You are over thinking this. Gift it and be done. They will do what they want if they feel the need.

If you lightly sand and oil the teak, it will be a beautiful color like the wood tone in the chairs. You can get a poultice for the stone to try to refinish it,. Or if you just want to color it, look into stone stains. Any chance the stone can be popped out and turned over to use the underside?

I like the top as is. Its natural stone and not meant to be perfect.

Refresh the teak as Oly said and leave the stone as is - that's patina. There will be 'stuff' on the table and what you are viewing as discoloration will likely be hidden 90% of the time.

I like it all just as it is too. I'd give it to the girls exactly as it sits. It has a lovely patina.

I also have a piece with a slate top so I did a quick survey and learned a few things.. most importantly, you don't want to use anything acidic on the slate (you may already have known this. I did not). You can was with a mild soap and oil with any of a number of products including olive oil, baby oil, wd40 and slate oil.

This seemed to be a good resource for regular cleaning, deep cleaning and polishing.

Yes give it to them as is and let them take ownership.

This reminds me some of the apartments around Clemson University, this one expensive complex I know of put in very nice finishings, granite countertops etc and the kids trashed them, they do formica now.

So cute!! I would just oil the whole thihg. I think they will love it!

It's a lovely table and chairs. Great to have Funky's resource for refreshing the top.

Children who were brought up appreciating nice things will not trash things, not even boys. They may not live up to their parents' standards at first (thinking of housekeeping) , but respect for you surroundings is taught young.

Anyone here doubt Mtn's children were taught well?

Another thought-- the leafy green pillow pattern works great in your outdoor space because of all the green landscape. Maybe lumbar pillows that bring in both yellow and gray would better tie the finishes/colors together?

I just grabbed a few clips as examples-- they may be too tame/lame lol but i think the blues, grays, yellows bring the set together. I think even a paler green could work. I am sure they can find a pattern that works for their style.

Yes, I did not mean to apply that M's kids would trash it, but learning how to take care of things is part of the process of growing up. Most of us have learned a lot by ruining something.

Mtn really enjoys these projects. Let's work from that perspective.

I think the top looks dirty, not a patina the way some see it. Absolutely look into sanding it, or possibly painting it.

I like the idea of refurbishing the legs. It doesn't have to match the chairs.

Can the top (slate?) be flipped? It might be cleaner on the flip side.

Painting teak often doesn’t work well. Something about the moisture (and oil) inside the wood that will causes peeling paint.

As I’ve learned, chalk paint covers a multitude of sins. What about using spray chalk paint and then sealing it with a strong weather resistant sealer? That’s what I would do.

Invest in some teak cleaner or deck brightener/cleaner (something with oxalic acid) and a scrub brush…et voilà back to natural warm wood color!

To me that pretty little table looks best on your property with all it's lovely character (like your home) but maybe not look so nice at your daughters property. It might be that I'm having flashbacks of maintaining my old teak patio table with six chairs though. Every year or two I low pressure washed with a wide nozzle. Then, all the fuzz needed sanding off and next teak sealer. I did this because I didn't like the weathered look. So much work. If you don't want the weathered look for your daughters, I would get on OverStoc* and buy something cool and inexpensive.

It's' fine to say you like it as is, but i think it is plain weird to make a judgment that I should do nothing because of who will use it? I think you all know I invented "no detail too small." And Bumble, look at your post... Sentence 1 is "do nothing" and Sentence 2 is "kids trash stuff." At least own it, why say "you didn't mean to imply..." You sure did, and that is not a cardinal sin, I just happen to disagree.

The only sense it which its destination is even relevant is to explain why, if you said "have a new piece of marble cut" it would be a no-go. I don't like it for myself, and since I have no idea how much use it will get, makes no sense to do anything other than DIY. And yes, as Eld said, I enjoy that.

I was amazed that chalk paint can be used out of doors and on almost anything, including teak and slate. I always tell DH, chalk paint is what women always thought paint was; just brush it on! Meanwhile men were always, you cant paint this or that, you have to sand, and prime. 84 hours between coats, then a sealer. Blah blah blah. Love the lady who made painting what I always hoped it was!

I had forgotten that you can make teak honey colored again; I like it gray as all of ours is. But we have two 8' Lutyens benches and I put one in side in the pool area, and had that restored to a honey color; looks great. Ofc it is indoors so that was the end of the story; we will have to sneak teak oil on when we visit.

Anyway, Here is my plan:

1. Sand table and restore honey color to teak to better coordinate w the chairs

2. Flip the stone top (for some odd reason it has a sort of diamond pattern of fading underneath??) and use a creamy color chalk paint on the slate. Supposedly you can do that, even outdoors. If we don't like it, flip it back to the "good side" and oil it.

Thanks, this is really an amalgam of good advice from several of you!

Zalco, awww, thanks. I think young adults often get a bad rap. Remember my posts about the kids using our beachhouse w friends by themselves and cooking? We had three different friend groups on 3 different stays.... they were all great, just super in every way. No issues at all.

Eld, yes the top does look dirty. And I like patina. Hard to capture in a photo.

Funky, I am thinking of starting a pillow lending library. I have so.many. : )

i didn't realize you could use chalk paint on slate-- i see now that you'd mentioned it in your original post (smacking head!). You really CAN paint anything, can't you? I think it sounds like a perfect plan!

LOL on a pillow lending library! Do you store them on open shelves like you store shoes and bags?

Subscribe to Mtn's pillow library.

Take a pillow; give a pillow.

^^^^^ah no^^^^ With Mtn, it is “you get a pillow, you get a pillow!”

oh no, I'm the Pillow Gal?

Nice table and chairs. I have refinished teak with oil/whatever made for teak (boats). I’ve read that teak is unusual in that oil keeps coming out of it. I don’t mind the teak and the slate as they are, but if you’d like a cleaner look, why not try the chalk paint.

What colors?

I once had a friend strip and refinish a birch bookcase for me. We wanted a lacquer look to the paint. Heavens! Thinned enamel paint and sanding with very fine paper between coats. Maybe he put on 5 or more coats. It came out beautifully and ”glows.” But what a heck of a lot of effort. I was younger then and my frend did most of the work.

I’m not sure that just a light sanding will be enough to remove that weathered gray on the teak. And if you add oil to the grayed teak, I believe it will turn dark (gray black). Perhaps heavy duty power washing might work. Or you could try sanding a bit of the table on the underside. The slate looks as though it might be a bit green from algae. Power washing might refresh that.

I apologize m, my words were poorly chosen and did not convey what I was thinking. I know your kids have been raised beautifully and have excellent manners.

Bumblebee, tone is hard to read, but you don't need to apologize. I meant to tease or chide rather than gripe! : )

Petal,

Yes, lacquer is a whole 'nother thing, no thx! No bid for that.

I’m not sure that just a light sanding will be enough to remove that weathered gray on the teak.; IDK what my guys did on the bench, will have to ask.

The slate looks as though it might be a bit green from algae. It's not. it is smooth and clean. Just ugly. : )

Mtn, i thought you or someone mentioned that painting technique of sanding between lots of coats. or, you were referring to guy speaking that way. No way was I suggesting you do that to the little table.

Yes the folks who did the benches will have the tool. I misunderstood and thought you personally were going to tackle it.

so, no algae, just the way that the slate weathered. I’d try painting it. I love the look of chalk paint. I want to find out exactly what it is and more about it. I have a project….

Just a word of caution from me: Spray chalk paint is an entirely different beast than, say, Annie Sloan chalk paint. Spray chalk does NOT sand well, even with 600 grade sandpaper. It weirdly leaves tracks like a shooting star. But, like Annie Sloan paints, it adores a wax buff finish.

I just thought of something, mtn. If you like the original slate, the people cleaning up the teak can just lightly sand the slate, then put a type of sealant on it.

Jojo, I've never used spray chalk paint, so id stick with what we've used. Is there a reason to use spray?

Petal - the people would be us, LOL! When it came to my 8' Lutyen, I used our painter. For this, I would be spending more than the cost of a new table.

Mtn - I love your plan. I lean slightly toward team unpainted slate though. I think I would try wetbuffing the top to see if that cleaned it up. I also wondered about putting something with a patterned on top of the slate and convering it with a matte glass top, like fabric or wallpaper. I think that would depend on how covered the girls outdoor space is, too.

Do you remember where you got the chairs you are giving them? I really like them and will be in the market soon.

@jojoco "Make it $100 - wine was also later involved" LOLOLOLOLOLOL

1. Do the legs first, then see if that’s all you need to do. I like the patina of the slate and don’t think chalk paint will look as cool or hold up well.

2. Send the chairs to your friend from Houzz, Jinx.

3. Buy new chairs.

Mtn, since you do some projects yourself, you might already have a rRandom Orbital Sander. I have one and use it for lots of projects. You can get sandpaper of various grits., this would be what I’d use to refresh that odd slate surface. Paint may not adhere evenly or reliably and any heat from sunlight might cause the paint to fail (expansion — different surfaces)

Random Orbital Sanders can be found on Craiglist and other venues.

https://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/tls/d/braintree-dewalt-corded-variable-speed/7504291094.html