One outdoor bistro table, picked top first and base second

The chairs are already stacked by the door. Twelve of them, good ones, bought last year. What the sidewalk needs now is six tables, and only tables.

That's when the single bistro table earns its place. A set would hand you two more chairs per table that you do not need and cannot easily store. Buying the two-top on its own lets you spend the whole order on the part that decides whether the table sits steady on the concrete or rocks every time a guest leans on it.

Size the top for what lands on it

A two-top outside runs from 24 to 30 inches across. A 24 by 24 square is the smallest that seats two, and it suits coffee and a pastry. Move to a 24 by 30 when the menu has a knife and fork on it. A 30 by 30 square is the roomy one, with space for two plates and something to share in the middle.

Round tops come in the same widths, 24 and 30 inches across. They look good alone by a door. They do not push together into a four, which squares and rectangles do, so a run that has to change shape at night should stay square.

Pick the surface while you are at it. Resin tops in wood and stone looks, faux teak slats over aluminum, and sintered stone all come in two-top sizes in our outdoor range, and each one asks for the same rinse and dry at closing.

The base decides the wobble

A top only sits as steady as the foot under it. Rule of thumb for a round base: measure the foot, measure the top, and the foot wants to reach two thirds of the top or more.

Run the numbers. Two thirds of 24 is 16, and a 17-inch foot clears that by an inch. Two thirds of 30 is 20. There the 17-inch foot is short, and 22 inches becomes the smallest that passes.

This round outdoor table and umbrella base in black steel stands 28 inches high, is listed for patio use, and offers a round foot of 17, 22 or 30 inches. Its stainless cousin, the round stainless steel outdoor table base, comes in 17, 22 and 28 inches and stands 28 3/4 inches. For tables that come with a hole for a pole already, look through the patio tables with an umbrella hole.

Here's the mistake. A buyer picks the 17-inch base for every top in the order because it is the smallest and the lightest to carry. Under the 24s, fine. Under the 30-inch rounds, it falls short of the two-thirds mark, and a hard lean on the edge is enough to tilt it.

Base plus top equals the height

Dining height outside lands at about 29 to 30 inches, and a two-top built from parts only gets there if you add the two numbers.

Take the 28-inch steel base. Put this dark walnut outdoor resin top, 1 1/8 inches thick, on it, and the table finishes at 29 1/8 inches. Swap in this dark walnut resin tabletop with a phenolic edge, only half an inch from face to underside, and the same base gives you 28 1/2 inches, a touch under the range.

Now the stainless base at 28 3/4. With the thicker top it reaches 29 7/8 inches. With the thinner one, 29 1/4. Both pass.

Check the chairs against the result, too. Measure from the seat up to the tabletop: 10 inches at least, 12 at most. A chair with an 18-inch seat under the low 28 1/2-inch table still leaves 10 1/2 inches, so the low pairing works with that chair. Under a 17-inch seat it leaves 11 1/2.

The bigger trap is mixing pairings in one run. Push a 28 1/2-inch table against a 29 7/8-inch one to seat four and you get a 1 3/8-inch step down the middle, right where the plates meet. Pick one base and one top for the whole row and the tables join flush every time.

Not keen on the arithmetic? Pick a table sold whole. This faux teak aluminum two-top ships with its base and finishes at 30 inches. For two, choose the 24 by 24, the 24 by 30 or the 30 by 30 square, or one of its rounds at 24 and 30 inches. The plastic teak tables group lists more tables of that kind.

Umbrella holes and the crooked sidewalk

Shade over a two-top usually means a pole through the middle of it. The phenolic-edged resin top above lets you add a hole for the pole on the order page. Decide then, not with a drill later. The steel base above is sold as a table and umbrella base, which is the pairing you want under a pole. A small canopy on a small table still catches wind, so close it before a gust can lift it.

City concrete is rarely flat. It crowns toward the curb, it heaves around tree roots, and it has a seam every few feet. Before the whole row ships, put one table on its real spot and lean on every edge, one after another. If it rocks, try it a foot to the left. If every spot rocks, ask a specialist what your chosen base offers for leveling before the rest ship.

Six tables for twelve chairs

Back to the chairs by the door. Six two-tops on a sidewalk front, built from parts, is six tops and six bases, twelve pieces and twelve seats with the chairs you already own. Write each pair down: top size and thickness, base model and height, finished height, and whether the top takes an umbrella.

Save that list in an outdoor plan so a reorder next season matches. If you would rather start from a set after all, the outdoor bistro sets guide covers that route, the outdoor metal table guide covers steel and aluminum tops, and the outdoor bar table guide takes the same parts up to rail height. Browse every finished two-top in the patio tables.