Are you sure your legs will be able to support my weight?
From Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble's version of "The Three Sisters"
As a part of the sales team, I hear the same question at least a few times every day. " Are these legs strong enough to hold my table top?" It's a very common and honest question that almost everyone inquires about the products on our site. We're often asked by contractors looking to build desks in new office spaces or interior designers making sure their client can properly entertain guests at their fancy new granite kitchen island.
We also get asked by do-it-yourselfers looking to replace the legs on their dining table that was broken from an "eventful evening" (yes, we get those calls too).
From Shutterstock
It's not quite the $10,000 question, but it's a valid concern before any purchase. The backtracking response given by our sales team is almost always, "How big is your tabletop?" Subsequently we follow up with, "How much does it weigh?" This usually begets an awkward silence, a wild guess or my personal favorite the snarky response like, "I don't know, it weighs what a dining table weighs!" Gotta' love those.
How to find your table weight:
Unless you have an industrial scale just laying around in the attic or the garage, your best bet to figuring out the weight of your top will be to do a little math. Don't worry; you won't need an advanced calculus degree for this one.
Simply multiply the full measurements of the table top by its density (length x width x thickness x density) and this will give you a solid approximation of the weight. For example, let's assume you've got a wood table top that measures 72" long by 36" wide by 1-1/4" thick. Most wood tops have a density of .022 lbs. per cubic inch. Now, do the math (72 x 36 x 1.25 x .022 = 71.3). This means that the table top weighs 71.3 lbs.!
Depending on your top material (Wood, Stone, Plywood, etc.) the density will change which means that the weight will be different. Refer to the chart below for the density breakdown for the most popular top materials:
| Table / Countertop Material | Density |
| Bronze | 0.321 |
| Corian | 0.0613 |
| MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) | 0.029 |
| Plywood | 0.024 |
| Quartz | 0.0867 |
| Stainless Steel | 0.285 |
| Stone (Granite / Marble) | 0.0972 |
| Wood | 0.022 |
Once you've figured out the weight of the top, pick your poison of style, shape, and look of the table legs and table bases that we offer.
So whether you're looking to support small weights like a laptop on a work desk or...
From Intoxreport
if you need to be able to plan ahead for the drunken employee at the next company holiday party (and yes, we definitely get calls about that too), understanding the weight of your table will assist you in selecting the best leg/base for your application.
by Sebert Goodall