A fortnight of rain by the fire pit with the Polywood Modern Adirondack chair

Two of these have been sat by the fire pit at my parents' since the start of the month, through a fortnight of nearly constant rain. The Polywood Modern Adirondack chair is the black HDPE one, no model number on the listing, all weather and fade resistant according to the blurb.

Price wise it's the top of the plastic chair world, several times what a stacking resin chair costs and still under teak. My partner does joinery for a living and had opinions before it was out of the box.

Assembly took twenty minutes with an allen key and one swear word about the bolt holes.

Nothing shifted them, not even after a fortnight of gales, which is what the weight buys you. Sitting in an Adirondack chair is always a commitment, the recline is deep and the seat is low, so getting out of one with a drink in your hand takes planning. Arms are wide enough to park a mug, which is the entire point of the design.

HDPE is basically thick plastic lumber, and the black holds heat, so on the one sunny day we had it was warm enough to notice through jeans. Cleaning is a hose and a brush, no oiling, no sanding, no annual ritual, which is what my partner keeps pointing out every time somebody mentions teak. Fade resistence I can't judge yet, black shows chalking worse than the pale colours going by every plastic garden thing I've ever owned, and I'd want a season in real sun before believing the claim.

No rust streaks down the seat slats yet, unlike the last set of garden chairs we had.

4.6 stars off 874 ratings with about 50 going out a month is a decent record for a chair at this money, though a year of reviews is not a long test for something sold on lasting decades. Trex and Highwood make similar recycled plastic Adirondack chairs, usually a bit cheaper and usually thinner in the slat, and the no name HDPE copies are half the money and visibly half the substance. Sitting in one of those at a friend's place explained the gap quickly.

Storing them is the problem I did not think through. These do not fold and they do not stack, so come winter you're either leaving them out, which is presumeably the point, or finding somewhere to put two chairs that weigh as much as a small child each. Dragging them across a lawn scuffs the feet as well. If space is tight, and mine is tighter than most, the folding version of this chair is worth a look before you commit to the fixed one.

Does the black actually stay black on these after four or five summers, or does it end up that chalky charcoal like every other dark plastic left outside?