Installing Restaurant Tabletops: Everything You Need to Know

What to do after you pick your tabletop and the process of installing it

There are many essential pieces of your restaurant puzzle that must fall into place if you want to own a successful business. One of those major pieces is your restaurant furniture. Without it, your guests will have nowhere to sit and eat. When it comes to your furniture, your restaurant tabletops are incredibly essential pieces.

Choosing Your Restaurant Tabletops

Before you can install your restaurant tabletops, you have to purchase the best ones for your restaurant. The tabletops are just as important as your bar stools, chairs, and other furniture. First, you need to decide on your concept and whether the furniture will be inside or outdoors. Out of all your options, though, reclaimed wood restaurant tabletops are one of the best.

Not only is reclaimed wood extremely durable and environmentally friendly, but it also matches a very popular aesthetic. Research from Pinterest reveals that keyword searches related to farmhouse-style home design like “herringbone wood patterns” increased by 131% in 2018. People want to see rustic farmhouse designs in their homes, and they love to see it in restaurants too.

Installing Your Restaurant Tabletops

So, the freight carrier just delivered all of your tabletops and bases, and now you aren’t sure what to do. It looks like a ton of work, and you’re overwhelmed. There’s no need to fret. Here are the four necessary steps you need to install your restaurant tabletops.

Gather Materials:

Before the truck arrives and delivers your restaurant tabletops and bases, make sure you have the following tools ready to go:

1. 1. Extension cord
   2. Drill
   3. Extension bit (optional this is to hold Phillips bits)
   4. Several Phillips bits
   5. Soft blankets
   6. Measuring tape
   7. Small drill bits
   8. Masking tape
   9. A black marker
   10. Pencil
   11. Long straight edge
   12. A long piece of string

You might be wondering why your shipment didn’t come with all these extra materials. Well, it would cost a lot more for you if they were included, and the odds of your tabletops and bases arriving undamaged shrink with those extra materials. Now that you’ve gathered the tools you need and have accepted your shipment, it’s time to get organized as you begin to open boxes.

Prepare installation area:

Step two is to prepare your installation area. First, pull your restaurant tabletops near to where they will end up, and be careful not to scratch the tops. Then, assemble the bases per the instructions provided by the manufacturer. Next, put the table bases with the tops they were assigned to so that the bases and tops are matched correctly together. Now you’re ready to put the table tops together with the bases.

Put your soft blanket on the floor and put the finished side of the table top down. Next, you will need to determine where the base should go on the bottom of the table. Most bases have a three inch or four-inch column, and the center of that column matches where the table bottom is marked. If you’re using cross style table bases, you can point the legs to the corners or side of the table. Consider what position you think is more comfortable for your customer.

Prepare tables and bases:

The way you prepare your tables and bases will depend on what shape you chose for your restaurant table tops.

Square tables-

Take your straight edge and marker, and draw a line from one corning to the opposite corner. Where they intersect is where the center of the column should be placed. There is a plate that attaches to the table bottom called a spider, and the plate can be a square plate or one with four or more arms. Use the lines you made on the bottom of the tabletop to center the plate.

Rectangular tables-

You’re going to treat these tabletops as if they were square ones. Sometimes, you’ll have a rectangular table top that takes two bases. Generally, they are 12 to 15 inches from both edges of the table to the center. Set the two bases on the bottom of the tabletop and set the distance from the edge at 12 inches, but adjust the distance slightly depending on how the placement looks to you; also consider the comfort you want for your customers.

Round tables-

Finding the center of a round tabletop is a little bit harder, but it’s not incredibly difficult. This is where your string and pencil are going to come in. Tie the string around the pencil to the point where the string’s length is half of the diameter. For example, if your table is 36 inches in diameter, then mark your string at 18 inches. Hold the string at the edge of the table and make a small arc about six inches long in the center of the table. Pick several other radon points at the edge and do the same thing. Where all the arcs cross is the center of the table. Once you have the center, you can hook up your base.

Drill tables and attach bases-

Finally, it’s time to attach the pieces of your tabletop. There’s no need to drill holes in our tops – they come with a plywood backing so you must simply screw web screws right into them without the need for drilling! However, solid wood tops will generally need a plywood backing or will need holes drilled through. In this case, your holes should be pre-drilled. So, if the bases are placed where you want them, on the bottom of the tabletop, market the spots where the screws will attach and the base, so it’s put back in the same spot. Remove the base from the tabletop and use the drill bits to create the holes. Then you can return the bases to the position where you marked the holes and use the drill, extension cord, and Phillips drill bits to secure the bases to the tops.

Cleaning Your Restaurant Tabletops  

Finally, once your restaurant tabletops have been installed, you need to know how to clean them. After your customer’s leaves, clean all the dishes off into a bus pan. Wipe off all foods, crumbs, and spills onto a rag. Don’t wipe them onto the floor. Next, grab a mix of warm water and mild dish detergent (chemical cleaners and sanitizers can eat away at the finish over time, causing it to get sticky) and use a clean rag to wipe off the table top. Finally, leave the table to air dry.

Your restaurant tabletops are essential, so you need to know all the steps to get you from freight truck to dinner rush. Check out our extensive inventory of restaurant tabletops to get you started on your journey to a successful restaurant owner.