What is an Adirondack Folding Chair?

An Adirondack folding chair is an outdoor chair generally made from wood that can fold up for storage or transport. It is made in the style of the traditional Adirondack chair, which was not made to fold up at all. Traditional Adirondack chairs feature sloped seats, seat backs that are tilted backward for comfort, wide arm rests, and a limited number of boards used for the overall construction. An Adirondack folding chair meets these criteria as well, though more material may be used to construct the hinges for folding the chair. Modern Adirondack folding chairs may vary slightly in design and appearance as well.

The original Adirondack chair featured a specific design constructed from 11 pieces of wood. This wood was often cut from one piece of lumber, making the chair an affordable and easy piece of furniture to build. An Adirondack folding chair will more than likely feature more than eleven pieces of wood, especially considering the hinge must be constructed, and it is often constructed from wood to keep with the overall aesthetic. The original Adirondack chair was a simple design that lacked any flourishes, but more modern chairs are made to be attractive pieces of furniture for the home or garden. An Adirondack folding chair is also built to be aesthetically pleasing, more so than traditional models.

Many Adirondack folding chair models are made of wood, just as most non-folding Adirondack chairs are, but other materials are available for construction of the chair, which can reduce the cost but also the quality of the finished piece of furniture. Plastics are commonly used for weather resistance of this material, but plastic Adirondack chairs are not as visually pleasing and often not as strong as wooden chairs. Composite materials such as engineered woods can also be used to construct the chair, though using such wood can drive up the cost and make the chair less visually appealing.

The overall finish of the Adirondack folding chair depends on the type of wood or material used to construct it. Woods like teak or cedar are often left unstained and unpainted to showcase the wood's natural beauty, while other woods may be stained to show off an attractive grain. Less attractive woods can be painted to both enhance the visual appeal of the chair and to protect the wood from water and other weather damage likely to be incurred by leaving the chair outdoors.