Project: Tabletop

For my birthday this year, my mother-in-law got me a patio set from Target when it went on sale. Here is the Dumont glass-topped table:

It finally saw some use during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, but then, just a week or so later, a piece of our canopied gazebo became unscrewed thanks to the high winds in our area and crashed through the top of the table, breaking the glass into literally millions of pieces.

First of all, UGH. It's no fun to have to deal with something like that, especially just a couple of weeks before you're supposed to host another big pool party (for my brother and sister-in-law's baby shower).

Second, my husband and I had a second think about replacing the table by buying the same thing over again (it's still on sale and available here). My husband fixed the gazebo for good, replacing the apparently-worn threaded screw with a fresh and even longer screw. It's not going to need replacing or updating for a good long time, even with the high winds. However, we were still horrified by the idea that another glass top could shatter like that again in the presence of little children. We were so lucky that this happened late at night when no one was outside. But next time, it doesn't have to be a piece of the gazebo; it can be anything that kids get their hands on, and we don't run the kind of elegant home where all the guests have to be on their best behavior. That's not us, anyway.

So we decided in the short run to replace the tabletop with wood (eventually we might get a stone-top table). We bought some fir plywood, measured and drew the outline for an overhanging (rather than fitted) tabletop, then sawed along the outline we drew and sanded the edges smooth.

The glass-less table frame in the foreground

The outline of the tabletop drawn on the wrong side of the plywood

The tabletop cut out and sanded, ready for the blocks that will keep the tabletop from skidding off the sides of the metal frame

Closeup of the blocks, all screwed on

Voila!

We won't be able to finish it with stain or polyurethane before the party this weekend, but since we'll be using tablecloths, it won't matter. I think it looks pretty good, actually, and I'm proud of my first attempt at handling wood since high school wood shop class almost twenty years ago. Granted, the hubby did most of the skilled work with his power tools. I'm just happy I didn't sustain any injuries this time. :-)

xo, Gladys