--Need Your Professional Opinion--

Hi Lori,

If I were you, I would search out an opinion from a carpenter/wood worker - a professional who would know why the wood bowed and whether it needs to be replaced or can be fixed.  If my husband was home I would ask him for you: he worked as a journeyman carpenter in his younger years & knows his wood.

Re: replacing cracked marble, you can consider a few ideas.  The most cost effective would likely be using the cracked pieces and some others you could likely pick up at a major tile supplier for nothing.  They will have pieces left over from creating designs and cutting counters and you wouldn't need big pieces. Creating a mosaic would be more interesting look than plain black.  You could use your new colour scheme as a guide.

You wouldn't want to use too many colours or create too busy a pattern; maybe two, max 3 colours?   For a more business-like look, I would likely try a glossy brown in the same colour as the wood on table for to offset the matte finish marble.  The right brown with black can be a nice look: maybe toss in some white or cream to lighten the look.

Hope this helps.   Let us see the after photos.

What if you painted underneath with a solid color and the logo or some sort of design and then had a piece of glass the exact size and thickness over the top.  The glass would make sense because you would want to protect the piece underneath.  I guess it would depend on what kind of wood was underneath and why it was warping, but that would be an economical way to fix it. 

My business partner in my other business also owns a granite store.  I can ask her about how much a piece would cost to fit the dimensions.  I don't know that it would be as economical as the glass, but you never know. 

Keep us updated!

Lori have you turned the table over to find out how the bowed plywood is attached?  Could be as simple as a few brackets and some screws.  I like Sheilas idea of a nice piece of plywood...birch or maple with the company logo or insignia placed with a vinyl cling and then glass, or maybe even frost the back side of the glass with the logo? 

 I would think that the surface should be smooth as a table top???

Sounds to me that some sort of liquid got underneath the marble, warping the wood.  I would replace the plywood (that is bowed)... Place a piece of veneer over it with their slogan or logo and then top it with a piece of glass.  You can stain the veneer any color to match the room.

If they don't have a logo or such, you could always get a really nice piece of material, wrap the plywood with it and place a piece of glass to cover it.

Would love to see your final project...... Good Luck!!!!

Lori,

My husband says moisture is the culprit - as Randy states in his blog above.  

Depending on the style you have selected for the room, you now have a number of inexpensive options for salvaging the table and making it a showpiece for the room.

Post the afters!

Good luck and enjoy your project.

Oh, what a creative bunch you are! I had thought of the mosaic idea, because it wouldn't be affected much by the slightly bowed wood underneath. Unless it is structurally unsound and is going to collapse while people are using it, I don't think this is a big deal. Love the new piece of wood with veneer idea!

Interesting challenge, Lori. Looks like you've collected lots of great suggestions. I like the idea of inserting glass (after fixing the wood below), or some other wood and then having glass across the whole table.

Lori,

Once the warped wood is addressed and repaired, what about putting professionally matted pictures or renderings of some of the log cabin homes that the company has already built inside the insets and cover with glass tops?  Just a thought, as perhaps potential clients are coming into this conference room to discuss future plans.  Please let us know what you end up doing with this space, it would be fun to see your end results!

Hey you....I love, Love the idea of renderings under glass...a very relavant option....my ,my alot of creative options...

Catz

I love the glass idea and being able to place logos or renderings or photographs or maps or whatever they want under the glass is a great feature.  Can't wait to see the finished product.