During our routine day to day business dealings, we come across many different tables and many different situations. Throughout our days we see a lot of things that people do with their table that makes us simply cringe. While we can’t expect you to automatically know what to do with your table when we’re not there to advise you, we can educate everyone as much as possible, here and at your appointment, as to what NOT to do with your table to ensure its future value and longevity. One of the main keys in ensuring a table lasts as long as the manufacture intended, is the proper storage of the table when it’s setup and not in use, or not set up at all in storage.

Far too many times we’ve seen ads with tables for sale with the table described as “Beautiful! Perfect condition! Not a mark on it! Ready to be loaded onto your pickup!”

Sounds great! Right?

Well, let’s see… take a look at the pictures and what do you see? The table is completely assembled, minus the legs, and it’s leaning on its side up against the wall. (Cringe!!!)

A slate pool table can weigh anywhere from 500-1200 pounds. The weight of a pool table can be devastating to the construction and attachment of the rails. The rails are usually the most decorative and the first seen part of the pool table. Once they’re damaged or broken, the table has lost a lot of its value. The rails are replaceable, but the price is usually extremely high and matching the original color of the frame is not always possible due to age/fading.

A table stored on its side is also much harder and more dangerous for us to disassemble and move. The frame is not meant to be moved in one piece because there is nowhere to grab the table and lift while the rails are attached.

Once the rails and the slate have been removed from the frame, the frame can be stored on its side. The rails should have the pockets removed. The rails should be positioned so that the cushions(cushions) are not being pressed on by anything surrounding them, as this can cause permanent dents in the rubber over time. The pockets would ideally be stored in a box individually wrapped, or they can be stored lying flat so that the fringe or the shields aren’t wrinkled or bent.

The slate should be stored vertically on its side and against a wall. This is the part that must be done properly in order to not cause any damage to your home or storage area. The floor would ideally be concrete or hardwood with a moving blanket in between the slate and the floor. The weight of the slate can put permanent impressions in your carpet. There also needs to be another moving blanket between the slate and the wall, as it can leave impressions in your wall as well.

It would be advisable to not store any portion of the table in an area that can be easily affected by moisture. All of the hardware for the table should be placed in a plastic/paper bag and either stapled to the inside of the frame, or in the box with the pockets for safe keeping.

By Melissa Buchanan

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Unless you’ve hired a Pool Table Mover in the past, the majority of the public does not know that there’s such a thing as a Pool Table Moving Company. A pool table is more than just a heavy piece of furniture. It takes years of experience to properly breakdown, move, and install a pool table.

The most important part of retaining the value of your pool table is not only the original installation of the table, but the proper breakdown, move, and reassembly of your table.

Each individual pocket and rail must be removed and properly labeled. The labels ensure the rails and pockets go back onto the table exactly as they were installed.

Once the rails are removed, there should be about 500 staples that have to be individually and carefully removed to take the felt off the table. The slate screws are then removed, detaching the slate from the frame. Typically the slate will be in three pieces, sealed together at its seams with beeswax.

With the slate removed, the legs can now be taken off (and labeled) or left on, depending on your storage/moving space needs. The frame will almost always be left in one piece, as perfectly lined reassembly of the frame is almost impossible.

If you are moving a long distance, it would be ideal for the Moving Company that is moving the rest of your home to also move your pool table in its newly disassembled state. Any Professional Moving Companies that we have worked with have always required that the slate is crated. Slate may be extremely heavy, but it is also extremely fragile. Most movers will not take on the liability of moving anything this fragile in an unprotected state.

To ensure safety of the slate and the movers, we will build individual custom crates around each piece of your pool table slate. This way it can be easily and safely transported by your movers to your new location. We’ve been in this business for 12 years, and we have never witnessed any damage to slate that has been properly crated, no matter how far the move. The construction of the crates should also be in a manner that they can be kept and reused in future moves.

At this point the entire table is ready for moving. A Professional Moving Company can now wrap your table as they would any other item in your home.

If you are not moving a long distance, such as out of state, we will gladly move your table in our enclosed box trailer. The slate will not have to be crated. Our trailer is custom crafted to safely transport every part of your pool table as well as your accessories.

When your table reaches its new location, it can now be easily stored or immediately reassembled. Reassembly by the original pool table movers, or by a different pool table mover, should now be easily accomplished thanks to the proper markings during the previous breakdown.

In the end, pool is a game of precision. Playing on a table that is not properly installed, broken down, moved, and reassembled with extremely precise leveling can be very frustrating for the player.

By Melissa Buchanan

Filed under: Announcements by admin | Comments Off on Why should I hire a Pool Table Mover instead of a Mover that specializes in heavy things?