Rowlinson Tuscan Bench

Lovely bench looks good and nice colour,I got it in the sale so was really pleased

Solid and well made. We expect it to give us many years of service

Very good quality bench which was relatively easy to assemble with good instructions and all parts and fixings present.

Just purchased, received and assembled this bench. For some reason this review is titled Aalani but it was a Tuscan heavy duty bench 1.2m that we bought. Positive points: The bench arrived on time, seems well constructed, easy to assemble and despite holes in the cardboard packaging undamaged in transit. Negative points: The bench was in fact branded 'Rowlinson' and would have been cheaper by £30 to buy directly from them including delivery. The wood was quoted as Oak and may well be, but the 'subtle wash finish' is opaque in order to disguise the many knots in the wood and filled areas and somewhat disguises the wood. The finish also appears to have raised the grain significantly. I phoned up Rowlinson to see what the finish already applied was but they didn't know as it is 'imported'. They advised a teak oil in order to keep it looking good. I lightly sanded the bench with 120 grit sandpaper and applied an outdoor furniture oil. The overall appearance now is of a partly stripped or limed effect which is not really what I wanted. I am guessing that the factory finish is in fact water based and probably a water based finish should be used on top of that. Due to the large number of knots and some repaired damage I would say this product would be better suited to painting with an opaque finish. It may well go grey in the sun like teak furniture does and if that's what you like then it will suit you. I would have preferred an unfinished quality item that I could apply a decent finish to myself but this isn't it.

Excellent Bench. Well made, solid and very comfy. Very easy to put together no problems at all. Bought as a remembrance bench for my late mother. Looks stunning