The folding patio table for a sidewalk that empties every night

The sidewalk is yours from opening until close. After that it belongs to the city again, and every table you put out in the morning has to come back in before you lock the door.

That is the job a folding patio table does. It opens at the curb, takes a service, folds up and goes back through the door in one person's hands. Our range has exactly two of them, both resin, both sold with the base attached, and this guide is about knowing what each one weighs, what it seats, and how to plan the nightly carry around them.

Two tables, two heights

Start with the honest count. We list a folding resin table at dining height, 30 inches, and a folding resin bar table at bar height, 42 inches. Top and base are both resin on each. Each comes in a 28 by 28-inch square or a 32-inch round.

The weights are close. The dining table is 27 pounds and the bar table is 28.

Nothing else in our patio tables folds. Aluminum, faux teak and cast iron pieces are built to stay standing, so if you need a fold, these two are the choice, and the rest of the range is for a terrace that does not have to empty out at night.

What a 28-inch top seats

Small. That is the point on a narrow strip of sidewalk.

A square of 24 inches seats two at the tightest, and a 30-inch square leaves that pair room for plates. The 28-inch square sits between them: a true two-top, a little roomier than a cafe minimum. The 32-inch round works the same way. Four guests want a 36-inch round at the least, so neither folding top is a four-top on its own.

Push two squares together and you have 56 inches of edge on the long side. At about 24 inches per diner, that is two a side and four at the pair, a fair way to seat a party without buying a bigger table that will not fold.

Rule of thumb for the curb: every folding top is a two-top, and fours come from pairs.

The carry at close

Here is where the weight matters. Say you run eight folding dining tables on a sidewalk frontage. At 27 pounds each, that is 216 pounds of table to bring in every night, plus the chairs.

Put two staff on breakdown and each carries four tables. That is 108 pounds per person, in four trips each. The bar tables add only one pound each, so a mixed run of four dining and four bar-height tables comes to 220 pounds.

Now add chairs. Sixteen seats at the dining tables, and the chair you choose decides how long the breakdown runs. A resin side chair stacks and comes in at 7 pounds. Sixteen of them make 112 pounds that leave the curb in a few stacks rather than sixteen single trips. The resin patio chairs page shows the rest of them.

Measure the storeroom before the first order. Folded tables lean against a wall; stacked chairs need floor space and a clear path to the door. If the storage is down a stair or past a kitchen line, plan the route now, because that is the trip you will make every night.

Bar height on the sidewalk

The 42-inch folding bar table puts a high-top on the curb. It suits a frontage where guests stop for a drink and the view of the street, and it folds away with the rest at night.

Pair it with stools, not chairs. A 42-inch top calls for a seat between 29 and 31 inches off the ground, and a 42-inch table with a dining chair beside it leaves the guest with the top near their chin. A resin bar stool from the same family stands 42 1/2 inches overall, weighs 12 pounds, and is also listed as stackable, so it follows the same breakdown routine as the chairs. More stools live under patio bar stools, and our guide to the outdoor bar table covers rail spacing in full.

The mistake that slows every breakdown

The common one: buying folding tables and fixed, non-stacking chairs. The tables fold in seconds, then the crew carries sixteen chairs one at a time while the tables wait by the door. The fold saved nothing.

Match the whole set to the nightly carry. Check the stackable line on every chair and stool record before it goes in the order. The resin patio furniture range shows the stacking line on each piece.

A second mistake is quieter. Leaving the tables out because they are resin. Resin sheds water, but our patio pieces still want a rinse after a rainy service, a chance to drain and dry before they fold, and indoor storage when the season ends. Patio tables carry a six month warranty, and furniture left out without that care falls outside it. After a wet night, open them in the morning and let them dry in the sun before the next fold.

Setting up a folding run

Morning setup goes in a set order, and the same order every day keeps the walkway clear.

• Chalk or tape the outer edge of your seating zone along the curb, leaving the walkway open to the width your city sets.
• Open each table at its mark and check that it sits flat, then bring out the chairs in stacks.
• Leave about 36 inches for a server to pass between rows, plus 18 inches or more of push-back room behind every seat.

Do the arithmetic once with a tape. That resin side chair is 20 inches deep. A 28-inch table with one on each side and 18 inches behind each chair needs 104 inches end to end, close to nine feet. On a strip only six feet deep that will not fit across. Turn the two-top so the guests face each other along the curb, and the depth across the strip drops to the 28-inch top while the 104 inches runs down the frontage.

Order the run, then check the doorway

We ask for at least eight tables and chairs per order, mixed however you like, so four folding tables and eight chairs already clear it with twelve pieces. Each finish or size takes a separate order line: a mix of square and round tables is two lines.

Build the frontage as one outdoor plan, tables and chairs on separate lines with the quantity you will carry each night written in the notes. Before you send it, measure the door the tables go through at close. The folded table is the widest thing on that trip, and the doorway is where a fast breakdown either works or jams.

If the space is a courtyard where tables can stay out all season, look at our guide to the teak outdoor dining table instead, and keep the folding pair for the sidewalk that empties every night.