What Is the Weight of a Pool Table?

Pool tables are heavy objects that are positioned in a room for many years.

They’re constructed to bear the weight of several balls as well as the players, and they’re also built to last and considered a luxury item for most people.

Hence, heavy pool tables are the norm. However, not many people realize how heavy. For that, we have to dig a little deeper.

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How Much Does a Pool Table Weigh?

If you’re planning on getting a pool table, then knowing the weight will generally help to plan a few things. The first is where to place the pool table.

This is essential since the weight will determine how often you’re going to be moving it. If it’s too heavy you won’t want to be moving it too often, so you’re going to put it somewhere remote.

The other thing that its weight will determine is how high up you’re going to place it. Pool tables are usually placed in basements or pubs and dark, dingy places.

This is by design since the pool tables are too heavy to be put on the upper floors. Better to just leave them as low as possible. It’s also a great hassle to move them up and down a flight of stairs so if they’re at ground level, all the better.

The standard weight of a pool table can vary wildly depending on where you are and what you’re playing. If you’re playing pool, snooker or billiards, you may have to choose a specifically sized table for each one.

If you’re just playing friendly games and don’t care much about competition, you can get lighter tables.

However, if you’re playing for a tournament, you may need to get premium tables. They cost quite a bit and are a pain to move around.

Standard Pool Table Weights

Pool table weights can be as light at 80 kg for a 6 foot MDF table and can go up to as much as 800 kg.

Some of them even weigh heavier if they’re larger slate bedded pool tables. It’s no joke choosing where to place the table depending on its weight.

Here are just some of the standard weights for pool tables.

How Heavy Is an MDF Pool Table?

An MDF Pool Table is considered the lightest type of pool table. MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) is a type of wooden material that is quite sturdy and has a high strength to weight ratio.

An MDF table usually weighs somewhere between 80 to 100 kg. Depending on the model and size you can get better makes of the table.

Of course, the style of the table can vary wildly depending on the manufacturer. The main advantage of this table is that it’s great for friendly games and can be moved by two people.

Tournament Size Pool Tables

Tournaments usually require pool tables to be of standard sizes.

These include the 7-foot, 8-foot, and 9-foot sizes. These pool tables are made for professional games, so they’re very heavy.

How Heavy Is a 7-Foot Pool Table?

A 7-foot pool table weighs about 320 kg.

How Heavy Is an 8-Foot Pool Table?

An 8-foot pool table weighs around 390-400 kg.

How Heavy Is a 9-Foot Pool Table?

A 9-foot pool table weighs around 450 kg. These are usually only reserved for tournaments.

Pub Style Slate Pool Table

The Pub Style Slate Pool Table is much heavier than an MDF table; which is obvious.

Slate is a heavy rock after all. It’s a homogeneous, metamorphic mineral that is composed of volcanic ash. It has the specific gravity more than twice that of oil and nearly three times that of water.

The typical pub style slate pool table weighs about 230 kilograms. The deeper design and the slate bed underneath it make the table quite heavy.

This makes it hard to move, but then that’s why it’s used in English pubs. It’s not meant to be moved for quite a while.

How much does a Slate Pool Table Weigh?

A Slate Pool Table usually weighs anywhere from 200 kg to about 1000 kg and over.

Since the slate makes up about 65% of the weight of the pool table, its thickness decides the weight.

Pool Dining Table

A dining pool table looks like it’s much lighter than an average pool table. However, just because it looks that way doesn’t mean it is.

It weighs about 210 kg, thus being a few kilograms lighter than the slate pool table. The reduction in weight is due to the exclusion of a deep cabinet. However, it still has a slate bed.

While the pool dining table may be lighter, extreme care needs to be taken to move it. These aren’t to be dragged or pushed.

They should be picked up and moved properly. Rushing them along the floor could lead to the legs being damaged or broken.

American Slate Bed Pool Table

An American Slate Bed Pool table is a little heavier than the standard pub slate pool table. It weighs about 250 kilograms and may get even heavier with custom additions.

The additional weight comes from the bigger size of the table. This type of pool table usually resides in exclusive clubs, though it can be found in high brow bars as well.

Several people are required to move it, as you can imagine. Getting one for your home is highly ill-advised.

Large Pool Table

While it’s named extremely poorly, the Large Pool Table describes heavy pool tables perfectly. These can range from 500 kg to over 800 kg in weight.

The reason for this expansion in weight is the use of a larger slate and thicker slate to others. The table’s construction is also extremely opulent, with the table being designed for nothing less than premiere events or tournaments.

There is no safe way to move this table all at once. The only way to successfully move it is to take it apart and move it piece by piece.

This is why the Large Pool Table doesn’t just have to be moved to its destination. It has to be installed.

How Heavy Are Non-Slate Pool Tables?

Most non-slate pool tables are usually quite light. They don’t weigh more than a few hundred pounds. If it requires two people to move the table, then it’s not slate.

It would weigh around 100 kg to 200 kg which would be easy for two to three people to move to different locations.

It’s still preferable to move the pool table by taking it apart first. Ideally, installing a pool table is much safer than simply moving it to a room.

Slate Thickness

The thickness of the slate used to construct a pool table is very important to its weight. The industry standard for the thickness of the slate used to construct heavy pool tables is around 1-inch thick.

While companies do offer thicker varieties of slate, it’s useless to spend money on this. Unless you’re making a customized pool table for a specific event that warrants it, why go for thicker slate? It would just make things harder for you.

A lot of manufacturers may go the other route as well and use slate that is less than an inch thick. This includes slate ¾ of an inch thick, 7/8 of an inch thick, etc. Half inch and 1-and-a-half inch thick slates have also been used in pool tables.

To calculate the weight of a pool table, remember these tips:

A ¾ inch slate for a 3-piece 7-foot table weighs approximately 60 kg
A 1-inch slate for a 1-piece 8-foot table weighs nearly 80 kg
A 1-inch slate for a 1-piece 9-foot table weighs approximately 105 kg
An 8-foot table constructed for 1-piece slate weighs about 200 kg
A 1-inch slate for a 5-piece 12-foot table weighs nearly 150 kg

Reinforcing Floors for Heavy Pool Tables

This is a question that inevitably comes up when you’re designing a pool table or constructing it. If you have a very heavy pool table, then you should get your floor reinforced right?

Well, it depends. Floors are usually rated for much greater weight than standard pool tables. A pool table weighs not much more than 4 or 5 grown men. Think about it. Your floor could support that and much more without breaking a sweat.

However, depending on how heavy a pool table you’re ordering, you should choose which level it should be placed.

For example, if you’re getting a non-slate, wooden table, then you can place it on the top floor of your home. If you’re getting a heavier table weighing over 200 kg then it’s best to put it on the ground floor.

For a Large Pool Table weighing over 800 kg, it may be a good idea to reinforce your floor. Though, that also may be overkill.

Remember that 800 kg is about 10 grown people. Your floors may be able to easily support that.

Just be smart about where you put your heavy pool tables. That’s all.

What Are Pool Tables Made Of?

Pool tables are usually made of two types of materials; wood, or slate. The former is a lightest and the latter is the heaviest.

Slate is usually preferred to be the best material to construct pool tables from. Though the weight of a pool table invariably increases when it’s constructed from slate, it is also much more durable.

Slate Pool Tables vs. Wood Pool Tables

Most slate tables are constructed out of several different pieces of slate. This requires some of them to be installed in rooms and halls.

The more pieces the pool table has, the thicker it is. One-piece slate pool tables do exist, and they are ¾ inch thick.

For non-slate pool tables though, most of them are made out of wood or medium-density fiberboard (MDF).

These are usually much lighter since they have a higher strength to weight ratio. Slate beds usually add to the weight of the pool table, but MDF maintains a lower weight.

MDF tables are preferred for home use for this very reason. They also cost much less. While slate pool tables can cost thousands of dollars, MDF pool tables are barely a few hundred dollars.

If you ask professionals though, they’ll always go for slate. It’s a heavier, sturdier, and more classic material to construct a table with.

Oldest Pool Table

The oldest pool table in the world is a billiard table. The first billiard table is believed to have been constructed in the 15th century, in France.

King Louis the XI is said to have owned it. Though it was a rough predecessor and nowhere near as refined as today’s pool tables, it was too made from stone.

Constructed out of a bed of flat rock, the table was covered with cloth that acted as a bed. There was a hole at the center of the table where the balls had to be sunk. There is no record of how much the Billiard table weighed. However, since it was carved from stone, it had to have been heavy.

Pool tables can be found at a range of weights. The one you get has to be dependent on the factors discussed in this article. Whichever one you get, be smart about it and don’t rush the decision.

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