Jensen Desk and Chair Set Restoration in Fort Collins

Jensen outdoor set came to our Fort Collins shop with staining & damage. Full strip, oxalic acid wash, repairs & complete refinish.

Some outdoor furniture is designed to be disposable. Buy it, use it for a few seasons, replace it when it looks tired. The economics of that cycle are built into the price point and the materials from the start.

The Jensen outdoor set that came into our Fort Collins shop was not built that way. Two lounge chairs, a three-seat bench, and a coffee table, all constructed from ipe, one of the densest and most durable tropical hardwoods used in outdoor furniture anywhere. A set like this was never meant to be replaced. It was meant to be restored when the time came.

This project covered all four pieces in the complete set:

• Complete strip of all existing finish and surface contamination down to bare wood across both lounge chairs, the three-seat bench, and the coffee table
• Hot oxalic acid wash applied at 90°C / 190°F to address deep embedded staining across all ipe surfaces
• Structural frame repairs on components that had developed damage requiring attention before refinishing
• Full surface preparation following the oxalic treatment and repairs
• Refinishing that brings the natural ipe grain forward with a warm, even tone consistent across the complete set
• Final inspection confirming consistent finish quality across all four pieces before delivery

Ipe is in a different category from most outdoor furniture wood. Its density, which gives it a Janka hardness rating well above domestic species like oak and well above more common outdoor species like teak and cedar, is what makes it so effective as an outdoor material. It resists rot, insects, and moisture at a level that most alternatives cannot match, and it does so without the chemical preservative treatments that other species require to perform outdoors.

The Jensen brand has built a reputation for outdoor furniture that takes the material seriously. The construction visible in the photographs of this set, the tight slat spacing on the chair backs and bench, the mitered corner joinery on the coffee table frame, the clean tapered leg profiles, all reflect a manufacturer that understood what ipe can do when it is worked correctly and designed a product to take advantage of it.