Cast aluminium vs tubular garden chairs
Updated: 22 October 2026
The title says cast, the bullet says metal, and the material field says alloy, and you still have to carry the chair up a flight of stairs. Cast aluminium vs tubular garden chairs is that choice: a moulded dining shell that tends to stay put on an open patio, or a lighter frame you can lift and fold. The [aluminium garden chairs comparison](/hub/garden-furniture/aluminium-garden-chairs) holds the four listings behind the weights below. Peter F. used those amazon.co.uk listings on 20 October 2026, plus Oak & Nook's construction contrast as a retailer's rule of thumb. He did not weigh the chairs. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
The title says cast, the bullet says metal, and the material field says alloy, and you still have to carry the chair up a flight of stairs.
The title says cast, the bullet says metal, and the material field says alloy, and you still have to carry the chair up a flight of stairs. Cast aluminium vs tubular garden chairs is that choice: a moulded dining shell that tends to stay put on an open patio, or a lighter frame you can lift and fold. The aluminium garden chairs comparison holds the four listings behind the weights below. Peter F. used those amazon.co.uk listings on 20 October 2026, plus Oak & Nook's construction contrast as a retailer's rule of thumb. He did not weigh the chairs. A qualifying purchase through our links can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Construction | Item weight | Folds flat | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Garden Pride Garden Pride folding director's chair | Aluminium frame, canvas seat | 2.1 kg | Yes | 6.6 | about £29.99 | View offer |
 TangXiaoQi TangXiaoQi cast aluminium chairs, set of 2 | Cast dining pair | 8 kg set | No | 6.1 | about £109.99 | View offer | |
 Yaheetech Yaheetech garden chairs, set of 2 | Cast-style dining pair | 11.9 kg | Not stated | 7.2 | about £109.99 | View offer |
On this page
How the two constructions differ
A cast aluminium chair is metal poured into a mould, so the back and the seat can carry a pattern, such as the rose openwork on the TangXiaoQi pair. The shell is the structure. A tubular or profile chair is a hollow section, bent or jointed into a frame, with a separate seat of mesh, sling, or fabric. Oak & Nook's cast-furniture guide draws that line for its own range: moulded and heavier on one side, hollow and lighter on the other. That table describes how the two are made. It does not measure the four chairs in our file. The Yaheetech pair is filed as a cast-style dining pair, the material field says aluminium alloy, and the reviews describe arms you bolt on. A bolted kit can look cast and still arrive in pieces. The Goods Emporium pair is a modular aluminium armchair, 60 × 60 × 60 cm, and the listing does not say whether the frame is hollow tube or a solid section. Call it a modular aluminium frame, and read the item weight. The order of checks is the buying guide.
Weight and wind, using only stated figures
These are the item weights printed on the kept listings. The TangXiaoQi pair lists 8 kg against a unit count of two, so that 8 kg is the pair as catalogued. The Yaheetech listing gives 11.9 kg and does not split the pair. The Goods Emporium listing gives 25 kg, with the number of items shown as 1 while the set name is a pair, so 25 kg is the item weight on the page. The Garden Pride director's chair is one chair at 2.1 kg. Oak & Nook says a dining cast chair in its own range is often 7–10 kg and a tubular chair often 3–4 kg. That is their rule of thumb for furniture they sell. Do not paste 7–10 kg onto the TangXiaoQi or Yaheetech pages, and do not paste 3–4 kg onto the Garden Pride chair, which already states 2.1 kg. Yaheetech reviewers say the chairs are heavy enough not to blow about and still liftable. A 2.1 kg director's chair is the one a gust can shift if you leave it open on a bare slab. The Goods Emporium line says lightweight beside a 25 kg item weight, so the number is what you plan the lift around. A small balcony changes the same weights, which is aluminium garden chairs for a balcony. Hollow sections add a winter limit that Harbour Lifestyle states: water inside a tube can freeze and stress the metal.
What cast does not guarantee
Cast on a title does not mean the chair arrives as one piece. The Yaheetech reviews are about arms, a poor supplied spanner, and screws that loosen, which is a bolt-together kit. The same listing's material field says aluminium alloy, and one bullet says wrought iron patio dining chairs. The iron line is a conflict in the text. Stacking is unstated on all four listings. These pages do not say these chairs stack, so plan floor space for the footprint you can read: 45 × 45 cm for the TangXiaoQi pair, 62.5 × 63 cm for Yaheetech, 60 cm square for Goods Emporium, and 44 × 58 cm for the Garden Pride chair when it is open. Seat height is stated at 39 cm for TangXiaoQi and 45 cm for Garden Pride, and it is blank for Yaheetech and Goods Emporium. The listings do not publish a coating thickness. TangXiaoQi says powder coated. Yaheetech says a rust-resistant finish. Goods Emporium leaves the finish blank. Garden Pride says brushed silver.
When to pick which
Choose a cast-style dining pair when the chair will live on an open patio, you want a hard shell at a table, and you can live with assembly. Between the two bronze pairs, the Yaheetech listing is the one that states 130 kg per chair, and the TangXiaoQi listing is the one that states a 39 cm seat height and tells you to protect the chairs from rain. Choose a light frame when you must lift the chair, fold it into a cupboard, or put it away after one afternoon. In this set that frame is the Garden Pride director's chair at 2.1 kg: canvas on aluminium, neither a cast shell nor the 25 kg modular pair. The Goods Emporium armchairs are the heavy lounge shape. Pick them when the 60 cm cube is the look you want and you have measured the carry. If you want a job-by-job shortlist, use best aluminium garden chairs.
Common questions
Which is heavier?
Use the item weights on the listings. Garden Pride is 2.1 kg for one folding chair. TangXiaoQi lists 8 kg for a unit count of two. Yaheetech lists 11.9 kg. Goods Emporium lists 25 kg, and that figure should stay an item weight because the page also says one item against a set of two. Oak & Nook's 7–10 kg and 3–4 kg ranges are that retailer's typical chairs, and they are a different source.
Which blows over on a patio?
A light open chair is the one a gust can move. The Garden Pride chair at 2.1 kg is in that group if you leave it unfolded on a bare patio. Yaheetech reviewers describe their pair as heavy enough not to blow about, which matches a dining shell you leave out, and it still depends on the bolts being tight. No listing here publishes a wind rating.
Can I carry cast chairs up to a flat?
You can, if you can manage the item weight through the door and the stairs. The TangXiaoQi pair is catalogued at 8 kg for two, which is the lightest dining figure in this file, and you still assemble them. Yaheetech's 11.9 kg item weight is the next listing figure. The Goods Emporium 25 kg item weight is the one to refuse if the carry is the problem. The folding chair at 2.1 kg is the carry that stays easy.
Does cast mean the chair arrives in one piece?
On these listings, cast describes the material story, and assembly required describes the carton. Yaheetech and TangXiaoQi both need assembly. Reviewers of the Yaheetech pair bolt the arms on and often discard the supplied spanner. A one-piece shell would not generate that comment. Read assembly required as parts in a box.
Is a modular armchair a tubular frame?
The Goods Emporium listing calls the pair modular aluminium armchairs and gives a 60 cm cube and a 25 kg item weight. It does not say the frame is hollow tube or extruded profile. Treat it as a modular aluminium frame with that weight, and use the cast-versus-tube contrast only where a listing actually describes a moulded shell or a hollow section.
Which one stacks?
The four listings do not say these chairs stack. Plan space for each footprint when the chair is in use, and for a fold only where the listing says it folds, which is the Garden Pride chair. A stackable café chair on another retailer's page stays on that page.
Is the director's chair either of these?
The Garden Pride 8026 is neither a cast dining shell nor the modular armchair. It is one folding chair, aluminium frame, canvas seat, 2.1 kg, no assembly, seat height 45 cm. Choose it when you need to lift and store. Choose a cast-style pair when the chair lives at a table on the patio.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources from the research digest. Shelf date 20 October 2026. Page updated 22 October 2026.
- GOV.UK: General Product Safety Regulations 2005, Great Britain (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Department for Business and Trade notice 0100/24 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- BSI: BS EN 581-1:2017, outdoor furniture general safety (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 22 (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: Accepting returns and giving refunds (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Business Companion: New upholstered furniture fire safety (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Oak & Nook: Cast aluminium garden furniture (retrieved 20 October 2026)
- Harbour Lifestyle: Care guide, aluminium garden furniture (retrieved 20 October 2026)