuming that the paint does not get scratched.

Types of Powder Coat

For our official outdoor products, we use a "zinc outdoor powder coat". This has some properties that make it a little more suitable for outdoors.

While zinc coatings are objectively better, the durability and longevity of painted steel depends largely on usage and environment. Keeping the paint free from any large chips/scratches and touching up those that do appear is crucial to keep rust away long term.

Zinc Outdoor Powder Coat

Legs that are listed as an outdoor colour (i.e. "outdoor grey") use a zinc filled powder coat, which improves adhesion and adds a self healing property to the coating.

General Powder Coat

General powder coat is found on any of our products and while it is not technically rated for outdoors it is still used widely. We have seen cases of this kind of coating lasting 10 years while zinc has only lasted 2.

Floor Protection & General Scratching

With a painted option, it is important to select feet that are going to keep the legs off the floor and prevent the paint from being damaged when the legs are dragged or moved.

Gravel

When using the legs on gravel, it is extra important to make sure that the feet and do their job of protecting the paint from getting scratched. This means either placing some hard-standing (wood, pavers or slabs) under the feet, or ensuring the feet provide suitable clearance.

Zinc Coated Steel

Self Healing

Zinc has self healing properties, used as a "sacrificial anode". When a scratch occurs, exposing the base metal, oxidation of the zinc closes the gap and protects the steel from rusting. This is true in both zinc painted and electroplated options.

Electroplating

Zinc is chemically bonded to the steel surface. While this is more of a decorative finish, it provides a good level of durability for outdoor use. Over time the bright silver will turn into a ligher grey, but the underlying steel will remain protected.

Inert Base Metals

These options are more expensive and would generally be considered more for commercial furnitures, but can still be a suitable option for home use where the environment is harsher or absolute durability is essential.

316 Stainless Steel

Used heavily in the medical and catering industries, 316 stainless steel provides excellent corrosion resistance at a balanced cost, in comparison to other stainless steel grades.

View Stainless Steel Hairpin Legs

Not all stainless steels are the same. The popular 304 stainless steel can corrode over time, especially in places with a lot of salt, just like some magnetic steels in the 400 series.

Aluminium

Another excellent choice for outdoor furniutre is an aluminium base layer. However it is generally only used in a painted option and comes with a heavy cost, so we would generally suggest choosing a zinc paint instead.