Pool Table Removal: How a 1,000-Pound Slate Actually Comes Out

Why Pool Tables Are Hard

A regulation 8-foot pool table weighs 800-1,000 pounds. A 9-foot tournament table can hit 1,300 pounds. The slate playing surface alone (the heart of any quality table) is typically three sections of 1-inch slate that weigh 175-225 pounds each. The pool table sitting in your basement was almost certainly carried in as separate pieces, the slate, the frame, the legs, the rails, and it comes out the same way. Anyone who tells you a pool table can be moved as a single unit is selling you damaged slate.

On-Site Disassembly

We disassemble pool tables on-site as part of the removal. The order is: remove the cloth (felt), unscrew and remove the rails, remove the slate sections from the frame, disconnect the legs from the frame, then carry each piece out separately. Slate sections are the heaviest. A 200-pound slate section on an awkward basement stair is a two-person carry minimum, sometimes three. We bring slate dollies and stair shoes for that work.

Stairs, Basements, and Tight Doorways

Most pool tables we remove are in finished basements with a single stair access. The slate sections are the bottleneck, they are heavy, awkward, and the corners are easy to chip. We pad the stair and the doorway corner before any slate moves. For exterior basement walkouts, the path is usually easy. For interior stairs going up to a main level, the slate has to go up and around any landing, which is the slow part of the job.

What We Take

All of it. The frame, the legs, the rails, the slate, the felt, any pockets and pocket leather. Slate is recyclable in some Georgia facilities (it is just rock), the frame and rails are mostly wood for landfill, the felt is textile waste.

Can the Slate Be Salvaged?

Sometimes. If your pool table is high-quality (Brunswick, Olhausen, AMF, Connelly) and the slate is intact, we route the slate to local table refurbishers when there is demand. We make that call on-site. Lower-quality tables (entry-level home models) have lower-grade slate that is not worth the move costs for refurbishers.

Pricing Pool Table Jobs

Most pool table removal jobs land at the half-load ($520) or three-quarter load ($650) tier. Add labor premium if the table is upstairs or in an awkward basement walkout. Bundled with other basement cleanout (old couches, exercise equipment, bar fridge, finished-basement debris) it often pushes into full truck ($725).