In need of a dining-table, I'm thinking of getting creative with an Ikea trestle and (assuming I can find one) a slab of marble or granite -- preferably an off-cut. I'd really welcome suggestions of where to begin looking in Zurich. I'm afraid my knowledge of the Swiss DIY retail scene extends only to Coop Bau und Hobby in Kusnacht. Also, are there such things as architectural salvage yards around here? Many thanks in anticipation

Have you checked out Hornbach?
And there's cheap as chips Landi
Or these guys?

No, but I will -- thank you very much!

Edit: just looked. Amazing, thank you!

No prob. Please post a pic of the project when done - if possible, with instructions

Intereo has, or used to have, some marble tops with a nice fluted edge, 110x160cm or so. Bauhaus might be worth looking in. Otherwise, google for "naturstein" in your area.

Salvage yards: not that I know of here around Zürich, perhaps in a brockenhaus. There are salvage places in the French part.

Offcuts... hmn, what they call an offcut would be about 20x30cm so unless you're planning to have an exceedingly small dining table, or pay full price, you're SOL.

Having this urinated on your fireworks I will conclude by suggesting that a decent sized slab of natural stone will probably be too heave for an IKEA trestle. Consider a sheet of glass.

__________________
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Thank you so much.
Yeah, I had worried that an Ikea trestle might not bear the weight of the stone. This is the one I am thinking of...
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/t...-art-80288408/

Some IKEA furniture state the weight they've been tested for. Looks like this product lacks that information though - perhaps contacting IKEA and asking how much weight your trestle can bear would make your project safer? Or - no idea if this might change something re: the trestle's weight bearing abilities - have you considered putting a slab of hardwood or some other super stable material under the granite for stability purposes?

If you use wood which is lighter than the granite, it would probably break...

Got to agree with JagWaugh.

Ex husband was a stonemason, who made everything from headstones, to fireplaces and kitchen worktops. I've been taking some of his old 3"x4" off cuts to the tip today and really don't think a trestle would be the best support. I'd be far more inclined to go with a centre plinth if you have a stone floor, or something that offers support along the full length of the table.

What kind of size are you thinking of and do you mean A shape trestles?

Thank you. I'm thinking this isn't going to be the genius cost-cutting solution I had imagined. I might have to revert to the idea of the Ikea trestle with a cheapo pine sheet on top that I might wash with dilute paint for a Scandi look. I'd quite fancied the bistro air of marble, but perhaps it's not to be

Unfortunately IKEA does not state the maximum weight of the top, nor do they sell a granite or marble top. The heaviest top they do offer is I suspect the Bamboo one, which is probably about 1/3 the weight of natural stone for the same size. Without looking at the materials and construction it is probably marginal at best.

Blueangel, just wondering, am I thinking what you are thinking or do you mean something else?

I agree - I think if you put something on top of a trestle which weighs much more than the trestle, then you have to be very careful about weight and stability issues and it is very likely to fail.

I was thinking about a metre long by, say, 50cm wide. The base I had in mind was the Ikea Karpalund pictured above. Sorry, trestle was perhaps misleading. I hear you about the weight of marble. I'd overlooked just how monumental it is. Maybe I'll just have to stick some marble-effect Fablon to a wood sheet!

Looking at the frame, I would have said no, but then I found this...

https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/ta...FYVAGwodUOEFxQ

...so now I'm not sure. I think the feet on the ikea one are too small because you need to disperse the weight over a large area.

ikea have dillions of hacks - googley

And when I did a Google image search of Ikea Karpalund I came across this by Crate & Barrel


http://www.crateandbarrel.com/french...-table/s131540

Edit: I note that this appears to be a marble skin over engineered wood, so not solid marble

Actually, that IKEA square frame with 4 braced legs would probably be fine to support a 20mm sheet of granite or marble of a 4 place dining table size. The steel tubing is probably even sufficent to bear the load. The problem with those legs is that all the joints are weeny toggeli thingies, probably diecast from a snot and cat hair alloy, so there is no chance to reinforce the joints. If the floor is not dead level, or sprung, sooner or later one of the screws will start to loosen, and not long therafter.... p=mg

I just checked the Karpalund product and it weighs 15kg. I'd think that a slab of marble/granite that size would be much heavier (?). I'd think that the legs and in general all parts of the trestle would have to be thicker (and the trestle thus heavier) for it to hold a slab of marble on top.

That's the problem with many (unfortunately, way too many) IKEA products. If the item is not made of paper or similar, but better material, mostly one still has to be on the lookout, because whatever is holding the product's pieces together is of mediocre quality. Gee, even the Brockis refuse to take IKEA products in, and I think that this (and thus the impossibility to rebuilde most things satisfactorily after they've been taken apart) plays a huge role in this.

Plenty of places around here.

Give me some dimensions, and I can check around.

Tom

I'm speaking from grim experience of my ex bringing his work home with him at weekends when they were busy. He had to do all the work in the conservatory (quarry tile floor) because wood floors wouldn't have stood up well to him lugging slabs of marble and granite around. He even dented the window sill of the conservatory leaning a headstone against it whilst he did the gold leaf.

WynD, don't rule out your project just yet. Just please look at the logistics of it. Are you in a house or an apartment? What floor do you live on? how wide are the doorways and stairwell/entrance? What type of flooring do you have?

In your position, the first thing I would do is hunt round the brockis and see if there's a bargain to be had, even just for the top. Then walk round the high end stores that stock marble tables and really look at the design, structure, thickness of the top, etc...

Visit a couple of stone masons' yards to see what they have available and take all the free advice you can from them. They source directly from quarries by the crate load, so may have a piece that was slightly damaged or the client didn't like it. If you ask really nicely, they may sell something to you cheaply and let you watch them cut and polish it. It's a fascinating process.

Good luck and I do hope you pull this one off.