Glass over table

A longish preamble to set the scene and then a very relevant question that knowledgeable readers may be able to help with, please...

With Christmas celebrations upon us and needing to get our Christmas dinner with family away from our upstairs dining room so that the food dropped by grandkids lands on a vinyl floor rather than a carpeted one, my wife and I decided to hold this years festivities in our large downstairs rumpus room which opens on to our backyard .

We decided that a large round table would be a useful addition to the rumpus room for such purpose and on Googling retail suppliers of such things, came across a second hand dining room suite for sale that is in good condition and featured a couple of unexpected extras including a glass top over the wooden surface. One look at the table and we were delighted to buy the suite which, one day later, now sits in our rumpus room, thus making our rumpus room decor even more eclectic than it already was. :D See picture below...

http://img.skitch.com/20091212-f82y5...78.preview.jpg
Click for full size - Uploaded with plasq's Skitch


The whole suite is 25 years old, very solid and very well constructed and in pretty good shape. The added glass top makes the table especially useful for family get togethers. The glass top had four button sized felt cushioning spacers between it and the table itself. These self-adhesive backed spacers had perished over the years so we took them out and cleaned off the residue adhesive.

Reasoning that because of the presence of the four cushioning spacers, the glass must need some sort of separator between it and the table top, I positioned a half dozen thin cork discs that I had spare and thought that would be OK.

However, when I placed a cold glass of drink on the glass without a coaster, thinking that with the glass top, a coaster would not be required, the tell-tale cloudiness started to appear below the glass.

I quickly fixed that but, on reflection, have wondered if having the thin cork discs under the glass allows air to be circulated which, in Brisbane's humid conditions, means that a cold object sitting on top of the glass table top will cause condensation to occur on the underside of the glass with resultant wetting of the wood below.


So the the question is, when a glass top is placed on top of a polished wooden table, should it be laid with any sort of cushioning spacer or should it just be laid neat on the surface?

Also, even with a glass top, are insulated coasters necessary under cold objects?


All advice gratefully received, please.


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It is my understanding that the spacers are used to allow air to circulate and to take up any irregularity in the surface - if not used and the top is slid [accidently or on purpose] it will probably scratch the wood - wood also moves with humidity etc more so than the glass so the spacers will prevent some of the rub marks due to movement - it won't be much but will be there depending to a large degree on your environment.

Cold/hot items will always transfer through the glass so use coasters to eliminate as much of this as you can - also helps to prevent scratches on the glass as it is not as bullet-proof as people think.

Good pickup - looks good for 25 years old.

Regards,
Bob

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Originally Posted by Bob38S

It is my understanding that .....

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Thanks Bob. All of that makes sense to me and adds a perspective that I did not think about. Much appreciated.


Yup. The suite was an great pick-up. I was not shopping for a second-hand table but of course if you Google "Large wooden table", all sorts of links appear. Uncharacteristically of me, I did not bother about the ono attached to the quoted price. It was also good news for the previous owner that I happened to see the advert when I did as the removalists are arriving tomorrow to shift her stuff to her new smaller house which does not have room for such a large table.

A good result all round, including that, with my brother's help, I was able to shift the whole suite and glass in my trailer without damage. Safely moving a big slab of glass in a light bouncy box trailer has its own special challenges but a couple of $10 removalists blankets from Bunnings helped.


Once again, many thanks for your advice.

Your welcome. Enjoy your table.