How To Buy A Pool Table

STEP 1: Measure out your total available space to determine the size of your table. Pool tables range from 7 feet to 10 feet and are half as wide as they are long.

STEP 2: Take into consideration the fact that you need more than just room for the table itself. Ideally, you'll have a 5 3/4-foot clearance all around the table's perimeter.

STEP 3: Determine your budget - know that you'll get what you pay for.

STEP 4: Do some research on pool tables. Generally, it's not that much more expensive to buy a new table than to buy a used one. Keep in mind that moving a table a few times can put a lot of wear and tear on it.

STEP 5: Look on the Web at the construction features of the most expensive tables. The best tables have three-piece, 1-inch-thick Italian slate; solid hardwood frames rather than wood laminates; rails bolted through the slate with the nuts inside the rails; and K-66 contoured cushions.

STEP 6: Decide which features you value and can afford.

STEP 7: Opt for a frame pre-built in a factory, which is normally stronger than one assembled in the house. Some house situations, however, may require internal assembly (for example, if you have to bring it up a spiral staircase).

STEP 8: Notice that many tables have slanted sides. Slanted sides are usually stronger.

STEP 9: Focus your attention on the most essential element of the pool table - the playing surface, which consists of the cloth, the rails and the cushions.

STEP 10: Buy a name-brand table if you can such as Olhausen offered at Central Jersey.

STEP 11: Have your table professionally installed. It is definitely worth a little extra money to make sure the table is put together properly.

STEP 12: Hire an installer who is authorized by a major billiard company such as Central Jersey.

STEP 13: Care for your table properly and it will last your entire lifetime.

Instructions

Tips & Warnings