Mennonite Furniture Studios American Hardwood Heirloom Furniture

How To Obtain High Quality & Lasting Value In Your Dining Table

Understand which features You should demand and which ones You should avoid in order to get the best value from Your next quality dining table purchase:

What To Insist On: – Find out exactly what to look for in a true ‘Heirloom Quality Table’ that will beautifully accommodate Your needs, and be easily maintained to last for generations

What To Avoid: – Find out how to look for, identify, and avoid common table manufacturers cost-cutting steps that will simply not bear the burden of normal use in Your home.

Avoid This – Things To Reject When Choosing Quality Dining Table For Your Home

Make sure that Your new dining table will fill your daily or regular dining needs in its “closed” position. A table that requires all it’s leaves extended for regular daily use is too small in most cases.

Avoid Any Table That Shows Signs Of ‘Cost-Cutting’: Quality dining tables should always look great from every angle. This simple, but often overlooked, test will show you whether the person that made the table was in it for his love of fine craftsmanship or just building for a fast buck – at Your expense!

Look Underneath The Table!: is it attractive and professionally finished? If the bottom side is poorly finished, or otherwise ugly, this means that the manufacturer is willing to ‘cut corners’, wherever possible, with inappropriate ‘penny-pinching’ shortcuts. This is a sure sign that other table components and / or the finish are also likely to be sub-standard. Any table constructed and finished this way is unworthy of your ‘investment’, since it will undoubtedly degrade and become problematic in normal use in your home.

Avoid Finishes That Are Not Guaranteed To Be Water Resistant: Lacquers are not water resistant and are not as hard as modern conversion varnishes. A water resistant finish means that ‘sweating’ glasses will not leave rings on your table top.

Avoid Any Tables That Are Not Constructed With Solid Hardwood: Specifically ask if the table top is constructed from 100% genuine natural hardwood, or if it is some other synthetic material covered with a ‘veneer’. Only accept 100% solid natural hardwood. Avoid ‘veneers’ of any kind, and rule out any table referred to with the purposely deceptive terms ‘All Wood’ or ‘Solid All Wood’. Also avoid the use of soft tropical woods and cost-cutting particleboard components that will split or crack when subjected to weight, or swell and chip when subjected to moisture.

Avoid Sloppy Joinery – Which Makes For A Shaky Table: Especially, pay attention to the connection of the legs or pedestal to the top. Watch out for leaves that do not fit well or do not sit flat. Open the table – does it slide open easily when operated from either side? Beware of binding in table slides and for normal extension tables avoid metal slides that are a common sign of inappropriate cost-cutting. Metal slides that are not guaranteed to be corrosion-resistant will eventually bind or stick and also drop rust or other corrosion products onto your floor.

• Exception – Pedestal Tables: All Pedestal Tables should have smooth-running, corrosion-resistant, geared metal rails to assure a centered table-top, regardless of how many leaves you use. Double check with your sales representative to make sure that you really are getting high quality corrosion-resistant metal geared slides on any Pedestal table.

Avoid Any Tables That Do Not Have Floor Levelers: Any extension table will be prone to bind and sit uneven if levelers are not provided.

Avoid Weak Drawers: Drawers that do not use dovetail joints are another sure sign of inappropriate cost-cutting.