FAQs

Mahogany is an expensive hardwood and varies in color from a medium brown to a deep red brown, depending on its age. It is a very traditional, versatile and popular type of wood.

Walnut is a hardwood and is known for its strength, straight grain and its rich chocolate brown color, however lighter shades are available. Walnut can be a very versatile wood, offering a range of shades and grains to complement your decor.

Maple is much more durable and heavier. As maple wood is so strong and moisture resistant it is the ideal wood to withstand years of wear and tear. Maple wood is pale in color and has natural swirls and twists in the wood grain. It can easily accepts any type of stain or paint.

Oak is a very popular wood, it is very hard wearing and heavy. It is known for having lovely open wood grain markings. Oak can be purchased in two shades; white oak, which is grey/brown in color or red oak which is very similar but with a prominent reddish tint.

Ash is a tough hardwood which is known for its excellent bending abilities. It is primarily used for bent pieces of furniture such as a chair with curved backrests. Ash is light brown in color with a straight grain.

Beech is a hard, strong and heavy wood. It has a fine, tight grain and even texture. Beech wood is very light in color and has a high shock resistance. It is a popular wood for furniture and will give your room a warm feeling. With its smooth finish it is a great wood to polish.

Veneer refers to a thin layer of wood which is cut from the circumference of a tree. It is then bonded onto a dense piece of wood, which is typically MDF (minimum density fiberboard), chipboard or plywood. Veneers are available in many sizes, ranging from 3 to 6mm thick. Quite often used in high-end furniture pieces and it can be more costly than solid wood.

Pine is very affordable softwood and lightweight with a pale finish which is great for staining. It is less durable wood compared to hard woods such as maple or oak. Pine blends well with other woods, making it ideal if you are looking for furniture that will match existing pieces

• Keep humidity levels in your restaurant / dining space between 40 and 45%. Any lower could crack the wood and any higher could cause swelling.

• Don't place a wood dining table over a radiator or right next to a heat register. The temperature swings could damage the wood with warping or splitting.

• If you have watermark rings in your tabletop from wet glasses, chances are it's in the wax, not the wood. Rubbing with mayonnaise should get the marks right out

• Deep clean, only a few times a year, with a silicone-free furniture polish. We recommend Plush Furniture Polish and Restorer or Oz cream polish.

• For every day cleaning, wipe your table using a soft, damp cloth moistened with a gentle diluted soap, like our Tough and Tender All-Purpose Cleaner, or warm dish water. Follow the grain of the wood, and gently scrub dried foods.

• Most importantly, dry your table using a different clean, soft cloth; we recommend microfiber cloths. Rubbing a dry cloth over a dusty, solid wood table can cause surface scratches.

How to Select Outdoor / Patio Umbrella Size?

Standard umbrella sizes - outdoor/patio umbrellas should typically extend over tables by 2 feet on each side. If you have a 4 foot rounded table, this means you need an umbrella that measures 8 feet in diameter. For example:

Table = 30-36 inches — Umbrella = 6-8 feet
Table = 38-48 inches — Umbrella =9-11 feet
Table = 54-60 inches — Umbrella 11 feet or larger

Selecting the proper stool is at par to making sure your guests are comfortable eating in your restaurant. A stool that is too high or too short would greatly affect such comfort.

To be able to select the right stool, you need to measure the height of the table and choose a stool having a 10 to 12-inch difference with the table top. Additionally, you should take into account the space in between bar stools. However, his would depend of the size of the stool. The chart below shows some standard sizes for different barstools.

Choosing the correct table base can be a bit overwhelming but once you are familiar with the details, this will become much easier. You must look at your restaurant and study the flow.

For example, if you are going to be constantly moving the tables around, if the table top would match the base but not just the color or finish but the weight and size as well. Each base comes in different diameters depending on the table top.

The number of seating would depend on the size and shape of the table. Having the proper number of people seated would allow you to have you guest close enough that they are able to speak to each other but farther enough that they are able to seat and eat comfortably.

The size of the umbrella should be proportional to the size of the table; a small umbrella paired with huge tabletop will be of no use, whereas a huge umbrella with a small table top will be a waste of space (in terms of positioning one table beside another).

There are several sizes of umbrella depending on the table you are using. Ideally, it should be able to provide shade around the table top.

There are few things more distracting during a nice meal than when your table starts to shimmy and shake. Everyone has at one point experienced a meal that moved around as the table wobbled and shook. It is best to have tables and environments where the table base was so stable that no one even had to think about it. To do this you have to conquer three common problems, all of which contribute to a shaky table.

Problem #1: The Top Plate
Often times table base manufacturers try and use welded stamped steel top plates, but the stamped steel is not sturdy enough to keep the table from wobbling. It does make for a lower cost base but is saving a few dollars on the initial purchase worth years of inferior bases?

The Solution: Cast Iron

• Cast iron has a higher compressive strength and is therefore more able to bear the weight of any material table top without bending or flexing.

• The heavier cast iron actually increases the overall balance of the table by changing the center of gravity.

• Our cast iron top plates come in larger sizes than most in the industry - meaning we can provide top plates for any sized table.

Problem #2: The Base Plate

Base plates often fail to lie correctly on the floor. Either the floor is uneven or the base is, and in the worst situations both the floor and base plate are irregular.

The Solution

• Our base plates are tested on a flat surface plate for any warpage. Any base that doesn't meet our quality standards is melted down again and recast.
• To combat irregular floors we include adjustable glides with all our bases. These glides allow the base to remain level on most floors.

Problem #3: Overall weight

Table bases need to be heavy in order to counteract the table top.

It seems that a sturdy looking, heavy topped table, made of a material like marble or granite or solid wood would actually be sturdy. Yet often it's these top heavy tables that are the most likely to tip.

The first and most important issue is the unbalanced center of gravity in a top heavy table. A top heavy object will have a higher center of gravity, which ultimately cause the object to be more unstable. This is why objects with top-heavy weight must be balanced out with increased weight on the bottom. A heavy cast iron table base can hold up the table and create stability because its increased weight balances out the table and draws the center of gravity down to the middle, rather than the top.

The second factor for creating a stable table is the strength of the materials used. A table base's purpose is to hold up another, normally heavy, object. To do so requires high compressive strength, or the ability to remain rigid, rather than flex or warp, when the weight pushes against the base. In terms of high compressive strength, cast-iron is the number one choice since it does not bend or flex as opposed to steel.

Finally, it is important to assess how the table base is attached to the table top itself. Most top plates in table bases come in contact with the table in four places. This works well on a smaller table, since the four points of contact are equal to the weight of the table. However, as the table grows larger and heavier, the four points are no longer strong enough to take the weight of the table without bending. The solution is to increase the surface area between the top plate and the bottom of the table top. This is achieved by increasing the points of contact from four to eight, using a metal, preferably cast iron due to the weight and compressive strength, top plate. The larger the top plate the more surface area that come into contact with the table. The weight of the table top is then more equally balanced and less likely to tip.