How to Move a Pool Table to Another House (Without Movers)

Moving a pool table to another house is both difficult and dangerous – one wrong step can easily damage your expensive billiard table and may even lead to a personal injury, especially while you’re handling the extremely heavy slabs of slate (usually 3 slates in a table, each weighing around 150-250 lbs.).

Without a doubt, the best way to move a pool table is to pay qualified pool table movers to do it for you. This way, you’ll eliminate any risks of damage to your table and injuries to you or your non-professional helpers. As a bonus, you’ll save time considering the amount of time it takes to dismantle a pool table properly.

For a number of reasons though, you may decide to tackle the challenging job of moving a pool table without professional assistance. And if you do, then you’re going to need all the help you can get, including detailed disassembly instructions.

Here’s how to move a pool table to another house without hiring professional pool table movers to help you out.

How hard is it to move a pool table?

Moving a pool table to another house can range from being difficult to extremely difficult depending on the table’s type, size, and weight. Additional factors such as the move distance and the number of helpers you get will also determine, to a large extent, the difficulty level of the pool table moving task for you.

• SIZE. Do you know the exact size of your billiard table? In general, slate pool tables come in 3 different size versions: 7 ft, 8 ft, and 9 ft. Of course, the larger the size of your table, the more difficult it will be to disassemble and move it to the new house.
• WEIGHT. How much does a pool table weigh? Slate pool tables weigh between 600 lbs. and 1,000 lbs. Keep in mind that the enormous weight comes from the rock slates – each slate weighs anywhere from 150 lbs. to 250 lbs., and the majority of tables consist of 3 slabs of slate positioned one next to the other to form a uniform playing surface.
• MOVE DISTANCE. It does matter, price-wise and effort-wise, whether you’re moving your pool table to a new home within the same town or city, or to a new place that’s located many, many miles away. Take the move distance into account in case you’re wondering if you should move your billiard table with you, or try to sell it before the move.
• HELPERS. Without a doubt, the easiest way to move a pool table is to hire professional movers who specialize in transporting pool tables across the country, safely and quickly. In fact, you won’t even have to lift a finger – the experts will take care of everything and will guarantee that your prized possession will remain 100% damage-free throughout the entire house move.
  On the other hand, if you can’t afford to hire specialty movers, then you’re going to have to rely on move your pool table together with a bunch of friends – a relocation scenario that will present a number of challenges for you and your helpers. Read on to learn how to overcome those difficulties.

Interactive Moving Checklist

How much will it cost to move a pool table?

Before you rush to start dismantling your pool table so that it can be packed and moved more safely and easily, you should assess the situation carefully and try to determine if moving your billiard table will be worth your money and your time.

And of course, the best way to figure this out is to know how much it will cost to move your pool table to another house. The price will tell the whole story – if it’s too high, then you may want to try to sell the table and buy another one after the move is complete.

On the other hand, if the cost to move a pool table is acceptable, then you might want to just take the table with you to your new residence and continue to enjoy playing on it.

To help you reach the best decision in your case, here are a few example questions that will hopefully help you out:

• How much money did you pay for your table originally?
• How much time have you had it for? A few months, a year, a few years? Forever?
• What’s the actual condition of your billiard table right now? As new? Slightly worn out or very worn out?
• Does the pool table have any sentimental value for you? Was it a gift from a special person?

To know the exact cost of moving a pool table, you will need to get in touch with professional pool table movers and request a quote. The pros will give you a fixed price for dismantling, packing, transporting, delivering, and re-assembling your specific pool table. As you can imagine, the price will depend on the size and weight of your table, the move distance between the two houses, and the specific specialty mover you choose.

In most cases, you can expect to pay from $400 to around $600 for having your pool table moved by professionals, but the price can be higher than that depending on a number of variable factors.

How much does it cost to hire pool movers?

What will you need to move a pool table?

First things first, you’re going to have to be ready to initiate the disassembly process of your favorite pool table. The thing is, you can’t just start dismantling the billiard table without the proper tools and without any helpers, and then expect things to be alright in the end. Good preparation is critical for the success of the pool table relocation job.

Here’s what you’ll need to move a pool table to another house:

• Proper tools and equipment. Pool tables are meant to be disassembled and reassembled for transport, so to do it safely, you’re going to need the right tools and equipment. Before you begin the dismantling task, make sure you have 1) a staple remover or a pair of needle-nose pliers, 2) a set of flat-head screwdrivers, 3) a power drill, 4) a socket wrench, 5) a carpenter’s level, and 6) a pair of safety goggles. Also, you’ll need a moving dolly to move the super-heavy slabs of slate out of your home.
• Original instruction manual. If you keep the instruction manual that came with the pool table when you first bought it, then you should follow the disassembly instructions inside it. If not, then you can either search for your model’s manual online or follow these generic disassembly instructions.
• Adequate packing supplies. To protect the dismantled parts of your billiard table, you’re going to need some packing materials as well. First of all, get hold of furniture blankets (moving blankets) to protect the larger disassembled elements of the table. Also, prepare sheets of packing paper and bubble wrap, along with plastic re-sealable bags for the small fastening elements, and packing tape.
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  Are you sure you can count on your friends to help you move your pool table?

  Dependable helpers. Remember that moving your pool table entirely on your own is NOT an option as those tables are huge and super-heavy. Do NOT start the disassembly process until you’ve got 3-4 trusted people, excluding yourself, to help you out. In case you can’t seem to gather the required muscle power, then do what’s best for you and your prized possession and get in touch with professional pool table movers in your area. /How to get friends to help you move/

• Fitting moving vehicle. You’re going to need a moving vehicle that can fit your disassembled pool table. When moving locally – to another town or city within the same state, then you should consider renting a truck from a local truck rental company. Make sure that moving truck will be big enough to fit the dismantled table parts and the rest of your belongings as well.
  On the other hand, if you happen to be moving long distance, then moving your pool table by yourself may not be a good idea due to the high self-moving expenses you’ll incur during the move. /10 Tips for Renting a Moving Truck for Your DIY Move/
• Enough time. As long as you have trusted friends around and all the required tools, equipment and packing supplies, it should take you approximately an hour to disassemble your pool table for safe transport.

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How to disassemble a slate pool table: step-by-step

Here are the detailed steps to disassembling your pool table so that you can move it in an easy and safe manner with zero damage along the way.

Step 1. Remove the pockets

The first step to dismantling your pool table is to remove its six ball pockets. The ball pockets will be either stapled in place or screwed down – their fastening method will depend on the specific type and model of the pool table.

Go under the table and use the staple remover to remove the stapled pockets or use a flat-head screwdriver to take out the screwed side and corner pockets.

Wear the protective goggles when removing the pool table pockets to shield your eyes against the disengaged fasteners.

Step 2. Take out the rails

In most cases, pool table rails are bolted down to the slabs of slate and you’ll need the right socket wrench to free them.

Remove all bolts from a rail section, then, together with your helpers, slide out that rail section slowly and carefully until it is completely free from the table.

After that, place each rail inside a furniture blanket and wrap it up carefully to keep it protected.

Place all disengaged bolts, screws, nuts, washers, etc. in re-sealable plastic bags to keep them safe.

Step 3. Remove the felt

The next step is to remove the felt from your billiard table so that you can 1) protect the cloth from damage during the move, and 2) get to the most challenging task when moving a pool table to another house – removing, protecting and moving the super-heavy slate slabs.

The easiest way to remove the felt from your pool table is to rip it off. Note that this is a good option only when the felt is too worn out and you’re ready to replace it with a brand-new cloth when re-assembling the table at the new place.

More often, the felt will be stapled to the pool table, so all you’ll have to do is use the staple remove to free the cloth. Again, use the protective goggles while doing so to protect your eyes. When you’ve removed the felt, fold it carefully in such a way as to avoid the formation of lines (aka wrinkles) in it.

If the felt of your pool table is glued to the playing surface (the slates underneath), then you’ll need to try and pull up the cloth with a slow and gentle backward motion. Always go backward – if you go forward or upward, then there’s a risk of stretching out the cloth and making it unusable.

Once you remove the cloth from the table, fold it carefully to avoid creasing it.

Step 4. Remove the slates

This is the trickiest and most dangerous step when moving a pool table to a new home – to remove the slates from your billiard table without damaging them or injuring anybody in the process.

Most pool tables will have 3 separate slates that will be screwed down one next to the other to create a uniform playing surface. However, your specific table may have only 1 slab of slate, which can make your job even harder than it already is. You’ll know the number of slates as soon as you remove the felt.

Use the power drill to release the slabs of slate, one by one. If you don’t have a power drill equipped with the right screwdriver bit, then you can unscrew the plates manually with the help of a regular screwdriver. Keep all screws in a plastic bag for safekeeping.

With the help of your friends, lift and remove each slate from the table frame, then place it gently onto the floor. After that, make sure you wrap completely each disengaged slab of slate in thick furniture blankets. Be extremely careful here because each slab will weigh approximately 150-200 lbs.

In addition to the extreme weight, another challenge is that the slabs will be made from slate – a bluish-gray rock that happens to be brittle and can easily get chipped, scratched or cracked if dropped onto the floor or hit against a wall.

What’s worse, even if one piece of slate gets damaged, you won’t be able to replace only that damaged piece because the three slabs are manufactured to match perfectly. So, you’ll most likely end up having to purchase 3 new slates after the move.

Step 5. Remove the frame and legs

Once you’ve managed to remove the heavy slabs of slate from the frame of your billiard table, the next and final step is to remove its frame and legs. Compared to the previous disassembly step, this should be pretty simple and straightforward – just turn the remaining table structure upside down, then remove the remaining frame and legs by detaching them properly.

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How to pack and move a pool table to another house

Once you’ve dismantled your pool table, it’s time to pack it up for safe transportation. This is a much easier task compared to the complicated disassembly job described above.

Just follow these packing and moving tips to move your pool table to another house:

• Wrap each disengaged pool table pocket – plastic, rubber or leather – in soft packing paper.
• Wrap each ball in packing paper unless you have their original box and can fit them all inside.
• Place any pool table accessories (triangle, chalk, etc.) in a medium-sized cardboard box and label it correspondingly.
• Keep the wooden pool cues in their protective bags. If not, then wrap them up in packing paper and pack them inside a moving box.
• 

  Don’t start celebrating before you’ve finished the job.

  Use thick furniture blankets to cover most of the dismantled table elements such as the rails, legs, frame parts, and of course – each slab of slate.

• Keep all small fastening elements in sealable plastic bags (Ziploc bags).
• Use a moving dolly (the 4-wheel furniture dolly should work best) to move the wrapped-up pool table slabs out of your home and load them onto the moving truck. Fasten them securely once loaded so that they cannot shift during the trip.

Once in your new home, you’re going to have to re-assemble your pool table – to do that, use the disassembly steps above in reverse order. Then, you’ll have one extra task to take care of – leveling your billiard table using the carpenter’s level tool you’ve brought with you.

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