Frequently Asked Questions

1. HOW MUCH WILL BE CHARGED TO MY CARD AT THIS TIME? Most orders have a 50% deposit placed initially. Balance is added when the set is completed. Rush Orders are charged in full when processed. If you are making a large order (over $10,000) and choose the discounted (6 weeks) shipping option, we’ll automatically break down the total into 3 equal payments (1/3rd at order time, 1/3rd three weeks later and 1/3rd at ship out six weeks later).
2. FINANCING YOUR ORDER: If you’d like to take advantage of a sale but do not need it right away, consider our interest-free lay-away plan. To place a Lay Away order, add a note in the Instructions/Special Requests box at checkout saying “Lay Away” and include the date you’d like your order to ship (up to 6 months). Choose the discounted shipping option for further savings. The total will be split into equal monthly installments with no interest charge to lock in the sale price for you. For example, a $1,000 order shipping 4 months from now will have 5 equal payments of $200 made (one now and one each month for four months). Layaway orders are available year round and are especially popular in the fall and winter as a way to lock in our off-season sale pricing for the holidays or spring and summer deliveries. To place lay away orders via mail, see below:
3. MAIL ORDERS, PURCHASE ORDERS AND CHECKS/MONEY ORDERS ARE ACCEPTED in one of 2 ways: You can print out your completed checkout box and mail to:
   

   Forever Redwood
   33800 Annapolis Road
   Annapolis, CA 95412

   Hand write any notes as necessary or call/email us if you have questions or prefer to order by phone. If you do not use email, please include a phone number. Orders cannot ship without full payment unless payment is with an approved purchase order (see below). You can mail either a 50% deposit or the order total (to insure your completed order is not delayed waiting for the second half payment). The fast way to process a Mail or a Purchase Order is online. To do so, use our default VISA credit card no. 4111 1111 1111 1111 with any expiration date in the future (default card needed to order with our shopping cart). Add a note in the Instructions/Special Requests box at checkout saying “Payment (or Hardcopy signed Purchase Order) being sent by mail.” This way, your order will be placed in our production queue immediately and will be completed faster. We accept purchase orders from city, state and federal government and from all public schools and Universities in the U.S. only. Because of abuse in the past, we are unable to accept purchase orders from outside the U.S. or from private companies or schools any longer.

4. SHIPPING QUESTIONS? Please visit our shipping page for a complete explanation of the options available.

I’m interested in your storage benches. I can see the exterior dimensions listed, but how can I determine the interior dimensions?

The interior dimensions of the boxes are roughly 2 inches less than the external dimensions. We say “roughly” because the walls are 7/8” thick, but there is also 1 3/4” thick framing on the corners. So, inside, due to the thickness of the walls, you lose 1 3/4” internally. But, on the corners where the framing is you lose 1 3/4” also. The height is 2” less internally for all sizes. If one of our standard sizes is just a bit too small to hold your cushions, but you don’t want to move up to the next highest size, just order the standard sized boxes and in the comment section let us know you need an extra inch or three in height or width or length or any combination thereof. We’ll make the custom size changes of a couple inches for no extra charge.

We’re planning to add a redwood pergola to our house and, in addition to looking at Forever Redwood, we’re getting a couple estimates from local contractors. What makes Forever Redwood different?

Our redwood timbers are cut extra thick. If you are comparing with local contractors, keep in mind the timbers will be thinner than ours when comparing pricing.

Also, our kits have all the timbers notched into every other timber. The notching is the secret to making a strong and attractive pergola. If a local contractor will agree to do all the notching, they will probably not be able to do it for our pricing. The notching is very labor intensive. We can do it reasonably because we have developed custom equipment in our shop to do it in just a couple days.

I have a table I’m trying to match that is hand scraped w/ dark finish. I can send pictures. I would like the bench to be about 60″ long. Can you help?

We can make just about any design and it can be stained to match other wood tones. If you have a teak table, for example, we can make a Redwood or Douglas-fir bench to match. However, the staining is best done at your end to make sure you get the finish you like.

Please do send the photos. I can then let you know if we can build what you need. Most hardware stores can match a stain color for you. Just take a sample of what you are trying to match up and they can mix it in a few minutes.

For more about Forever Redwood finish options, see our Finish Options & Furniture Care page.

Every once in a while—it doesn’t happen often, maybe once or twice a year—we have a customer report that their planter box, shower bench, or other redwood furniture has stained their concrete or tile. The reason this happens has to do with the natural tannins in the redwood, via a process called “extractive bleeding.” It can happen with just about any wood, but is especially noticeable with cedar and redwood.

Redwood derives its durability and weather-resisting qualities from these naturally occurring chemicals, so in a sense, it’s a good sign! But unfortunately, the tannins can easily dissolve in water and cause the staining issue—and we have no way of predicting when it will happen.

The good news is, there is a solution (actually, a few):

• You can remove the staining with fresh lime juice,
• or with a diluted bleach solution,
• or with a mild solution of trisodium phosphate or other detergent and water.

If the stains are not removed and are permitted to oxidize, they can become darker in color. If that happens, you might need to remove them by scrubbing them with a soft (non-wire) brush in a 50% solution of alcohol and water. (If you are dealing with staining on grout, a slightly stronger bleach solution may be required.) It will take a few applications to fully take care of the problem. A couple weeks after the first application, the staining will likely return. You’ll have to remove it again and it will return a second time, but less so. Remove again and it may return a third time, but much less so… then it will be over, as the extractive bleeding has run its course.

If this happens to you, there is an easy solution!

Other outdoor furniture I have ordered without a sealant, and allowed the wood color to change with the weather and turn to become a grayish color which looks good in the location I’m in. Your order page offers several sealants and stains. Do you see a problem with me ordering the table without a sealant? Are the boards likely to crack or what is your opinion?

If you like the greyish “old” surface color to develop as quickly as possible, order the set “unfinished”. But, if you go with the standard sealant, it will still eventually go grey also—it will just take longer.

The sealant will have the added advantage of keeping the wood sealed from the elements. Redwood is naturally very decay resistant and will easily last in any climate without the sealant as you are contemplating. But, without sealant, the wood will dry out in a few months during the dry season and possibly develop a few more surface cracks than if you ordered it with the sealant.

Faster graying and faster drying without the sealant is the only real difference. There is no extra charge for ordering any of our furniture with the standard sealant.

Is the Mature Redwood with Premium Sealant resistance to heavy salt air? Like Bermuda?

It will outlast you or I [Raul speaking, founder and CEO] or we’ll replace any part at no cost. The salt air will eat away at the finish after a few years. If you don’t refinish it every 3 or 4 years it will look beat up on the surface, but it will not decay— not for at least 20 years. If you refinish it a couple times per decade it will last almost indefinitely. You can learn more about how to easily refinish your furniture by going to our Finish Options & Furniture Care page.

Does the Anchor Kit give a 1/4-inch clearance from the concrete platform? Bermuda building code.

The anchors are 1/4″-thick steel. So, by placing them on the concrete they will indeed automatically raise the wood posts off the ground by your required code. Plus, the anchor bolts will not sit completely flush at the base of the anchors, so this will add another 1/32″ or so height off the ground.

Also, we recommend taking a few minutes to add some paint (oil-based is best) to the bottoms and first few inches of the posts. Add a couple of coats to make sure they are 100% sealed up. For the tropics where there is an almost endless supply of water, this will make sure the bottom of the posts wick up as little moisture as possible. Since you are using our anchoring kit, the included wood trim pieces will hide the paint at the base of the posts—so if you have old, extra paint lying around, this is a great way to put it to good use.

I want a lot of shade under my Pergola. Can the spacing of the roof rafters be set at 2 or 3 inches on center and what would be the additional cost?

The roofs slats can be set closer together at whatever spacing you like. However, going to just 3 inches on center will create much more shade than you are imagining—it will create almost a closed roof. The slats are 1.75″ wide each. At 3 inches on center, you only have 5/8″ of an inch of open space between the each slat. You’ll block the view of the sky completely and have over 80% solid wood on the top layer of the roof. If you then figure the 5.75″ tall rafters below are set at 18 inches on center and also block a lot of sunlight (since the sun is at an angle most of the time), you will have nearly 100% shade under the pergola at most hours of the day except when the sun is directly overhead. The extra roof slats will add 11% to the original cost estimate.

If you still would like to proceed, consider a maximum of 6 inches on center when doing the assembly (don’t screw them in—just place them at 6 inches on center) and see how it looks and how much shade it provides. Then, after a day or two, go back and either screw them in at 6 inches on center or go ahead and add more to get to 3 inches on center. It is doubtful you’ll want to place them at 3 inches on center because you’ll lose the ability of seeing up and not gain much additional shading. You’ll have over 80% shade most of the time at 6 inches on center, which is the closest together any one of our customers has ever placed the roof slats.

I don’t want any top stringers, and on the spacing of the top boards, I’d like them to be 12″ or even wider apart. [Florida customer inquiring about a large pergola that will require a local permit.]

The different levels of a pergola roof are important structural elements.

The top stringers—what we call roof slats—are important structural elements. They are notched into each rafter below to make the super-strong “web” design of our pergola roofs. Without any of the 2×2 roof slats, I think you’ll have difficulty getting the permits approved unless we make some other structural adjustments. For example, you’ll have to place metal ties at each juncture between the rafters and the roof support timbers.

The roof support timbers are precisely that—they are the horizontal 2×6’s that are notched into each side of the posts and they hold the rafters that sit atop and perpendicular to them. Each rafter is notched into the roof support timbers below it, but to really strengthen the pergola roof to resist high storm winds in Florida, I’d recommend keeping at least some of the 2×2 roof slats above them.

If you’d like to have 12″ on center rafters, we can design the structural details in a couple ways. For example, if you don’t mind some “stringers” (roof slats), we can place them either 24″ or 36″ on center to just serve as extra strengthening without creating too busy of a structure. Or, if you really do not want any roof slats in the design, we can then place metal “l” brackets atop the roof support timbers between each rafter that tie to each side of each rafter. It will barely be visible from below and should be fine for the county permit also.