Pool Table Setup
Assembly, shimming and cloth for a table that is already where it needs to be.
Setup is the job when the table is in the room but not playable: delivered in sections by a store, bought secondhand and dropped in a garage, or left disassembled by someone else's move. The frame is squared and set, the slate goes back on and is bolted down, the seams are filled and sanded flush, the cloth is stretched over the bed and fitted to the rails, and the table is levelled.
Shimming is the part that takes patience. Slate is flat; floors are not, particularly in older houses on raised foundations. The shims go under the legs and, where a section needs it, between the frame and the slate, and the bed is read again after each change until a ball sat anywhere on the table stays where it was put.
What a setup includes
The same steps whether the table is new, secondhand or already yours.
- Frame and legs assembled, squared and set in the final position.
- Slate bolted to the frame, seams filled and sanded so a ball crosses them without a sound.
- Cloth stretched over the bed and fitted to the rails, with the pockets refitted.
- Rails bolted back, with cushion rubber checked while they are off.
- The bed levelled across the seams and at each pocket, and read again once the cloth is on.
If the table came out of storage or arrived without its fittings, say so on the request: missing bolts, pocket irons and shims are ordinary and easier to bring than to source on the day.
Before the crew leaves
Levelling is part of the job, not an extra. The bed is checked across the seams and at each pocket before the tools are packed away, and the crew will not leave a table that rolls off.
Work is usually booked into a morning or an early afternoon window, and the window is confirmed when the quote is accepted. Tell us if parking, a gate code or a building manager needs arranging first.