glass tops on wood tables usually have dot pads of some sort to keep air circulation going for the wood. I'm sure a glass shop can tell you about those too. beveled edges on the glass look good too if you are not going to cover the table with a cloth or quilt.

DH had custom glass cut for his coffee table; it wasn't terribly expensive. He cut little squares of craft foam to cushion the glass. (The table is black, so he used black foam; you can't see it unless you look for it.)

Glass shops will know what sort of thickness you need for a free-standing glass top and will be able to tell you what you need and probably able to show you some samples too. If you are a little flexible on the exact size & dimensions you might even get lucky and be able to buy one that was either cut to the wrong size or not picked up by someone else - that's nice because it should sell for a discounted price and it's ready to go right away. I did that, got a glass top that would have cost $100 for $35. Score!

I recently had a glass top cut for my dining table. I went to the local glass shop and he had me make a pattern of the top of the table out of heavy brown paper and he cut the glass to the pattern..It is perfect.

We have a local glass shop (I think they are fairly common and easy to find) and have had glass tops cut to our dimensions.

Thanks everyone for the great info! The table I want to give to my daughter is wood, but the top needs to be refinished. I am leaning towards the plexi as a topper (with little bumpers underneath) for the time being, as it won't cost that much. We would invest in a glass topper after the wood top is refinished.

A glass dining room table for our house would probably require the thicker tempered glass which can be pricey, so I am thinking maybe we will be able to rent one while we have our house on the market. Without knowing what our new house will look like, I don't want to invest a lot of money into furniture that might not fit.

I went with Lexan to replace a glass table top. It was cheaper than the glass and a bit more expensive than plexiglass. It is a better grade of plex. Totally indestructable. Does not scratch and lot is easier to keep clean. Any glass shop will have it as well as Lowes or Menards

Oh, thanks so much, Stitchit! I will be able to check out Lexan locally, which makes it a lot easier.

I have had a wood table topped with glass for about the last 19 or so years. I never expose the top to air or anything else. It looks great, glass is scratched from using it to sandwich quilts on. Sewing on it for all those years too. No way would I want a table without glass top.

I just had this done for boss' conference table - highly suggest you get quotes from several glass companies (they will come out and do for free). We ended up going with a one owner one location company due to price, how soon they could get it done (original glass got cracked), and the fact they explained to us why it cracked, how to prevent that, and some other things.

Hope that helps.

Sue

Pretty to look at and a real pain to keep clean. Fingerprints everywhere