Sitting outside in your yard with family or friends can be a lovely experience, but not if this means you will be wobbling or severely damaging your grass. Simply put: It is not very pleasant to sink in the grass when you are trying to relax.
To stop outdoor chairs from sinking in the grass, you can put tennis balls, wood, or other firm materials underneath the legs. However, it is important to ensure the grass remains healthy by moving the chairs weekly. Additionally, a level, firm, and dry outdoor area is desirable.
Although I wrote on this topic in the past, detailing whether or not patio furniture could be put directly on grass, I wanted to expand on the topic. Throughout this article, you will learn the following things:
- DIY solutions in order to prevent outdoor chairs from sinking in the grass
- Important facts to keep in mind to ensure healthy grass
- Why a level outdoor area is favorable and how to achieve this
- Alternative options to prevent sinking chairs
- In which situations you do not have to worry about sinking chairs
DIY Solutions
You do not want to damage your grass, and you want to be comfortable, right? Luckily, there are a lot of DIY tricks out there to ensure both these things! All of these can be easily done by yourself with some tools you possibly already have at home.
Get (cheap) patio pavers. This will get you stable chairs, but it will still require you to look after the grass and move the chairs at least weekly.
Use interlocking floor tiles. Floor tiles like these (link) offer a regal look while also being a great solution to keep your chairs from sinking. This is a pricier option, but if your outdoor area needs an ambience that the other options don’t provide, it’s your best bet.
Slice open a few tennis balls and put them over the legs of the chairs. It might not be the prettiest sight, but it will definitely do the trick and is reasonably affordable (check these out). Again, move chairs weekly in order for the grass to survive.
Cut the bottom out of a big plastic bottle. Obviously, you are going to need four bottles for one chair, so if there is more than one chair, you might have to collect them for a while. It is a great sustainable option, too, since you are finding a new purpose for plastic!
Cut two lengths of wood (measurements depending on the chairs) and attach them to the chair’s front leg to the chair’s back leg. This is another great option if the tennis balls are not fancy enough for you. This ensures the weight to be distributed evenly and prevents any sinking.
Placing some tarp underneath the chairs will also do the trick. This one might also not be the most beautiful picture (although this one looks okay), but just make sure you remove the tarp or move it weekly.
Other examples
Additionally, I can give another few examples of materials or products that could be of use if you do not have any of the above lying around and you want it fixed now: old shoes, unused ski sets, empty can bottoms, or jar lids. Be creative but just make sure the material is solid.
As you see, putting basically anything firm underneath the chairs (be it tennis balls, plastic bottle bottoms, wood) will prevent the chairs from sinking in the grass. In the next paragraph, I will explain several things you must keep in mind, though, if you want to ensure your grass stays healthy and vibrant.
Important Things To Keep in Mind
If you decide to put outdoor furniture directly on the grass, the grass will eventually die. If there is no more grass, you will get mud, which, I can imagine, is not what you necessarily want. So what can you do to prevent the grass from dying when you do want to have outdoor furniture directly on the grass?
- Make sure that you move the outdoor furniture at least once a week to ensure it gets plenty of water and light.
- Keep an eye out for areas where the grass is disappearing or turning brown. As soon as you see this happening, move the furniture and attend to these patches to revive them.
- Air out the area where the furniture is located often since the grass needs air to grow.
Even Leveled Outdoor Area
Like I mentioned, working with an even leveled outdoor area is essential if you want to avoid chairs sinking in the grass plus sit comfortably. So if you currently do not have an even leveled outdoor area, you could try the following things.
Level the Grass
Locate the parts of your outdoor space that are of a lower level compared to the rest; marking these areas is very helpful as a first step. As soon as that is done, get some dirt or gravel and fill up these lower leveled spots to even everything out.
This whole thing can be a lot of work if you have a big yard but significantly less if it regards only a small area. Keep in mind that if you have already decided where to put the chairs, you can also only tackle that part.
Plywood
Does the previously discussed solution sound like a bit too much work? No problem, there are easier solutions. That is, if you do not mind what it might look like. A solution that might be less pleasing to the eye is plywood. Purchase some of it, put it underneath the chairs (and additional furniture) that you want to locate on unlevel areas, and you are done.
Alternative Options
Flooring
Of course, if you do not want to deal with any of the above mentioned DIY solutions, getting a company to put in flooring on top of the grass could be another excellent way to go.
There are lots of companies out there that put rubber tiles in between the grass and the flooring so that the grass will not be harmed, or at least to the minimum extent. This way, you will have a more permanent solution to chairs sinking in the grass.
Patio
In addition to the previous paragraph, getting a full-on patio might be a nice addition to your garden. If you have a big garden, it is still possible to have plenty of grass available and this way you will only have to do the work once (hire a company or do it yourself). Especially if you tend to have a lot of people over, it might just be easier to receive them on the patio than having them walking and sitting on your grass.
Wide-Legged Chairs
To avoid the problem altogether, you can buy chairs with wide legs instead of narrow, pointy ones. The ideal will be if the front and back legs are connected so that the weight is evenly distributed. I think you understand by now that you will still need to look after the grass, even if your outdoor chairs are not sinking.
When Your Outdoor Chairs Won’t Sink in the Grass
It will be fine to put outdoor chairs on the grass, just as long as your yard (or another type of outdoor area) is firm, even leveled, and dry. Additionally, the chairs that you are using must have wide legs; otherwise, you will still have sinking chairs, no matter how firm or level your outdoor area is. Aside from damaging the grass, sitting on a chair on non-level grass is not exactly comfortable either.
Final Thoughts
There are plenty of easy ways you can prevent your outdoor chairs from sinking in the grass; you might not even have to leave the house to get there. These ways include sliding tennis balls over the legs, attaching lengths of wood between the front and back legs, or putting down some tarp. As long as you are mindful about treating your grass in a decent way, the grass should also be fine.