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Extending garden table buying guide

Updated: 22 October 2026

You are on a patio with a tape measure, and the amazon.co.uk title says the table seats six. That line is not a measurement. This buying guide puts centimetres first, then how the top grows, then the material. Prices are the three listings in our [extendable garden table comparison](/hub/garden-furniture/extendable-garden-table), captured on 19 October 2026. A short patio is on [extending table for a small patio](/hub/garden-furniture/extendable-garden-table/sub/extendable-garden-table-small-garden), timber care on [aluminium or teak garden table](/hub/garden-furniture/extendable-garden-table/sub/extendable-garden-table-aluminium-or-teak), and who each table is for on [best extending garden table](/hub/garden-furniture/extendable-garden-table/sub/extendable-garden-table-best). Peter F. compared those listings and did not run a lab test. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are on a patio with a tape measure, and the amazon.co.uk title says the table seats six. That line is not a measurement. This buying guide puts centimetres first, then how the top grows, then the material.

Our top picks

Outsunny Outsunny extending garden table

Best overall

Outsunny Outsunny extending garden table
9.4/10about £165.99
View offer
TIMBER RIDGE TIMBER RIDGE extendable camping table

Best value

TIMBER RIDGE TIMBER RIDGE extendable camping table
8.3/10about £62.99
View offer
JUMMICO JUMMICO extending garden table

Rank 3

JUMMICO JUMMICO extending garden table
6.2/10about £155.90
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Closed length, open length, and width
  2. 2.Four ways a top gets longer
  3. 3.What the three amazon.co.uk listings actually state
  4. 4.A day-one checklist, and a missing part

Closed length, open length, and width

Write down two lengths before you look at the brand. The closed length is the weekday footprint. The open length is the length after the leaf, the rails or the concertina have moved. Width is the shorter side, and it decides whether two people can sit opposite each other with plates, not just whether a title says six. Lafuma's UK size guide uses 55–60 cm of edge per person as their own rule of thumb, not as a British Standard. An indoor note suggests about 180 cm by 90 cm for six in comfort. Do not paste that indoor width onto an 80 cm garden top.

Four ways a top gets longer

The mechanism tells you whether a separate board exists, and where it lives when the table is small. A butterfly leaf stores under the top and unfolds like a pair of wings once the halves are apart. A loose leaf is a board you keep in a cupboard. Sliding rails and a concertina of slats have no separate board. Extended length on its own is often just the open size of a folding trestle, and those trestles were not kept here because the length does not grow by a leaf. None of the three rows is a butterfly leaf. Outsunny states one leaf. JUMMICO's bullets describe aluminium rails and a pinch-guard. TIMBER RIDGE is the concertina UK reviews call a shutter-style top.
Outsunny Outsunny extending garden table

Testsieger

Outsunny Outsunny extending garden table
9.4/10about £165.99
View offer

What the three amazon.co.uk listings actually state

Outsunny agrees at 80 cm to 160 cm, 80 cm wide and 75 cm high, with a 50 kg load, at £165.99 and 4.7 from 45 reviews. TIMBER RIDGE is £62.99, 8.4 kg, with a carry bag and a 100 kg stated maximum. The bullets say 94 cm to 130 cm, the extended-length attribute says 129 cm, and one UK review measured about 120 cm. Quote the conflict. JUMMICO is £155.90. A bullet says 81.5 cm opens to 163 cm and the size row says 80–160 cm. Do not average them. No maximum load is printed, and none of the three shows a test report to BS EN 581-3:2026, which does not test ageing.

A day-one checklist, and a missing part

Open the carton before you start the bolts. Count feet, leaves, rollers and fixings against the sheet, and photograph anything that is absent. Outsunny's UK reviews include a missing base part, a missing foot, and a loose roller that had scratched the underside. Do not drill a homemade substitute into the frame. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 22, you have 30 days to reject faulty goods, starting after delivery. GOV.UK distance-selling guidance also gives 14 days to cancel an online order even when it is not faulty, then 14 days to send it back. TIMBER RIDGE states 3 cm of adjustment on each of four feet. Do not invent a larger range. A bent rail is a workshop job, not a Sunday adjustment.

Common questions

How long should an extending garden table be for six people in the UK?
There is no single legal length. Lafuma's UK guide uses 55–60 cm of edge per person as their rule of thumb, and Elystra's indoor guide suggests about 180 cm by 90 cm for six in comfort. Outsunny's 160 cm by 80 cm can be read as six tight places if you use the lower edge figure, and it is still narrower than that indoor 90 cm. Measure your chairs, then the open length, before you trust the title.
What is a butterfly leaf on a garden table?
A butterfly leaf is stored under the top and unfolds upwards once you have pulled the halves apart, a bit like wings. A loose leaf is a separate board. Rails and a concertina top do not have that board. None of the three listings kept here is sold as a butterfly leaf. Outsunny states one leaf. JUMMICO describes sliding aluminium rails. TIMBER RIDGE is a shutter-style camping top.
Does extended length mean the table grows?
Only when a leaf, a rail or a concertina actually changes the length. On some folding trestles the extended figure is simply the size when the table is opened for use, and the closed figure is the folded pack. Those were not kept in this comparison. TIMBER RIDGE and JUMMICO print more than one open length. Outsunny's 80 cm and 160 cm agree across the rows we captured.
Do I need a parasol hole before I buy?
You need one if a parasol pole has to pass through the top. None of the three amazon.co.uk listings states a hole, so do not assume a wood-effect top or an aluminium rail includes one. Jati's Oxburgh page, which is not an amazon.co.uk price, states a pole up to 5 cm. Confirm the hole on the page you are paying, or plan a base that stands beside the table.
Are these listings tested to a British Standard?
Nothing in the three amazon.co.uk files shows a test report to BS EN 581. BS EN 581-1:2017 is the general outdoor-furniture safety document, and the buyer-facing point is edges that are rounded or protected. BS EN 581-3:2026 covers strength and stability of outdoor tables and does not test weathering. Stars on amazon.co.uk are an average of customer ratings, not that mechanical test.

Related pages

Garden table comparison

Extendable garden table

Aluminium or teak garden table: which shop to quote

Best extending garden table: who each listing fits

How to extend a garden table without forcing a leaf

Extending table for a small patio: the closed length

Sources

Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listing lines for this set, read on 19 October 2026. There is no laboratory test, and a star rating is not a BS EN 581 result.

  1. General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. DBT notice, 8 October 2026, GPSR referenced standards (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. BS EN 581-1:2017 outdoor furniture general safety (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. BS EN 581-3:2026 outdoor table mechanical safety (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 22 (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. GOV.UK online and distance selling (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. Lafuma UK garden table size guide (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. amazon.co.uk listings B0BV242C1N, B0FMR42W41 and B0GGJC3CN9 (retrieved 19 October 2026)