Forest Garden Forest Double Sleeper Bench 0.9 m, Pressure Treated

For nearly £50, I was hoping that this relatively simple product would hold up to the great British weather. How wrong I was.As others have said, pretty straightforward, as long as you have access to a power drill and screwdriver, and a bit of DIY competence. Took me about an hour to get it all assembled and ready to go. It did seem slightly damp, but I assumed it had been rained on in transit, or it was the remains of some sort of timber treatment.I purchased mine in April, and placed it in a sunny spot in the garden. It looked good, and I was pleased. It got rained on a few times, but since this was treated timber, I assumed it was going to be okay. It wasn't until the weather got warm that I noticed it wasn't.When the bench is damp from the rain, it looks fine. Once the sun comes out and the temperature increases, cracks start to appear in the seating plinth and the legs. Not just little cracks either - these cracks run the length of the top and legs. I expected some shrinkage and swelling due to wood's natural properties, but this is silly.This is a nice looking bench, but it does seem rather let down - either it's not properly pressure treated, or something has gone wrong with mine during manufacturing. I'm not overly impressed with what I got for the amount I spent.

I've just had to update my first very positive review, especially after the "heatwave" of the last few days! Like the previous review from Glasgowgirl our seat has now developed long cracks in the seat. At the moment, this is not a problem but once we have some rain I imagine the damp will get into the wood and start to destroy the wood from the inside. It's okay to be pressure treated as long as that acts as a barrier.It's a shame because the seat is otherwise excellent: nice compact size alongside the house and doesn't block the path. I appreciate that it's a rustic design and a few cracks wouldn't bother me.

The legs at each end are made up of two pieces of wood already fixed together. On the bench I received, those two pieces are not even the same length. One piece is 4mm out so it means the bench cannot be positioned level & rocks on a flat level surface. The wood is exterior grade and treated (which is fine) and so has a green tinge to it. No problem with that at all - but the finish doesn't look like the bench in the image. I'm sorry, but I am very disappointed. I am going to have to trim 4mm of one piece on one of the legs. It's a heavy-duty piece of wood and I don't have to tools to do that. I tried with a saw but to cut 4mm slice is impossible. Just a little bit more attention to quality in the cutting process and I would not have this problem.

This is now very sturdy after much remedial work. It was very poorly finished and could not be assembled without additional work. The edges were rough and would have given the sitter splinters if they had not been planed by my husband. The screw holes were not aligned and had to be re-drilled before the planks would fit together. There was a big crack in one plank which had to be glued together. Any purchaser without carpentry or DIY knowledge would be sorely disappointed. However, after several hours of work and now it has been painted for weather protection it looks good and is an asset to the garden; just don't expect to put it together and use it within minutes of its arrival.

To say this bench is easy to assemble is slightly untrue - it's really easy!! The bench just requires 16 screws to put together so assembly is really easy and quick.The bench looks good however for the price it would have been nice to see some of the edges rubbed down.My bench does have a slight crack down the middle however I see this as character as I don't want a perfect looking bench but this may be unacceptable for some.Simple bench but that's the point.

This is just what I was looking for. I went for the 0.9m size which sits two people (just about!) The bench comes with screws. Aside from having to drill a couple of holes and finding a small screwdriver to get in the nooks and crannies, this was relatively easy to put together. I sanded it down a little bit and used ronseal wood stain in ‘Oak’.

Trying to conduct the very first assembly stage and the whole unit is ruined. Yes it says pre-drilling is required and now I know why! It should say some pre-drilling required as the manufacturer have pre-drilled ALL the other screw points EXCEPT the 4 in the base. Why? Because is such a small area that the required 100mm screws cant be aligned straight with any screwdriver set and the drill doesnt fit either.Seeing i was going have issues I measured drill points and made the marks on both items. The pilot holes were drilled and I screwed in the first side. Tried to lift the item to do the other side and it was screwed to my decking! Supplied screws are too long!!OK - I will make do and leave the screw heads proud; to save my decking. The base cannot sit level because the screws were not aligned because the screwdriver was at an angle.This is not made up and Ive wasted £50.

The table top wood was all badly split. The nuts were too short for the pre-drilled holes and needed drilling deeper and wider. There were no pre-drilled holes for some of the screw fittings and these would not go through the wood without them. The table was stable across it's width, but rocked lengthwise. The wood was all wet, discoloured and of poor quality. Not what I would expect from a large company like Forest. Did not try to return it as it had taken over 3 hours to put together because of all the problems. Not worth the price as poor quality.