Important Company Announcements: Finish, Seams, MDF, and Prices

The 5×5 Game Table is now available for public orders! Go here to place an order now: https://carolinagametables.com/product/5×5-game-table/

We know a few people could not pledge for the 5×5 Game Table because of Kickstarter’s “all or nothing” funding strategy. It certainly makes sense to wait a little longer and place an order when you can choose from our payment options!

Here are the payment options we offer:

Pay in full using PayPal Credit. Honestly? This is the best option for most people! Click on the PayPal Credit button to see what terms PayPal offers your family. Some people get 12 months with 0% financing! We get paid in full up front, and your table begins immediately.

Pay in full using our checkout system. If you have a coupon code to apply, you may want to choose this option. You may also pay directly on our site using a credit card this way. You are not required to have a PayPal account (PayPal does process your payment for us).

Deposit Now, with Two Payments: Pay half now, and half at four months. This also allows you to apply a coupon code and pay without a PayPal account. Don’t worry, your table begins immediately. The downside to this option is you may be invoiced for delivery close to the same time as the second payment.

Deposit Now, with Six Payments: Pay for your Game Table in six easy payments. A processing fee equal to 10% of total order price is added to the first two payments. The final payment is solely the shipping charge. You can make these payments using your credit card directly on our site, and do not have to log into PayPal.

Important Company Announcements

Our company strives for a high quality product to not only last for a very long time but look great. That’s what “Game Tables for Real Life” means to us: one table you can use as a beautiful sturdy dining room table AND for game night!

We’ve been in business now for over 4 years, and made changes to our designs before in keeping with that plan. Now we’re making a few more tweaks to our design with the goals of continued high quality and longevity of use. We’ll also be raising prices beginning in 2020 to match increases in materials and construction costs. But first, let’s talk about the design changes.

New Seams on Table Play Areas

On some table’s play areas (sometimes years later), tiny cracks appeared in the lacquer where the planks meet. On review, this was found to be due to the natural expanding and contracting of the wood used in construction. It occurred most often in homes with extreme humidity levels (or lack of it).

The new seams are at the head and foot of our rectangle table designs. Go to each product to see updated images of the new table seams for each design. While it may not impact most customers, these will help prevent cracking from happening in the future for those in more humid or dry conditions. Please note if you see cracking, it’s likely not a structural issue–it’s in the finish, not the wood! If you’re unsure, email us a pic at Info@CarolinaGameTables.com.

A quick word about the construction between those planks: a tongue-and-groove joint connects them, and the factory uses a high frequency clamping machine to further tighten the bond. The issue is not with the construction, but in how the lacquer doesn’t move when the wood does. These cracks weren’t undermining those tables’ stability, but they were unsightly. There’s nothing we can do about wood reacting to heat and humidity in our customer’s homes, so we needed to make a change in our design to keep the table looking great for longer.

To prevent this issue we are placing a 2mm seam where the planks meet to allow the joints to move slightly and “breathe.” See our sample Dining Game Table, above.

New Shinier Finish

Another way to keep the lacquer from cracking and chipping is to simply apply it a tad thicker. This results in a shinier look, but the color of the finish underneath is the same. Please understand no amount of lacquer will keep the table from chipping indefinitely; strikes against the table surface will chip the table lacquer. This protects the table’s wood from damage: the lacquer usually chips, but often not the wood underneath. If needed, the wood can be refinished because of this protection.

We will keep our Streamer Game Tables with a matte (not shiny) finish, even though it will mean they are more likely to chip. Reflective surfaces are hard to film with.

If you want a more matte finish, just request this option in your ordering notes, but you accept that the table will be more likely to chip and scratch.

More MDF in Our Dining Tops

New orders will have our dining tops with no mahogany wood edges. The MDF edges are stronger and bind better to the MDF used to sandwich the honeycomb interior. This will also help keep weight and costs down, and will further strengthen the dining top. You won’t see any change on the outside of the dining top.

Increasing Prices in 2020

Finally, we’ve resisted increasing our table prices over the past four years, but labor, transportation, and material prices continue to rise. As such, beginning on January 1, 2020 we will increase the base prices for most of our game table designs.

New game table base prices, effective January 1, 2020:

Coffee Game Table: $999

Costa Rica on a Kitchen Game Table at coffee height—and a pupper whose tail won’t sweep the pieces to the floor!

Kitchen Game Table: $1399 (subtract $100 for the Kitchen Game Table at coffee height)

Dining Game Table: $1799

5×5 Game Table: $1799 (subtract $100 for the 5×5 Game Table at coffee height). This price is not increasing!

Banquet Game Table: $2199

Streamer Game Table: $2299

Tablezilla Game Table: $2399

We will not increase the prices on our cup holders, height options, chairs, or side tables/benches. We will need to increase prices on our replacement dining tops, however.

New replacement dining top prices, effective January 1, 2020, are below: