The bench is very attractive and seems sturdy. The paint is not even, with some red swirled in with the black. It would probably be a good idea to go ahead and put on another coat of rust-proof paint for outdoor use. Also, the middle bracket was welded slightly out of line from where it needed to be to attach the back to the seat. Fortunately, a little banging with the hammer was enough to realign it, and just as fortunately, the weld did not break in the process. But quality control should have caught this problem.