Restaurant table bases

A base carries the top, sets the height and decides how steady the table feels, yet a guest never notices it until a knee finds it. The 49 bases here are cast iron, steel, aluminum, chrome or stainless steel. Settle height and footprint first, then material and finish.

Height is the base plus the top

A dining table lands at about 29 to 30 inches, so the base stands shorter than that by the thickness of the top. Counter and bar tables run higher, at about 34 to 36 and 40 to 42 inches. The standard table bases and the bar-height table bases pages sort the range by that job.

Ask for the thickness of the top you plan before you do the sum. Two inches either way changes where a guest's knees land.

Spread, column and knee room

Round tops want a base that covers two thirds or more of the diameter. After that, shape decides where feet and chair legs go. An X-prong base reaches toward the seats, a round base sits at the center, and a square base suits a square top. Statement bases are seen from the next table, so check knee room twice.

Keep the footprint inside the edge of the top, so chairs pull in without catching it. On a 24 by 24 inch top, which seats two, that leaves little to spare. A 36 inch square, which seats four, leaves more. Walk a guest's feet through the layout before you order.

Accessible seating has its own numbers in the 2010 ADA Standards: surfaces that sit 28 to 34 inches high, and knee room beneath them 27 inches high, 30 wide and 19 deep at the least. Confirm them in the current edition of the standard and in your local code before you order.

Cast iron, steel, aluminum and chrome

Cast iron accounts for 15 of the 49 bases, with 6 in aluminum, 6 in steel, 3 in chrome and 2 in stainless steel. Indoor use is listed for every one, and patio use for 9. Weight keeps a table steady and makes it slow to move, so decide which tables stay put for the season and which get rearranged for a large party.

Prices start around $43 and reach $222. Table bases carry a one-year warranty, and the warranty page lists components bought alone among its exclusions. Browse table tops next, or open the cast iron table bases for the heaviest end of the range.