Salvaging this stonework coffee table

[Alan Rutherford]

This coffee table top is made of stone and concrete. It's about 48 x 32 x 2 with a recess of about 1/2" in the under-side and weighs 180 pounds. It originally sat on 2 supports made of flat tiles cemented together. My wife has had it longer than she has had me. We have moved it across the country twice and stored it for years without using it. Now it's time to restore it to some degree of utility.

There were 2 rectangles of particle board glued to the top and I believe the table just rested on the legs, protected by the PB. You can see where the pads were.

You can see a crack in the bottom and there is one in the upper side that will close up. I've tested it with a magnet and believe there's wire mesh in the concrete plus 2 pieces of rebar running across the table through the middle of the formerly-padded areas. This is not sophisticated concrete work and I want to support it evenly.


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I'm thinking about making a 4-5" skirt from doubled 3/4" plywood. I'd cement it to the top just inside the recessed area. The sides of the skirt would meet at 90 degrees outside the recess. Plywood because I think I need dimensional stability more than I need strength. It would be attached with construction adhesive and painted.

I'd bridge the legs at both top and bottom so they could not move relative to each other and so there was protection for the floor. I'd size the top of the leg unit to fit comfortably inside the skirt but not attach it to the top. Or I could make new wooden legs set into the corners of the skirt.

What do you think of the plywood skirt? With 1.5" of width and a reasonable fit with gaps filled with construction glue, can I expect it to stay in place with a tube or two of adhesive and lots of drying time? The most important function of the skirt is to keep the top from flexing. There's a chance that in the future some fool might try to lift the table by the skirt while it's standing on edge. I'd hope it would not pull loose. I think I should avoid drilling into the top.

What about legs from 4x4's with some kind of bracing between them?

[Jerry Miner]

I would re-think plywood for the skirt. Dimensional stability is not much of an issue here, as wood does not change much in length---so skirt lengths would be stable, widths are not big enough to cause a problem. Stiffness is what you want, which is easier to achieve with solid wood.

I would build a "traditional" table base---any style you want--with an inset plywood sub-top. (support the plywood on cleats attached to the inside of the skirt--support the entire perimeter). Then glue on your stone top with a flexible adhesive like silicone, or even latex caulk. Here's one possible example:

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[Alan Rutherford]

Thanks, Jerry. Having more of a table separate from the top solves some problems.

This thing has been stored on edge for 15-20 years and I'm worried about more cracking when it's laid flat if it can flex at all. That's why I was thinking of the skirt glued to the top.

Based on your suggestion, I'd build the complete table with plywood inset and then remove the inset and attach it to the top. I might reinforce the plywood panel with a coarse eqg-crate grid that would be hidden by the skirt. With the plywood attached to the top the assembly could then be set on the base with no risk of flexing. Making it removable from the base should help prevent future accidents.

I'm liking that.