Many people have asked us if we can install their pool tables upstairs. Absolutely. Assuming your room is up to building code standards of course. Some of the homes that we’ve installed pool tables in upstairs have had floors that have flexed a bit. I’ve noticed this as I’m leveling up a pool table for the first time. With all three pieces of slate on top of the cabinet, we’re talking about over 500 pounds of weight on a standard-size pool table. When I would step close to one of the legs I’d notice the bubble in my Starrett Machinist’s level move a couple of lines out of level. Out of the hundreds of pool tables that I’ve installed upstairs no client has ever called us complaining that their table broke through the subfloor. I think that if certain floors bow a little more than others it might have something to do with how the floor joists are spaced out and/or how thick the subfloor is.
Now getting a pool table upstairs however that’s another feat all its own. In the past 20 years of working on pool tables, I can count on one hand the number of times we had to get real creative with getting a pool table in or out of a client’s house. I’ve heard some stories from clients who have said that they had used a crane to get their pool table into their upstairs game room. Possibly because their staircase may not have been built with enough room to carry the cabinet upstairs. I remember one time in Huntington Beach we were on a pool table moving job on the third floor and my client wanted his pool table disassembled and the slates crated up for a long-distance move. We could fit everything through the doorways and down two flights of stairs except for the darn cabinet. It was a pool table manufactured by Gandy out of Macon, GA, no matter what I tried the cabinet just would not come apart. Rack ‘Em Up People!
What brand of pool table is easiest to move up a flight of stairs that turns? Not a spiral staircase, just one with landings and 90 degree bends.
Hello Tamen, it is not so much the brand of pool table as much as it is the slate configuration. If you plan on having a pool table in an upstairs room I would highly recommend owning a three piece slate design. Your back and the backs of your closest friends will thank you! It is no fun moving a “widow maker”, that’s what I call an eight foot pool table with a one piece slate. Best, David.
My builder says my flooring is meant for up to 40 PSF. Do you know the PSF load of an average 8ft table?
Hi Cheri, I’m not familiar with the term PSF but I can estimate the weight of an average 8ft pool table at 800 pounds. Doing the math on this equals about 200 pounds per leg (assuming a 4 leg pool table). So you can ask your builder if your floor can support this kind of weight.
Best wishes. David Kay.
Is your floor made of cardboard? Just kidding. I’m a 250lbs man who occupies around 1SF(square foot) when standing, which means I apply 250lbs of pressure per square foot or 250PSF.
4 of me can certainly stand in a room together, which would be equal to a 1000lbs pool table.
Hope this helps you understand.
Thank you for this answer to Cheri. I’m contemplating putting a pool/dining table on the mid-level of my townhome, which is directly above my garage. I was concerned it would be too heavy. The way you explained the math will help me significantly in making this decision.