Oak table has cracks forming

Always got to be careful with a dodgy looking crack!

 

Hi Ol.

It really come down to how it's described, I guess. Some 'solid oak' furniture suppliers will make it clear that some 'movement' and 'cracks' are normal and should be expected. Ie - if you look at old solid wood furniture, it will almost certainly have these.

However, it should make this clear in the blurb, and - to be frank - most peeps buying wood furniture these days don't expect it to behave like 'real wood'.

So, firstly, check everything it says in the description about the table. You have been 'Danish'ing it, so you've fulfilled your side of the upkeep. So, unless your home is particularly damp or cold or whateves, then I think you can claim it "ain't good enough".

There's a 'solid oak' furniture supplier advertising quite a bit on the TV at the mo' with the boast "No veneer in 'ere" or similar. Apart from being a bludy annoying advert, it also sets thousands of eyeballs rolling upwards all over the country - from all the experienced joiners who know that 'veneers' and 'engineered' wood is actually great stuff in the right place, and far less likely to have problems with movement.

Anyhoo, check all the bumph, get ready to say "not of satisfactory quality" (or whateves it is these days), and reject the table. UNLESS you are happy to accept it's normal and you can look on these cracks and fractures as being 'character'.

I would certainly hate to have 'filler' in there...

Oh, and check your household insurance for 'Legal Protection'. If you have this, they will sort this out for you if the supplier becomes awkward. If you don't have this, then silly you...

 

Trouble is a lot of the oak is still green, so it will crack, split, move, etc, takes a few years to be fully season,by then any movement should have finished.

 

Lets just hope the third one doesn't arrive in a blazing fire.

 

Yes, all the timber should have stabilised by the time it's used in furniture, but that's not to say there aren't some living conditions - either very dry/warm or else cold/damp that won't cause issues. But, the bumph should make this clear.

I don't think you'll have any problems rejecting this table - there's a fair chance it was stored in a cold warehouse where it slowly absorbed more moisture than ideal, and then it went straight in to a normal CH-warmed house. So if they try and claim "your house is too warm" you can equally counter "Nah - your warehouse is too cold..."

I'll ask again - do you have LP on your insurance? It'll make life sooo much easier if you do.

But I'm pretty sure you are on solid ground anyways.

(Look up CRA - the latest version of SoG Act)

 

Proberly mass produced overseas and imported at very little cost and then sold on at a massive mark up as being something its not.

Try buying a handmade matured oak table produced in the UK for a grand.

 

Is it from O F L. ????

 

They could only argue that it's 'settling' or 'natural' if their bumph says this quite clearly - and you therefore bought it on this basis.

I have an oak table too (pressie from t'in laws...) and it has had no movement whatsoever. It is in sections, tho' - outer frames with panels in between, and a tiny 'V' gaps between them all - that, I guess, accommodates the small movements that will almost certainly happen.

 

In my opinion, that's unacceptable.

 

I wonder if that's caused by a poor design? Solid oak is always going to expand/contract with changes in humidity/temperature, and it will do so across the grain rather than along it. If the top is fixed to a rail at either end without allowance for movement - like screws in slots for example, then when the wood shrinks it's going to crack.
BTW I don't think it's right for the retailer to tell you to contact the manufacturer - you have a contract with the retailer, it's up to them to sort out the problem.

 

Blimey -you bought a repair plan? What repairs would you expect the table to require? A big solid lump of wood

Anyhoo, chances are it's down to the timber shrinking in its new warmer environment. 'Controlled' drying is when it's done so slowly that the whole piece of timber loses moisture at an evenish rate all through (I think). But if you make it dry too quickly, then the moisture will obviously leave from the end grain much faster, so this part will shrink before the rest - ergo splits at the ends of the planks.

Something's gorn wrong - it shouldn't happen. I wouldn't want that 'repaired', only replaced.

 

From your pic, it looks as tho' you have a completely solid top - hefty planks glued (and possibly biscuited) together?

Unless that timber has been thoroughly seasoned and then sealed, it is bound to move a lot - as you have found.

I'm not sure I'd go for a design like that for that reason, tbh.

Mine's different - central sections surrounded by frames with V-groove gaps in between: