Reusing restaurant tabletops with new bases when the shop gets a refresh

Sometimes the tops are fine and the bases are what's tired. One table rocks on its feet, another has rust at the floor, and the third is the wrong black for the new paint. Replacing ten tables means ten new tops or ten new bases. If the tops still look good, keep them and swap the part that's failing: the table bases.

Reusing a top is a three-measurement job: height, spread and mounting. Do the sums before you order, and you won't be carrying a table with a short leg across the dining room on a Tuesday morning. Here are the sums, worked for a cafe with eight round tops.

Flip the top over and write four numbers down

Turn one top upside down on a clean floor. Write down its thickness at the edge, its shape, its size (side to side, or diameter for a round) and what the underside is made of at the center. A base is held on by screws into that spot, so the center needs solid material and a flat underside. A top that is cracked, delaminating or swollen through the core there is not a top to build on.

Do this for every size you own, not every table. Eight tops in two sizes need two sets of numbers, not eight. Listed top thicknesses in our catalog run from 1/2 inch to 1 3/4 inches, so a measurement taken with a tape beats an assumption taken from memory.

The height sum

A dining table runs 29 to 30 inches off the floor, with 10 to 12 inches between a seat of 17 to 19 inches and the top. A new base adds its height to your top's thickness, so add them. Then stand one of your chairs at the table and check that the gap between seat and top still reads right.

A standard-height base such as this round metal base is listed at 28 inches. A 1 1/4 inch top on it lands at 29 1/4. A 1 1/2 inch top lands at 29 1/2. Both work. A 3/4 inch top lands at 28 3/4, a quarter inch short of the range. With a 19-inch seat, that leaves 9 3/4 inches for knees, and the sum fails by a quarter inch.

Now the trap. "Standard height" is a label, not a number. Listed standard bases run 28 inches, 29 inches and 29 1/2. A cast iron X-prong base listed at 29 1/2 inches under a 1 1/2 inch butcher block top makes a 31-inch table, an inch over. Add the two numbers every time, for every pairing.

Bar height works the same way. A bar-height round base is listed at 41 inches, and a 1 inch top turns that into a 42-inch table, which is where bar height lives.

The spread under a round top

The base has to reach far enough under the top that a diner who rests an elbow on the rim won't tip it over. The rule of thumb: divide the top's diameter by three and double the answer. The base should spread at least that far. Do the multiplying once:

• 24-inch top: base of 16 inches or more
• 30-inch top: 20 inches or more
• 36-inch top: 24 inches or more
• 42-inch top: 28 inches or more

Round bases are listed in 17, 22 and 30-inch sizes. Say your cafe has six 30-inch rounds and two 36-inch rounds. The 30s need 20 or more, so the 22-inch base works and the 17 does not. The 36s need 24, so only the 30-inch base clears the line. That is six bases at 22 inches and two at 30. Most listed round bases stop at 30 inches, so a 48-inch top, which needs 32, calls for a different design or a word with a specialist before you order. Pick the smallest base that clears the line. Wider bases take floor and foot room, and in a narrow shop that adds up.

Square tops get the same test, usually on an X-prong base. A 30-inch square on a 22 by 22 inch chrome one leaves 4 inches of top hanging past the base on each side, since 30 less 22 is 8, split two ways. The base spans 73 percent of the top, over the two-thirds line.

Level it, and mind the glides

Old floors tilt. A base that is dead flat on a bench can still rock on a sloped tile, and no one blames the tile. Both round metal bases above list glides as an option, adjustable or self-leveling, so choose them when the floor is the suspect. Bar-height round bases also list a footrest option, which is worth a look if your stools have none.

New bases carry a one-year warranty on defects in materials and workmanship at delivery. The warranty page spells out what is covered and what is excluded.

When the top should retire

A new base can't cure a bad top. Lifted laminate along the edge, a core swollen by water, a crack at the center and a warp in solid wood all stay with the top. Natural movement in solid wood isn't a warranty matter. If you'd be unhappy with the top in the refreshed room, buy a new table top and keep the old base only if it still passes the sums.

Wipe-test the old top before you keep it, using the cloth and the cleaner your closing crew uses. A top that dulls or turns tacky under your own cleaner belongs on the retire list. The cleaning compatibility article explains the difference, and evaluating a tabletop sample shows how to run a fair test before you commit. If the shape or size you own falls outside the standard range, custom tables for constrained spaces is the place to look, and custom items take longer.

Swap two at a time during the 2 PM lull

Label every top and its new base with masking tape before anything comes apart: table 1, table 2, down the list. Tape the thickness on the underside of each top while it's upside down. Then swap two tables per lull. The old bases come off, the new ones go on, and the room never closes.

Before you order, ask for the free metal finish swatches at samples. Hold one against the new paint under the window light, because black in a catalog and black at 7 AM are different colors. Keep the old bases in the back until the new ones have held for a week of service, and write the winning height sum on the tape.