It's wonderful to find a solid-wood, made in USA garden bench like this. Went together easily, looks great. COLOR NOTE: I wanted speed up the graying process, and looked into buying transparent gray stain. But I could only find it locally in gallon size, which was expensive and way more than I needed. And though I located it online in a quart (Benjamin Moore) with shipping it was nearly $25. So rummaged around Google and found a recipe for instant gray. I somehow doubt the manufacturer would recommend this, but it really worked. Here's the recipe: soak a steel-wool pad in 32 ounces of white vinegar overnight (apparently it makes a ferrous compound of some sort). Strain ( I used a coffee filter). Apply with brush or sprayer. It starts to turn gray in about a half hour. (I did it on a sunny 40-degree day...not sure if that matters) You can't see where you apply it as you do it, so you'll need to come back and touch up where you miss. Voila! Weathered gray cedar.

This is a very stable, nice bench. I had some difficulty with the pre-drilled holes as not all of them lined up well which caused two of the 2.5 inch screws to not be long enough (the ones that screwed down the seat at the rear). The two at the front were fine so I am still able to use the seat , but eventually will find longer screws for the rear. Even with that I think the bench is nice.

Ordered this as a gift for my parents. It was sent in a timely manner, they were able to assemble it in minutes, and the quality if fantastic. I would highly recommend this bench.