The Patio Table Saga

Our apartment in Ottawa overlooks one of the three rivers which wind and wend their way through the National Capital Region. The view from the 10th floor is spectacular and while we wouldn’t trade it for a million dollars, well, we might consider two million!
On our balcony, which is not expansive, we house a propane gas bar b q; actually one of the few hi-rise buildings in our city that permits the use of same; an air conditioning unit enclosed by a latticework fence; a coachman style, outdoor light fixture.. which actually works!!! And, for those few days over the summer when it is not too cold, or toohot or too windy or if the hornets and wasps keep their distance, we have, or should I say, had, a small round patio table and 2 chairs for eating al fresco.
Our patio table was purchased some 20 years ago along with two wicker chairs. The chairs bit the dust 3 years ago and were replaced with a product having a more resilient fabric structure, but there was a problem. The original, round patio “dining table”, consisting of a 24” diameter fibreglass top having an imbedded pattern and supported by a sturdy, also fibreglass, cross-shaped base, had deteriorated badly. In fact, the pattern on the top was no longer discernable and the finish had deteriorated into an uninviting, dusty-grey, colour.
Having once commandeered the production of a specialty metal fabrication factory, I was not deterred by this simplistic challenge… and I decided to sand down the top and re-paint it a bright, orange colour which was done some 2 years ago. Unfortunately, my talent as a refinisher leaves something to be desired, and after only 2 years of exposure to Ottawa winters, the table-top paint finish started to peel off and became most unsightly. Biting the bullet, I told my wife that it should “not be a problem” to find a replacement, round table top of the right size and once acquired, I would simply remove the old top and install the new one onto the existing base which was in perfectly good condition.
Not so fast.
I initially went to my best sources of supply for a table top such as this, my friends at Amazon and Wayfair but neither of these companies offered a stand alone table top in the 27” diameter size that I was now seeking, having concluded that 24” diameter was just a bit too small although that size had served us perfectly well for almost 20 years.
After much searching both in retail store locations, but primarily on the Internet, I found a source of supply for round table tops, exactly the size and type that I was looking for. The Distributor was located in Atlanta, Georgia and I figured that I would simply have them ship the top to our condo in Florida and we would drive it home when we returned to Canada this past spring.
As I was about to confirm the purchase transaction, I noticed a red flag that was preventing me from acquiring my patio table top. In VERY SMALL PRINT at the top of the order form, which I had overlooked, was the caveat that the minimum order quantity for my table top was… thirty pieces! What had looked so attractive at a cost of $69.00 for one top plus $20.00 delivery was now translating into an almost $2,070.00 order and what would I do with the extra 29 table tops? Very sad, very discouraging.
The weeks went by and I had no success, anywhere in tracking down a new table top. As we prepared to leave Florida in early May to drive home, we made one last stop at our local Home Depot to purchase those DAMP-O-RID bags that you hang in your closets to dehumidify the space. As we approached the checkout, lo and behold, hanging up on a wall display was a perfect, 27”size, white, round, folding patio table and we did NOT have to buy the 2 chairs that came with it. And so for $51.00 we now have our replacement table top and there was “joy in Mudville” that day.
Now for those of you who may think that THIS story is a bit trivial, please understand that I must have put in at least 50 hrs of time in trying to source this table top and while “others” with less stamina and fortitude may have given up, not so Senor Schwartz. It became a challenge and of course……. all’s well that ends well.
Please feel free to drop by and view our wonderful new acquisition… which we have yet to use because.. it’s either been too cool, or too hot, or too rainy, or too windy, or too many spiders, wasps and hornets are lurking about. BUT the table looks great!