Best High Weight Capacity Outdoor Bench Review 2024

Our Selection Criteria

As this roundup’s title indicates, our primary goal was to find good-quality bench seating with a high-weight capacity. That phrase, though, ‘high weight capacity,’ is pretty non-specific. It can mean different things to different people.

Given that most loungers being sold today, whether for indoor or outdoor use, are only capable of supporting 300 pounds or so, we arbitrarily decided that even to be considered here, the furniture we looked at needed to be capable of supporting at least 100 pounds over that, so 400 pounds became our minimum standard. Naturally, the more weight a given piece of furniture could support, the better, but that was our starting point.

In addition to that, we also looked at the price and quality of each offered piece and how much value it had to offer. Then, aesthetics were considered, although a piece’s overall look and feel were weighted somewhat less than the other considerations.

All of these are at least somewhat subjective, of course. Your wants and needs may differ, so you might look at the products offered here and reach a different conclusion about which is best. That’s fine, and it is for that reason that we’ll be talking about them all! Having said that, let’s take a look at the various options we considered, starting with our overall winner:

Our Pick: CAF Heavy Duty Garden Bench

This beautiful garden bench, offered by CAF and handcrafted by Amish woodworkers, is, in our view, the gold standard of high-weight capacity bench seating. This is the model that everything else on the market strives for and generally falls short of emulating.

Let’s start with a quick review of the basic stats of the bench to get a better understanding of it:

As you can see, this bench is offered in two variants, defined by length. We view the five-foot variant as more useful and versatile than the shorter one. Still, if you’re cramped with space, then your opinion may vary on that point.

The seat width and depth are good, just inside what’s normally considered the big and tall range, starting at 18” and going up to 22” and beyond. The maximum supported weight, however, is the real headline here. Eight hundred pounds is beyond impressive.

If you buy the five-foot version, two heavier people can easily sit beside each other. If you opt for the four-foot version, a heavier person could enjoy it. However, there likely wouldn’t be sufficient room for a second body unless they were a bit on the small side.

Finally, note that this is a fairly hefty piece of furniture. You won’t have to worry about a gust of wind blowing it over. It’s big and heavy enough that if you decide to move it to a different location in your yard, deck, porch, or patio, you’ll probably want a second pair of hands assisting in that effort.

Both variants and everything Amish Casual makes and sells via CAF, their primary vendor, are made from pressure-treated pine. If you want one, you can order yours unfinished or choose from a modest selection of pre-stained or pre-painted benches.

In our view, the unfinished bench is the way to go. If you want to leave the wood in its natural state, all you’ll need to do to ensure a long life is sand it and apply a couple of coats of polyurethane, and you’ll be in business.

The problem with the pre-stained variants is that the company only used a single coat of stain. Most people who do the job themselves will apply two, giving it a deeper, richer look.

From a practical perspective, if you get one of the pre-stained benches, the stain you select will probably show its age well before you had hoped. Eventually, you’ll have to strip it, sand it down, and re-stain it.

Our thinking is that if you do it yourself at the start, you’ll not only be able to stain it exactly the color you want, but you’ll also ensure that it’s properly applied and will last longer. Still, if you’re looking for ease and convenience and want to put your new bench into service immediately, one of the pre-stained options is the way to go.

If you buy one of these, it will come partially assembled, but you’ll still have some work to do before you can enjoy it. Amish Casual’s production quality is sky-high, and the assembly instructions are clear. You won’t have any issues there. You can probably complete the assembly process in about thirty minutes.

Note, however, that if you plan to stain it yourself, you’ll want to do that before putting the pieces together. This could stretch the process out into a few days since you’ll need to let each coat of stain dry overnight, then give the polyurethane the same timeframe before finally putting it together for first use. Once you get to that stage, you’ll have something that will look amazing and last years.

The last thing to discuss in this section of our roundup review of the best high-weight capacity outdoor bench is comfort. It’s an all-wood piece of furniture, so it doesn’t offer a plush, luxurious seating experience. Even so, the space between the slats is sufficient to make it breathable, which helps some. With furniture like this, it’s incredibly easy to make it as comfortable as you like by adding a seat pad and a pad for the seatback of whatever thickness you desire.

However, there’s a catch. Most people buy all-wood furniture because of the look and feel of the wood itself. The more padding you add, the more the natural beauty of the wood will be covered up, so it’s a bit of a tradeoff.

It mostly depends on how you plan to use these benches. If you’re buying them to provide occasional, short-duration seating for your guests, they probably don’t need additional padding.

On the other hand, if you intend for your guests to spend extended periods lounging on this bench, then a bit of extra padding would be a welcome addition. If you’re unsure, start with the bench itself and add a pad if and as you need it. You can always take it off and stick it in the garage for the next time you need it, giving you the best of both worlds.

Aside from the somewhat underwhelming single coat where the pre-stained variants are concerned, we love everything about this bench and highly recommend it.

Runner-Up: CAF Amish Heavy Duty Mission Bench

The company that sells our top pick offers the Heavy Duty Mission bench. The only reason this one didn’t win top honors in our best high-weight capacity garden bench roundup review is that the Garden Bench is cheaper and offers a better overall value for the money.

Nonetheless, the two are very similar except for the styling. Mission furniture is incredibly popular, featuring simple, clean lines that give it a timeless quality. Before we say more, let’s do a quick review of the stats that define this model:

As you can see, this bench is more similar than different from our top offering. Like our top pick, it is offered in four- and five-foot variants and supports an incredible amount of user weight.

The most significant difference in dimensions is that this model has a slightly higher seat, which makes it an even better fit for taller people. But if you’re on the short side or entertain guests of various shapes and sizes, this one may be too high for some of the people you’ll be entertaining.

Like our top pick, you can also select your preferred length and order yours either unfinished or in your choice of about half a dozen pre-stained options.

Again, this is one genuine weakness regarding Amish Casual’s furniture. They only apply a single coat of stain and topcoat, so the pre-stained variants don’t age well.

You can expect the original finish to hold up for a couple of years, and then you’ll have to sand and refinish. Although it’s not the end of the world, given how amazing every other aspect of Amish Casual’s furniture is, it is a bit of a disappointment.

Overall, our first and second-place winners scored within a hair’s breadth of each other, with this one boasting a different style and being a bit more expensive. Still, this is the bench you want if you prefer Mission-style furniture.

Value Pick: Amazonia Newcastle Patio Bench

Our third-place winner is simply beautiful. It is made from solid teak wood and offers a gracefully curved seatback, giving it an extremely elegant look. That fact can work against the design, though; if your backyard is decorated in such a way as to give it a more casual aesthetic, then this bench won’t be a good fit for you.

Before we say more, let’s continue as we have been by doing a quick stats review. Here are the basics:

As you can see, Amazonia Newcastle’s offering has the same general dimensions as the four-foot variants of our top picks, but this model has two key differences.

First, this bench only supports 450 pounds of user weight. That’s still enough to make it a good fit for some big and tall users, but certainly not all. If you have your heart set on this model and you are on the heavier side, the odds are that you’ll have to sit in it by yourself. If you’re looking for something you can enjoy sitting in with someone else, you’ll want a five-foot model that supports more user weight.

Second, this model is slightly more expensive than our top picks. There are two reasons for that: First, it’s solid teakwood, where our top picks are crafted from pine. You pay a premium for quality hardwood like that. Second, the Amazonia Newcastle comes with a lifetime warranty. That’s huge, and in our view, it makes this model well worth the extra money.

The seat height is good for shorter to average-sized people, but bear in mind that the standard big and tall seat height range starts at 18” and goes up to 22” and beyond. If you’re taller than 6’3”, this model might not be your best choice if you spend most of the time sitting on it.

Of course, there’s usually plenty of room to stretch your legs when outdoor seating is concerned, so it will only become a problem if you’re taller or have mobility issues, making getting into and out of relatively low seats challenging.

The rest of the bench’s dimensions are quite good and shouldn’t give you any problems. As a reminder, this is a four-foot bench with a relatively modest user weight limit. Again, if you’re heavier and looking for something you can sit in with another person, you’ll want a five-foot bench with a higher maximum supported weight limit.

Comfort-wise, it’s about what you’d expect. Again, you can easily add a padded seat or seatback to make it more comfortable. The problem is that you’re paying a premium for exotic hardwood.

Finally, if you decide this is your desired bench, you must assemble it before enjoying your new one. The production quality is exceptional, and the instructions are as simple as ever. 

You won’t have any problems putting it together, even if you don’t consider yourself very good at it and don’t enjoy putting your furniture together. From start to finish, the process should take about half an hour, including getting the pieces out of the box they come in and sorting everything to make the build process smoother.

This is an unquestionably great bench, but it’s got two limitations that make it self-selecting. It’s more expensive than most peers and has a disappointing maximum supported weight limit.

If the weight limit isn’t an issue for you, and if you don’t mind paying more for a top-quality product, then you’ll love this bench, but both conditions must be true for this one to rise to the top. On that basis, we can only give this one a provisional recommendation.

Also Great

Walker Edison Patio Love Seat

While you may not have heard of Walker Edison, they’ve been in the game for a while and have a reputation for quality. This piece of furniture blurs the lines a bit, being more akin to a loveseat than conventional bench seating. But it’s close enough that we felt it belonged in this roundup of the best high-weight capacity patio benches. Before we say more, let’s continue as we have by doing a quick review of the stats. Here are the basics:

These measurements align with the four-foot versions of our top two picks, but note that this bench is significantly lighter and incapable of supporting as much user weight.

Even so, it supports enough weight to meet our minimum requirements. However, if you are on the heavy side, you’ll probably have to sit in this seat alone. It’s too lightly built to support a heavier person and a second individual other than an infant.

Like our top picks, this bench is made from solid acacia wood rather than pine. You can order either unfinished or with two different pre-stained options, one light and one dark.

The unstained loveseat is superior because the stained varieties suffer the same problems and limitations as Amish Casual’s stained furniture. The company only applies a single coat of stain and polyurethane, which doesn’t stand up well over time.

If you buy the unfinished version, you can give it a double coat of whatever stain color you want and at least two layers of polyurethane, which will help it stand up to the elements far better and look great over the longer term.

Unfortunately, this seat has the same limitation as our third-place entry. Its lighter construction means that not only is it less capable of supporting impressive amounts of weight if you use it regularly, but it’s also not going to stand up well over time. It’s fine for occasional seating of shorter durations, but you’ll probably need something more rugged and durable if you entertain outdoors regularly.

Of interest, this is the only product in this roundup review of best outdoor benches for heavy people that comes with a seat pad, which makes it the most comfortable of the bench seats on our list. Granted, you can make any of the others just as comfortable by adding a seat pad separately, but here, there’s nothing else to buy. When you get it ready for first use, just drop the seat pad into position and enjoy it.

Ultimately, it’s an attractive but somewhat limited piece of furniture, much more at home on your deck, patio, porch, or sunroom than in your garden. Even so, its design has an unmistakable class and elegance that will likely impress. Given that, we provisionally recommend it.

Step2 Outdoor Storage Bench

This is an unusual find and a bit of a departure from the other bench-style seats we’ve discussed. It’s interesting enough that we didn’t feel our roundup review would be complete without at least giving it a mention. Before we go into exactly what makes this bench different and unusual, though, let’s carry on with our convention of doing a quick stats review:

Again, this bench’s measurements are more or less in line with those of the four-foot variants of our top picks in our best garden benches for heavy people. However, since it’s made of polyethylene, it’s lighter in weight than the furniture made by Amish Casual.

The seat height is squarely in the big and tall range, and the seat is nice and deep. If you add a bit of padding, it would be easy to see guests lounging on this bench for extended periods. However, it’s just heavy enough that you’ll probably be grateful for some assistance if you decide to relocate it at some point.

In the summary table, we mentioned the fact that owing to its blocky, almost childlike construction, it would make an excellent bench seat/toy box in a child’s room. We stand by that assessment but note that the seat height works against it in that capacity, and your child will likely struggle to get into the seat.

The polyethylene shines as an outdoor bench, being rugged and delightfully low-maintenance. Unfortunately, it’s not as solidly built as our top picks, and as such, it only supports 400 pounds of user weight. If you’re on the heavy side, you won’t be able to sit in this with another individual. But it should be strong enough to support most heavier users sitting solo.

Aesthetically, its blocky construction works against it slightly, and this piece of lawn furniture may not blend as easily with the rest of your décor scheme as you’d like. That’s generally not a deal-breaker for most people, but it is something to bear.

The headline here, though, is the built-in storage. That’s why most people would seriously consider getting this bench rather than one of the more attractive products we’ve discussed so far.

If you’re short on space for any reason, having a bench that pulls double duty as a storage compartment with a generously sized 46.5” W x 16.5” D x 11” H storage compartment is a real godsend. Those measurements reach about five cubic feet, giving you all sorts of storage possibilities.

As with the other options we’ve discussed, this one requires some assembly before you can use it. On that front, you’ll find clear assembly instructions. Although the production quality isn’t top-tier, it’s high enough that putting the bench together should be pretty painless.

In addition, while many of the benches we’ve discussed have to be sanded and stained before they can be used, there’s nothing to do here but put the thing together. The second that’s done, you can start using it, which is a minor factor in this model’s favor.

Given its weight limitations and unusual aesthetic, it won’t be for everyone. Still, the offered storage space is worth its weight in gold, especially if you’re already lacking in that department. On that basis, we provisionally recommend it.

CAF Amish Heavy Duty Mission Glider

If you love rocking chairs, don’t have anywhere to put a porch swing, and are looking for something a bit more than a conventional outdoor bench seat, you owe it to yourself to take a look at the Heavy Duty Mission Porch Glider offered by Amish Casual and sold through CAF.

CAF and Amish Casual have dominated this roundup review of the best heavy-duty outdoor bench. Their products, including this entry, account for half the furniture mentioned here. There’s a reason for that; they’re amazing. The furniture looks great, the quality is amazing, and it’s sturdy and reliable. In our view, the porch glider is one of the company’s best products.

Before we get into the particulars, let’s do a quick stats review. Here are the basics:

As you can see, the glider is based on the frame of the Mission Bench but offers an important extra in the form of the glider mechanism, which provides a smooth, relaxing rocking function.

Like the other Amish Casual products we’ve discussed, if you decide you want one of these, it’s offered either unfinished or in your choice of stains. Also, like the other Amish Casual products mentioned in our best high-weight capacity outdoor bench review, if you opt for one of the pre-stained varieties, this one suffers from the same limitations we discussed earlier. Again, it is not a deal-breaker but something to bear in mind.

We’re incredibly impressed by the quality of Amish Casual’s products. Both they and their primary vendor, CAF, stand behind them and offer world-class post-sales support if you need it.

As with the other models the company offers, we find that the five-foot variant of this bench is more versatile than the shorter variant. However, we’re glad the company offers both to cater to those who take a different view or don’t have space for the long bench.

Ultimately, porch gliders are a niche product and almost entirely self-selecting. If you want one, nothing else will do. If you’re on the fence about it, you’re better off saving money and getting a standard bench. Otherwise, you’ll be paying a hefty premium for a feature you don’t care much about.

If you decide to buy one of these, you’ll love it. It’s fair to say it will likely become your favorite piece of outdoor furniture. It’s amazing.

Best High-Weight Capacity Outdoor Bench Roundup Review Conclusion

So, what’s the best high-weight capacity outdoor bench seat on the market today? We stand by the CAF Heavy Duty Garden Bench as our top pick but understand that opinions, tastes, and preferences will vary. Here, then, are some of the reasons that one of the other benches we’ve talked about in this roundup review might be a better fit for you:

• We regard the Amish Heavy Duty Mission Glider as the best piece of furniture mentioned in this review, even though it wasn’t included in the summary table since it’s more than just a bench seat. If you’re looking for a glider rocker, this one is the one you want.
• If you prefer Mission-style furniture, then the Amish Heavy Duty Mission Bench naturally moves to the head of the line for you, eclipsing the Garden Bench.
• For those with an eye for quality who are looking for a gorgeous hardwood bench with a lifetime warranty, the Amazonia Newcastle is the one you want. Just be mindful of its weight limitation.
• The Walker Edison Patio Love Seat is a great choice for those looking for something more stylish. It serves as a seamless bridge between your indoor and outdoor spaces, offering the look and functionality of an indoor loveseat but in a more rugged package suited to your deck, porch, or patio.
• The Step2 Outdoor Storage Bench is the one you want if you’re cramped for storage space and looking for outdoor furniture that can serve double duty as seating and storage.

Ultimately, there are no right answers here. It all comes down to which of these best fits you, your lifestyle, and how, where, and how often you plan to use your bench seat. One thing we’re fairly certain of, though, is that you’re going to find what you’re looking for somewhere in this roundup review!

Recommended Reading

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REFERENCES & RESOURCES

• How To: Paint Pressure-Treated Wood, Bob Vila.
• What are Different Types of Outdoor Furniture?, wiseGEEK.
• How to Finish Wood With Stain and a Polyurethane Finish, Hunker.
• Outdoor Entertaining All Year Long, Love Your Landscape.org.