Can you move a pool table yourself?
By Pool Table Movers team · Published · Updated
You can move a small non-slate pool table yourself with a few strong helpers, but a slate-bed pool table or snooker table should be dismantled, moved and re-levelled by specialists. Slate is extremely heavy, brittle and has to be rebuilt flat to a fraction of a millimetre, so DIY moves often end in cracked slate, damaged cushions or a table that never plays true again.
Start by working out what kind of table you have
The answer to whether a move is a DIY job depends almost entirely on the bed of the table. Cheaper home tables and many junior tables use a bed made of MDF, chipboard or a composite material sometimes sold as slatron. These tables are lighter, often weigh well under a hundred kilograms in total and can sometimes be carried short distances in one piece by four people, or partly dismantled with basic tools.
Most proper English pub tables, American pool tables and every full-size snooker table use slate. Slate is chosen because it stays flat and stable for decades, but it is dense and heavy. A typical 7ft English slate-bed table weighs in the region of a few hundred kilograms once the frame and cabinet are included, and the bed itself may be a single slab or split into three pieces that are pinned and waxed together. A snooker table bed is usually five pieces and the full table can weigh well over a tonne.
To check, lift off a pocket or look underneath the table. If you can see a grey stone edge where the cloth wraps around the bed, or the cloth is stapled to a wooden backing glued under stone, it is slate. If the edge is fibreboard, it is not. Coin-operated pub tables almost always have a slate bed even if they look compact.
Why moving a slate table in one piece is a bad idea
It is tempting to gather friends and try to carry the table out assembled. The problem is that the frame of a pool table is designed to support the slate lying flat, not to be lifted from the corners while the slate flexes inside it. Lifting from the cushion rails can tear them from their bolts. Tipping the table on its side to get through a doorway puts the slate under bending stress it was never designed for, and slate cracks along hidden faults without warning.
Even when nothing visibly breaks, carrying an assembled table usually moves the slates relative to each other. The seams that were invisible open up, the bed drops out of level and the cloth stretches unevenly. The table may look fine when it is put down in the new room, but balls roll off line and the cushions play dead. Putting that right means taking the table apart anyway.
Then there is the risk to people and property. A few hundred kilograms on a staircase is serious. Dropped slate can crush feet, split floorboards and take chunks out of plaster. Most household insurance policies do not cover damage done to your own furniture by an uninsured DIY move.
What a proper DIY dismantle involves
If you are determined to move a slate table yourself, it must be dismantled. That means removing the pockets, unbolting the cushion rails from underneath, and carefully lifting the cloth from the bed. On many tables the cloth is stapled to a wooden backing strip glued to the slate; on others it is glued directly, which makes it hard to reuse. The slate pieces are held down with screws through the frame and joined with filler or wax along the seams, which needs to be cut out cleanly.
Each slate piece must be lifted flat by at least two people per piece, more for larger tables, and carried upright on its long edge or flat on a padded trolley. Leaning a slate against a wall at an angle is a common way to crack it. The frame then comes apart into legs, side members and cross braces. Labelling every bolt and part is essential, because tables from different manufacturers rarely go back together the same way.
You will need socket sets, a staple remover, a cordless drill, plenty of blankets, moving straps, a sturdy flatbed trolley, shims, slate filler or beeswax and, crucially, a high-accuracy engineer's level. A standard builder's spirit level is not accurate enough to set a playing surface.
The hardest part: rebuilding and levelling
Taking a table apart is the easy half. Rebuilding it so it plays well is where most DIY moves fall down. The frame has to be squared and levelled first, then each slate is placed, aligned at the seams and shimmed so that the joins are flush to each other. The seams are filled and scraped flush, the screws are tightened in sequence so the slates do not lift, and the whole bed is checked in both directions and diagonally.
Re-covering the bed is another skill. The cloth has to be stretched evenly so that it is tight without distorting the nap, and the cushion cloth needs to be wrapped tightly around the rubber so that the rebound is consistent. If the old cloth was glued or has worn thin, it is usually better to fit new cloth than to try to reuse it.
Professional fitters do this every day, which is why they can rebuild a table in a couple of hours and leave it running true. For a first-timer it often takes a full weekend and still leaves the table playing slightly off.
When DIY is reasonable
DIY makes sense for light, non-slate tables, for moving a table a short distance within the same room on furniture sliders, or for folding tables designed to be stored. If the table cost relatively little and you are comfortable with the risk, a careful partial dismantle with friends can work.
It does not make sense for slate-bed English pub tables, American pool tables, snooker tables, any move involving stairs, or any table you value. In those cases the cost of a specialist move is usually far less than replacing broken slate or paying someone to come and fix a poor rebuild.
What specialist movers do differently
A specialist crew arrives with the right number of people for the weight, floor and wall protection, padded slate carriers and a van set up to carry slate flat. They know where the hidden bolts are on common makes, how to lift stapled cloth so it can be reused, and how to protect cushions and pocket leathers in transit.
At the new address they rebuild, shim and level the table with professional equipment, refit or replace the cloth and check the playing surface before they leave. Specialists also carry goods-in-transit and public liability insurance, so if something goes wrong you are covered. Our local move prices start from £195 for a 6–7ft English pool table and from £295 for an 8–9ft American table.
Frequently asked questions
How many people does it take to move a pool table?
A dismantled slate-bed pool table normally needs two to three people, more for stairs or long carries. A full-size snooker table usually needs a crew of three or four.
Can I move a pool table without taking it apart?
Only very light non-slate tables over short, level distances. Slate-bed tables should always be dismantled, because lifting them assembled risks cracking the slate and twisting the frame.
Will moving my pool table damage the cloth?
Cloth can usually be reused if it is stapled and in good condition. Glued or worn cloth often tears when lifted, so many owners choose to recloth during the move.
See our pool table moving prices or find pool table movers near you.