Extending Dining Tables

Most extending tables have the mechanism built in, using butterfly leaves, fold outs or sliding rails. That always comes with a compromise: the unextended table looks like an extending table, and hiding extensions inside a table top is really only possible with veneers or very thin extension pieces. Our tables use solid, full thickness tops, so we take a different approach.

Our extension leaves store separately and bolt on. Two steel supports fix into invisible fittings embedded under the table top, then the leaf sits on top and is secured from underneath with an Allen key. Fitting takes around five minutes and one person can usually do it alone, though for the heaviest tops we recommend a second pair of hands to lift the leaf into place. The result is two tables in one, and both look exactly as they should.

It is the right question to ask. With most extending tables the moving parts (runners, hinges and slides) develop play over the years, and the table starts to wobble, especially when extended. Ours have no moving parts to wear out. The base of every table is engineered from day one to support the fully extended size, and the leaves bolt rigidly to steel supports. Extended or not, an Abacus extending dining table feels exactly like one of our fixed tables: completely solid.

All of them. Every table top material shown on this page, from solid French oak and live edge wood slab to Dekton, natural stone, marble and resin, can be made as an extending dining table with no compromise in looks or strength.

We recommend 500mm extension leaves, and anywhere between 400mm and 600mm works well. Below 400mm a leaf does not really give you room for an extra person on each side of the table, and above 600mm the leaves become heavy and less practical to handle. At 500mm, one leaf seats two extra people and a leaf at each end seats four.

Perfectly, because they start life as one piece. We make your table top at its fully extended size first, then cut the extension leaves from it. The grain, pattern and veining continue across the joins, so when the table is fully extended it looks made to be exactly that size, never like a table with extensions added as an afterthought.

Yes. Marble makes up the majority of our natural stone range, and we work with some of the best stone suppliers in the world, with access to a huge selection of marbles, granites and quartzes. If there is a particular marble you have in mind, or a space it needs to match, we can almost certainly source it. Send us a message and tell us what you are looking for.

Dekton is an ultra durable ceramic and one of our most popular table top materials. It gives you the look of marble or natural stone with almost no maintenance, and it is highly resistant to heat, scratches and stains, which makes it a natural choice for an extending dining table in everyday family use. You can read more about our Dekton tables here.

As an example, a 1600mm six seater table extends to 2600mm and seats ten. A 2600mm ten seater extends to 3600mm and seats fourteen. Every table we make is made to measure, so the sizes are entirely up to you. Get in touch and we will recommend the right sizes for your space and the way you like to host.

Our honest advice is to choose the right size table for your space. If you have room for the full size table, just buy the full size table. Extensions come into their own when you occasionally want to seat more people than the perfect size table for your space can accommodate. That is when an extending dining table earns its keep: the right size every day, with room for everyone when you need it.

For a ballpark figure, look at the price of the table at its fully extended size on our price list. The extending version costs a little more than the fixed equivalent, to allow for the additional steelwork and labour involved. For an exact figure, send us a message and we will put a quote together.

Generally no, and the reason is the same reason our extending tables are so solid. The base is engineered from the start to support the table at its fully extended size, so adding extensions later would usually mean building a new base, which rarely makes economic sense. If you think you might ever want extensions, the time to tell us is when you order.

Timber and resin leaves should be stored in a similar environment to the table itself, and a cupboard in the house is perfect (our resin tables are resin infused Pippy Oak, so the same applies). Dekton and stone leaves just need somewhere relatively dry.