How much does a billiard table weigh?

Why table weight matters

The weight of a billiard table decides three things: whether it can be carried into a flat, whether the floor will take it, and how much you pay for transport. The same 8ft table can weigh 120 kg or 450 kg depending on whether it has an MDF or a slate bed. Below are real figures for pool and snooker tables, broken down into bed, frame and the rest, and what follows from them when buying.

Slate-bed pool tables

A 19 mm slate bed weighs about 60 kg per square metre, a 25 mm bed about 75 kg. Add the frame, solid-wood or MDF legs, cushions and cloth.

A 7ft table with 19 mm slate weighs roughly 250–350 kg. A one-piece bed (about 1.1 × 2.1 m) is 140–170 kg, frame and legs 100–150 kg. It is a size two strong people can move in parts, but the bed should be carried by four.

An 8ft table with 19–25 mm slate weighs 350–500 kg. The bed is usually split into three sections of 60–90 kg each, a solid-wood frame 150–250 kg. Club tables such as WIK, Dynamic II or Rasson Victory fall in this range.

A 9ft tournament table weighs 450–700 kg. Three sections of 25 mm slate at about 100 kg each, a frame up to 300 kg. Diamond ProAm, Brunswick Gold Crown and Rasson Ox in 9ft are the upper limit, about 600–700 kg fully equipped. More on sizes and which table fits which room in the guide which billiard table to buy.

Snooker tables

A 12ft snooker table (3.57 × 1.78 m playing area) has a slate bed in five sections with a total mass of 700–900 kg. With frame, legs, steel-block cushions and cloth the whole thing weighs 1100–1400 kg, and tournament tables by Riley and Rasson Strong approach 1500 kg. Each slate section weighs 150–180 kg and is carried by four people.

A 10ft snooker table weighs 800–1000 kg, an 8ft slate table 400–500 kg. That is why snooker tables are sold almost exclusively with disassembly and installation by a technician, and their transport sometimes costs more than a used table itself. Listings and prices in the snooker tables category.

MDF-bed tables

A table with an MDF bed (high-density fibreboard, 18–25 mm) weighs 80–120 kg in 6ft, 100–160 kg in 7ft and 150–220 kg in 8ft. The bed is about half the mass. Two people can move such a table, often without unbolting it, and no floor check is needed. The price of lightness is sensitivity to humidity and warping, covered in how much a billiard table costs.

Will the floor take it

Floors in masonry houses and apartment blocks are designed for a live load of at least 150–200 kg per square metre. A 600 kg 9ft table stands on eight legs and occupies about 4.5 m², so the average load is 130 kg per metre, but concentrated at eight points. In practice 7ft–9ft slate tables stand in upper-floor flats without problems, as long as they are not placed on the timber floor of an old house or on an enclosed balcony. A 1.3-tonne 12ft snooker table on an upper floor needs a structural engineer's opinion.

The table legs should stand on pads that spread the load, especially on laminate and parquet, where a leg of a few square centimetres leaves a permanent mark.

Transport and carrying in

A slate bed must not be transported flat without support or rested on its edge, because it cracks. A 7ft table with a one-piece bed needs doors and a staircase that a 110 × 210 cm element will pass through, which is why flats more often get 8ft tables with three-section slate than 7ft with one piece. The frame is sometimes non-dismantlable and over 2.5 m long.

Service companies charge 230–700 EUR for transport and installation of a 7ft–9ft table within a region, with a surcharge per floor without a lift. That amount covers disassembly at the seller's, transport, assembly, levelling and stretching the cloth if it was removed. When buying a used table from a listing, ask whether the seller has the contact of the technician who set the table up, because that technician knows its construction.

Balls, cues and the rest of the equipment

A set of 16 pool balls weighs about 2.7 kg (170 g each), a set of 22 snooker balls about 3 kg. A pool cue weighs 18–21 oz, or 510–600 g, a snooker cue 17–19 oz. These sound like trifles, but when choosing a billiard cue 1 oz of difference is noticeable in cue-ball control, and makers of tournament-grade balls match sets to within 0.1 g.

Weight and quality: what the mass tells you

Mass is the simplest quality test you can do without seeing the table. The maker gives the weight in the product sheet, and the seller of a used table usually knows how many people carried it in. An 8ft table described as "professional" and weighing 180 kg has an MDF bed or very thin slate, even if the rails are solid oak. An 8ft table of 420 kg has a 19–25 mm bed and a frame that will not bend it. The same goes for legs: solid wood or metal legs of 15–25 kg each hold level for years, MDF legs of a few kilograms sag and the table needs levelling every few months. When buying used from a listing, ask for the weight or the number of people who carried it; "two men brought it in" for an 8ft table says more than the photos.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a snooker table weigh? A full-size 12ft with a slate bed 1100–1400 kg, of which the five-section bed alone is 700–900 kg. A 10ft table 800–1000 kg, an 8ft slate table 400–500 kg.

How much does an 8ft pool table weigh? With a slate bed 350–500 kg, with an MDF bed 150–220 kg. The difference is almost entirely the bed.

Can a slate table go in an apartment block? Yes, 7ft–9ft tables stand in upper-floor flats without problems. The conditions are a reinforced concrete or brick floor, pads under the legs and carrying the slate in sections by a technician.

How many people does it take to move a table? Two people can move a 7ft MDF table. A 60–100 kg slate section takes two to four people, but the disassembly and re-levelling are better left to a technician.

Does table weight affect play? Indirectly. A heavier table with a slate bed and a massive frame does not shift when leaned on and does not resonate, so the ball rolls more evenly. That is one reason tournament tables weigh over 500 kg.

Summary

Slate pool tables: 7ft 250–350 kg, 8ft 350–500 kg, 9ft 450–700 kg. A 12ft snooker table: 1100–1400 kg. MDF: 80–220 kg. Weight is the bed, the bed is the quality of play, and when buying used, weight is the transport cost that must be added straight away. Table listings with bed type and location are in the billiard tables category.