Why some dining tables start to wobble after a few months

It is not a glamorous problem, and nobody mentions it when they're buying. But it is, by some margin, the most common complaint we hear from people who have just sworn off mass-produced furniture. The table arrived sturdy, looked sturdy, was sturdy — for a season or two. Then, one quiet evening, somebody leaned on a corner and the whole thing rocked.

There are three reasons a dining table starts to wobble after a few months, and all of them are decisions made at the factory.

The first is the leg-to-top junction. On a properly made table, the leg is mortised, dowelled or bolted into the top with a substantial mechanical joint, often through a heavy corner block, and the connection is glued and locked. On a flat-pack table, the leg is more often attached with a single steel bolt threaded into a small insert in the underside of the top. The bolt loosens with use. The insert wallows out. The joint that was tight in month one is loose in month four. (More on the mechanics in what makes a dining table feel sturdy and well made.)

The second is timber movement. A top that hasn't been properly kiln-dried will continue to give up moisture in the warm, dry conditions of a modern home — particularly one with underfloor heating — and as it does, it shrinks. Joints that were tight when the piece was assembled gradually open as the timber moves. Within a year, gaps appear. (We've written more on why kiln-dried timber matters in homes with underfloor heating.)

The third is the base design. A four-legged table relies on all four feet sitting flat on the floor, which is fine on a true floor and a problem on the slightly uneven floor most older houses have. A well-made table either has adjustable feet or is set on a base proportioned generously enough to absorb a small unevenness. A poorly made one rocks immediately, and the rock works the joints loose with use.

A well-made dining table should, in our view, not move at all in the first thirty years. Ours don't. If yours has, it isn't your fault — it's the joinery's.