Dark Oak Extension Leaf

Top and legs are 100% solid oak. No MDF, no chipboard in sight. Cut a leg in half and it is oak all the way through.

Oak is exceptionally strong, which is what makes it right for a dining table. The catch is that it never stops moving. Oak takes up and gives off moisture as the humidity in a room changes, and a top that is simply edge jointed plank to plank works against itself as it moves. That is how tops end up with misaligned boards, cracks and splits.

So the top is built as a three layer sandwich instead. Boards across the top, boards across the bottom, and a ladder frame running between them as the middle layer. The ladder holds the boards flat against that movement rather than following it, so the top resists warping and twisting.

That construction is the reason we can put a 10 year structural guarantee behind it.

The oak is finished in a dead clear matte lacquer that seals the grain and protects it from marks and moisture while leaving the timber looking and feeling like timber.

Oak is a living material, so colour and grain vary from board to board and from one piece to the next. That variation is the point of buying solid oak rather than a printed finish.

The Spec tab lists the exact length, width and height of every size, along with the leg positions and how much clear space each one leaves for chairs. It is worth checking those against your room before you order, particularly the leg positions if you are planning to put a bench down one side.

As a rule of thumb, allow 60cm of table edge per person and about 90cm of clear floor behind each chair so people can get in and out without moving the table.

Our benches are built to tuck fully underneath the table rather than stand proud of it. When they are not in use they disappear, which is the whole point in a room where the table has to share space with everything else.

A bench down one side also seats more people than chairs do in the same length, and it is the easiest way to add seating to a narrow room where you could not pull a chair out anyway.

Benches are sold separately and come in the same three oak finishes, so they match the table exactly.

The legs come off, which is what gets a two metre oak top up a Victorian staircase or round a tight landing, and it means you can take the table apart again if you move house.

They bolt into threaded metal inserts set into the top rather than wood screws. Wood screws chew the timber a little more every time they come out and cannot be reused, so with inserts the legs can come off and go back on as many times as you need.

Worried about spills? Do not be. The top carries a clear flat matte lacquer that was developed for hospitality, where thousands of guests sit at the tables every day.

It gives the top real durability without changing how the oak looks. Red wine, bolognese and everyday spills sit on the surface and wipe off rather than soaking into the grain, and the finish stays matte instead of going to a high gloss.

It is also smooth to the touch, and that part matters more than it sounds. Some retailers use a brushed grain finish, where the grain stands proud of the surface and a cloth catches on it every time you wipe the table down. Ours is flat, so the cloth goes straight across.

The Spec tab has the full care instructions, including what not to use on it.

Floor protectors are fitted as standard to the underside of every leg, so the table sits on felt rather than bare timber.

It matters most on wood, laminate and tile, where the weight of a solid oak table is enough to mark a floor if it is ever nudged. You should not need to buy anything or fit anything yourself.

Three oak finishes, all on the same solid oak: natural, light and dark.

Natural keeps the timber close to its raw colour, warm and pale. It is the most forgiving of the three in a room whose light changes through the day, and the easiest to match to an existing floor.

Light is the palest and coolest, and it lifts a room that does not get much direct sun. It suits paler floors and a more contemporary scheme.

Dark is a deeper brown that brings the grain out most strongly. It holds its own against darker floors and heavier furniture.

Screens lie about wood colour, and oak keeps moving for a few months after it arrives as it settles into your light. If you are matching something you already own, order the free sample pack and hold the real thing against it.

Teflon glides are nailed into the underside of every leg as standard. They are fitted before the piece leaves the factory, so there is nothing to stick on and nothing to remember.

They let the piece slide rather than scrape, which matters more on a seat than on a table. A dining chair gets pushed in and pulled out several times a day, and bare timber on a hard floor is what leaves the marks.

They work on wood, tile, vinyl and laminate. On a soft floor such as vinyl it is still worth lifting rather than dragging when you move furniture any distance.

Every piece we sell carries a ten year structural guarantee. If a frame or a joint fails in normal domestic use within ten years, we will put it right.

The three layer top, with the ladder frame running between the boards, is what makes ten years a reasonable thing to promise. It is the construction that holds the top flat rather than letting it follow the movement in the oak.

It covers the structure rather than wear. Fabric marks, dents and the way oak changes colour in daylight are all normal use, not faults. There is a 30 day no-quibble returns window on top, and we collect free of charge.