The Costco Adirondack chair vs ours

The warehouse-club Adirondack chair changes from season to season — some years it is resin, some years a thinner HDPE, some years an acacia-wood chair with a one-year finish — so we cannot compare a specific product. What we can do is tell you what to check on the pallet, because the difference between a $199 chair that lasts and one that does not is visible if you know where to look.

• Lift it. Under 25 lb is hollow resin. It will blow over and it will crack in a cold winter.
• Look underneath. Boards and bolts are lumber. Ribs and a mould seam are resin.
• Check the screws. Stainless is silver and does not attract a magnet. Plated steel streaks rust down the slats within two summers.
• Scratch a hidden edge with a key. If it shows white, the color is a skin.
• Read the warranty. One year says what the maker expects.

If it passes all five, buy it; you have found a good chair. If it does not, the extra money for ours buys a solid board, stainless hardware, color through the material, a twenty-year warranty, free delivery and a chair built to order in Texas rather than shipped across an ocean.