Everything we’ve learned, written down.

We get asked this a lot — usually by someone who’s been thinking about it for years and finally has the room. The short answer: nothing else you can buy for your home gets played the way a pool table does.

1. It’s the most-used piece of furniture you’ll ever buy

People who buy pool tables use them. Every table we’ve sold to a regular customer has come up in conversation years later — “the kids play every night,” “we host a weekly game,” “my husband’s down there every weekend.” Sofas collect cat hair. Pool tables collect memories.

2. It’s one of the only things that gets families off their phones

You’d be surprised. A pool table in a shared room pulls teenagers away from screens in a way nothing else really does. Low barrier to entry, high ceiling — you can play day one, and you can keep improving for life.

3. A good slate table is essentially permanent

We regularly service 50-, 60-, 70-year-old tables. A slate bed doesn’t wear out — it just needs a new cloth every 5–10 years. Compare that to the lifespan of, say, a treadmill.

4. Entertainment value is unmatched per dollar

A $5,000 table spread over 20 years is $250 a year — less than two decent restaurant dinners. For a family of four that plays weekly, the per-hour entertainment cost is pennies.

5. It anchors a room

A well-made pool table is beautiful. Walnut, oak, polished slate, proper felt, pocket leather — it’s a centerpiece. The room stops being “the basement” and starts being “the game room.”

Every table mechanic has a story about a customer who tried to save $400 and spent $4,000 fixing their table afterward. Here’s why this is the one thing we beg people not to DIY.

The slate is not just heavy — it’s fragile in a specific way

A three-piece slate bed weighs about 650 pounds on an 8-foot table. Each individual slate piece is around 220 pounds. But weight isn’t really the problem. The problem is that slate bends. If you pick up a slate piece wrong, or support it at the ends without supporting the middle, it can develop a permanent bow. A bowed slate can’t be leveled, and new slate for your table may not be available.

The rails are calibrated

Rails are attached with specific torque on specific bolts, in a specific sequence. If you over-tighten, you warp the rail. If you under-tighten, the cushion response dies. Professional installers use a torque wrench and know the pattern for each table maker.

The cloth probably won’t survive

Even if you get the slate and rails off intact, removing cloth without tearing it is a skill. In 95% of DIY moves, the cloth has to be replaced anyway — which means you’ve saved nothing and now have a torn felt on top of a poorly reassembled table.

What it actually costs

Professional local moves in St. Louis start around $395, and include disassembly, transport, reassembly, re-levelling, and re-torquing. Add new cloth for around $200. That’s less than a single slate replacement if you break one.

See our moving service →

Cover it

A simple fitted cover protects the felt from dust, pet hair, UV light (which fades felt), and accidental spills. This one habit alone will extend your cloth life by years. A $50 cover pays for itself many times over.

Brush it weekly

Use a soft horsehair table brush — not a vacuum, never a regular brush. Brush from the center of the table outward in straight lines, not in circles. Brush toward the pockets. Five minutes a week. Our 4-inch horsehair brush is $18 and it’s the same one we use on our own tables.

Don’t put drinks on it

Yes, we know. Someone is going to do it anyway. But the felt will stain, water marks will remain permanently on light-colored cloth, and sugary spills will attract pests. Set a side table.

Level-check annually

Roll a ball slowly across the middle of the table in several directions. If it consistently curves the same way, the table has shifted and needs re-leveling. This is a 30-minute service call — don’t let it sit crooked.

Recover every 5–10 years

Home tables played a few times a week typically need a recover every 5–7 years. Less-used tables can go a decade. Heavy-use or pet-household tables: more like 3–4 years. When the shine spots near the pockets appear, it’s time.

Wipe the shaft after every session

Hand oils and chalk dust build up on the shaft and will gradually make it sticky. A clean microfiber cloth and a quick wipe-down is all you need. For deeper cleaning, a shaft cleaning cloth or cue wax does the trick. Never use water, alcohol, or household cleaners on a maple shaft.

Shape your tip

A mushroomed or flattened tip gives inconsistent cue-ball contact. Use a tip shaper or tip tool to keep a dime-shaped curve. If the tip is too hard to scuff, it needs replacing.

Store flat (or vertical — never angled)

A cue leaned against the wall will warp. A cue laid flat in a case won’t. If you must store upright, use a proper cue rack that holds the cue vertically.

Humidity matters

Wood cues hate big swings in humidity. Don’t leave a cue in a car (hot trunk or freezing cold), don’t store it in a damp basement, and don’t hang it above a radiator. Room-temperature, stable humidity is ideal.

When in doubt, bring it in

Cue problems — twisted shafts, loose joints, mushroomed tips, cracked ferrules — are almost always fixable. Don’t throw the cue away; bring it to the shop and we’ll tell you honestly if it’s worth saving.