How to install a pool table, pool table installation guide, a basic explanation of how to install a pool table

A step by step example of how to install a three pc. slate pool table.
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Buying a pool table?

The following information is for those of you who are interested in how a pool table is installed in your home. This guide should not be used to install a pool table with out proper training, tools and experience.

This guide is for informational purposes only and cannot take the place of an experienced pool table installer. We will not take responsibilty for the result of damage to property or persons of any individual who tries to move or install a pool table on their own.

If purchasing a pool table from a private party you should always have a professional move it and install the pool table for you. Professional does not include a moving company that does not work with pool tables daily.

The pool table companies you will find on these pages are pre-screened and hand picked by our staff

Step 1 The pool table frame	Step 2 Installing the pool table legs
The standard bare pool table frame as shipped from many distributors as it is moved into the room for the pool table.	Once the pool table frame is inside the room the 4 pool table legs (sometimes 2) are installed on the frame and secured with either a bolt or nut over a lag bolt in the pool table leg.
Step 3 Place the pool table frame	Step 4 The pool table leg attachment
The pool table frame must be placed in an area that will allow the most play of the pool table. Unless otherwise directed by the purchaser to put somwhere else we always set the pool table up square to the walls with the most use of the pool table as well as the most use of the room the pool table is in.	Most pool tables now are built like this. The leg has a post screwed into the top of the pool table leg and a washer and nut secure the leg to the corner of the pool table. Some models have a tee nut type of attachement inside the leg but we have found this to be a much inferior method of attachement as it fails very often. (Much of the Connelly and Brunswick models are built this way) With often failure it prevents an installer from being able to still attach the leg securely on the job. With the post method at least the installer of the pool table can easily attach the leg on site without sacraficing the stability of the pool table upon completion of installation.
Step 5 The pool table placed in an updated garage	Step 6 Carrying the pool table slate
Many garages are now being converted into pool table rooms or other game rooms. One drawback for the pool table installation is the slope of garages made to allow for water to run out the garage door is very high. In this example we placed blocks of wood under the carpet to raise the low end of the garage and still maintain a clean look without having the blocks showing under the pool table legs.	Pool table slate is very heavy, how heavy you ask? We don't really keep track. Heavy enough to have a couple of people carry. Pool table slate can be very brittle so tranportation methods are important. Any chips made while in shipping or transportation to a pool table slate can be filled with filler later during the installation of the pool table.

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Step 7 Setting the pool table slate	Step 8 Pool table slate and frame
The pool table slate is then just placed onto the pool table frame. We will begin a leveling process of the pool table slate soon but the slate is then just secured to the pool table frame with screws during leveling the pool table.	We generally will offset one of the pool table end slates so we can center the middle pool table slate on the pool table then place the end slates.
Step 9 Measuring the pool table slate postion	Step 10 The pool table rail without cloth
Once the middle slate is placed on the pool table we measure from end to end on each side of the pool table frame. This gives us an accurate indication that the middle slate is perfectly centered on the pool table. The end slates then slide into their positons on the pool table.	Here are bare pool table rails. The furniture grade finish on these pool table rails transistions into the bare rail rubber which is then covered with pool table cloth.
Step 11 Pool table rail feather strips	Step 12 Using the plane to fit feather strips
We then mark feather strips for the addition of the pool table cloth. The feather strips keep the cloth into the top of the rail and is the preferred method of attachment of cloth to pool table rails in the industry. We prefer wood feather strips over rubber which is shipped with some pool tables so the pool table cloth will stay consistent in the pool table rail.	To ensure a perfect fit into the pool table rail so the cloth stays in place with the feather strips we sometimes must use a plane to remove some of the wood on the feather strips.
Step 13 The purpose of feather strips	Step 14 Feather strip hammering
When the feather strips are the right size they are used to secure the pool table cloth into the groove cut on top of the rail of the pool table. We use a rubber mallet to hammer in the feather strips with the pool table cloth underneath. There is then some trimming of material to make it a perfect fit before we start stapling the underside of the pool table cloth to the rail.	A rubber mallet is used to hammer in the feather strips, this technique is one of the fastest and most protective of the finish of the pool table rail wood that we have found. It also allows for the pool table installer to get the top of the feather strips and cloth perfectly aligned with the wood of the pool table rail so there is no elevated or lowe edge coming off of the pool table rail top.
Step 15 Properly installed feather strips with cloth	Step 16 Top side of pool table rail with cloth halfway installed
When the pool table cloth is properly installed it looks similiar to this. Once this is done we can begin stapling the bottom side of the cloth to the pool table rail. All of these techniques take some experience to make perfect.	The top side of the pool table rail with properly installed cloth is halfway done. Now all that is left to complete the pool table cloth installation on the rail is the stapling and stretching on the bottom side of the pool table rail.

Step 17 Stapling the pool table cloth to the rail	Step 18 The bottom of the pool table rail
Many techniques are used in attaching pool table cloth to the rail. The name of the game is removing wrinkles and making it look perfect.	Here the use of an electric staple gun makes the job a little easier. The fabric is pulled, stretched and formed around the angles of the pool table rail to make a nice looking finished product.
Step 19 Finished pool table rail	Step 20 Pool table pockets
The finished properly installed pool table cloth is shown here after the material has been trimmed. All six pool table rails are done in the same method.	A box of pool table pockets with tassles. These items are installed on the pool table rails in the proper placement and are secured with small bolts into a hole that is pre-drilled by the pool table manufacturer.
Step 21 Pool table pocket and rail assembly	Step 22 Properly assembled pool table pockets
Here are the pool table pockets being assembled with the pool table rails. We use a formation of installing the pockets with three rails per side so we don't have any problems with the posts on the pockets breaking the wood on the pool table rails.	Pool table pockets come 6 to a box and there are four corner pockets and two side pockets, the pocket irons are diffent shapes in both examples. The corner pockets of the pool table have a sharper angle and the side pocket irons are shaped straight to join the two side rails of the pool table.
Step 23 Leveling the pool table slate	Step 24 The slate screws attach the slate to the pool table frame
Wooden wedges are driven under the slate in conjunction with a level. An inexperienced pool table installer could take up to 8 hours (it really does take that long for some) and an experienced installer should be able to level the table to the point where it can not be any better in under 10 minutes with the proper training, tools and practice.	The pool table slate is wedged then screwed to the pool table frame. This method with wooden wedges is very quick if used properly. Old timers and the pool table installers they have trained can effectively level the pool table with small pieces of laminate stock, thin wood and playing cards but those old methods can be time consuming. With the invention of the electric saw we now have wood wedges that can be driven to achieve a perfect levelness of the space between the pool table slate and frame without having to pick up the slate and set it back down to check for levelness. Wooden wedges are so easy to just put in place and hammer into the desired elevation by checking your level then screwing down to secure the slate to the pool table frame.
Step 25 Leveling the pool table	Step 26 Felt pocket liners
The wedges for the pool table slate leveling are shown here. We generally will put one at all four corners of the pool table slate making a total number of wedges used about 12 for completion. Sometimes we don't have to use all of them but advanced techniques with fickle pool table slate sometimes call for up to 20 wedges in the centers or outer sections of the corners to ensure the most precise levelness.	We generally will install one felt pocket liner per pocket and easily cut and form the top pool table cloth so it does not rip. These pool table cloth pocket liners help from showing the underside of the wood or slate after proper installation of the pool table cloth on the slate.
Step 27 Hole and seam filler	Step 28 Using the putty knife
We use auto body filler for filling all jobs unless requested by a customer. Some companies choose to use water putty and some like to use wax. We have seen many cases where water putty flakes and turns into granules under the cloth especially if using a small vacuum to clean the cloth, wax on the other hand was used many years ago when we didn't have other products to fill seams and holes in the pool table, our opinion is that it's outdated by about 40 years but good installers are very good with it.	The techniques used to fill the holes and seams are practiced daily. At first filling the holes in pool table slate with auto body filler can take up to 45 minutes with cleanup but for experienced pool table installers it can be done depending on temperature in a matter of 10 minutes with little or no clean up.
Step 29 Sweeping debris from the pool table slate	Step 30 Attaching the pool table cloth to the slate
We sweep debris from the pool table slate after we check after the cleanup of the auto body filler step. In this picture we use the cloth to sweep any other debris from the pool table slate prior to installing the cloth.	We then use staple guns to attach the pool table cloth to the slate backing. If there is no slate backing like on a one pc. slate then adhesive is used. In this case we have installed a new pool table and it has wood backing on the slate. There is an art to installing the cloth to the slate that unfortunately is learned and practiced so It cannot be described here.
Step 31 The pool table cloth in process	Step 32 Finished pool table slate covering
We use several tools in our trade. After proper completion of the pool table cloth we trim and cut holes for rail bolts.	The completed slate covering with olive colored pool table cloth.
Step 33 Attaching the leather on the pool table pockets	Step 34 All finished with the pool table installation
Once the rails are placed on the pool table and rail bolts are used to fasten them the rails are lined up and tightned to the pool table slate. All that is left is the attachement of the leather pool table baskets on the bottom of the pockets.	Staples are used, sometimes screws, to attach the leather strips which hold the pool table balls. These are attached to the bottom of the pool table slate backing or to the bottom wood of the pool table frame.

We hope you have found this information useful. This 34 step process only covers the basic outline of installing a pool table. There are many more tricks and steps to proper installation of a pool table. We would suggest the selection of qualified personnel to install or move any pool table.