How Much Does It Cost to Move a Pool Table?
A slate pool table is not furniture. An eight-foot table weighs somewhere between 700 and 1,000 pounds, most of it in slate slabs that are individually heavy, brittle at the edges and impossible to carry safely without the right number of people. It cannot be dragged, tipped or slid, and it must be disassembled to move even one room over.
That is why professional table movers exist and why their pricing looks high until you understand what the job involves. Here are realistic numbers for the common scenarios, what the quote should include, and the specific ways a cheap move turns expensive.
What a table move actually involves
Understanding the work explains the price.
- Strip the table. Remove pockets, then unbolt and remove the rails, which come off as assemblies with the cushions attached.
- Remove the cloth if it is being reused, carefully, or cut it off if it is being replaced.
- Separate the slate. Most home tables use three slate sections joined with beeswax at the seams. Each section on an eight-foot table weighs roughly 150 to 250 pounds and requires at least two people.
- Disassemble the frame and legs.
- Transport with the slate protected and secured flat.
- Reassemble in reverse, which is the slow part.
- Level the slate across all three sections, shim the frame, wax the seams and sand them flush.
- Restretch and attach the cloth, then reattach rails and pockets.
A competent crew of two to three takes several hours. The leveling and seam work is what separates a table that plays true from one where balls drift, and it is skilled work that cannot be rushed.
Realistic pricing
- Move within the same room or house, no stairs: $200 to $400.
- Local move between addresses, ground floor to ground floor: $300 to $600.
- Add stairs: $100 to $250 per flight, more for narrow or turning staircases.
- Tight access, basements, or crane or window removal: quoted individually and can rise sharply.
- Long-distance: from around $600, then mileage-based. Some companies subcontract the destination end.
- Storage in between: disassembly and reassembly are quoted as two visits, so expect close to two full charges plus storage fees.
- New cloth during reassembly: $200 to $400 including materials and labor.
- New cushions if needed: $250 to $500 on top.
Coin-operated and commercial tables sometimes cost more because of weight and design. Antique tables with one-piece slate can cost dramatically more, since a single slab may weigh over 700 pounds and require specialist handling.
What the quote should include
Get these confirmed in writing before booking.
- Full disassembly and reassembly, not just transport.
- Releveling at the destination, explicitly. This is the step that determines whether the table plays correctly, and a quote that omits it is not a real quote.
- Seam waxing where the slate sections meet.
- Cloth handling: whether existing cloth will be reused, and what happens if it tears during removal, which is common on older cloth.
- Insurance coverage and the amount. Slate can crack, and rails and legs can be damaged.
- Access assessment. Stairs, doorway widths and turns should be discussed before the day, not discovered on it.
- Timeframe and crew size. Two people is a minimum for most slate tables.
A firm that asks detailed questions about your table and your access before quoting is the firm you want. One that gives a flat price over the phone without asking anything is guessing.
Why not to DIY it
People do move their own tables, and some get away with it. The failure modes are worth knowing.
Cracked slate. Slate is strong in the middle and fragile at edges and corners. Dropping a corner or flexing a slab while carrying it can crack it, and replacement slate is expensive and hard to source matched to your table.
Injury. Individual slate sections weigh as much as a person and have no good handholds. Stairs multiply the risk substantially.
A table that never plays right again. This is the most common outcome. Reassembly without proper leveling, shimming and seam work produces roll-off that no amount of adjustment later fully fixes.
Damaged rails and cushions. Rails bolt through the slate and frame in a specific pattern. Overtightening, cross-threading or reassembling in the wrong order damages them.
If you are determined to do it yourself, at minimum photograph everything before disassembly, bag and label all hardware by location, get more people than you think you need, and buy or borrow a good level for the rebuild. But for a table you care about, the professional fee is small compared with a cracked slab.
Saving money without cutting corners
Combine the move with a recloth. The cloth has to come off anyway. Doing it during the move saves a separate labor charge later, and old cloth often tears during removal regardless.
Clear the route yourself. Remove doors, clear furniture, and make sure the path is open. Crews charge for time.
Be flexible on timing. Off-peak scheduling sometimes brings better rates.
Get three quotes from firms that specialize in tables, not general movers who will take the job.
Ask about the destination first. If the table will not fit the new room with proper cue clearance, moving it is money wasted. Measure before you book, and check that the floor can carry the load, which matters most on upper floors and older buildings.
One more consideration: if the table is an inexpensive MDF model rather than slate, the calculation changes entirely. Those tables are much lighter, often not worth professional moving costs, and sometimes not worth moving at all compared with selling and rebuying.
Our picks
Links open the current selection and price on Amazon so you can compare real reviews before buying.
Machinist or precision level
Checking the resultA proper level lets you verify the crew leveled the slate correctly before they leave, and catch drift later before it ruins your game.
Check price on AmazonSlate shim set
Fine adjustmentThin shims for correcting small level differences between slate sections or under frame legs after the table settles.
Check price on AmazonTable cloth and installation kit
Recloth during the moveThe cloth is off anyway during a move, so replacing it then saves a separate labor charge later.
Check price on AmazonHeavy-duty table cover
Protecting it afterwardOnce a table is in place and leveled, a proper cover keeps dust, sun and spills off the new cloth.
Check price on AmazonFrequently asked questions
How much does it cost to move a pool table?
A local move of a slate table typically runs $300 to $600 including disassembly, transport, reassembly and releveling. Stairs add $100 to $250 per flight, and moving a table within the same house is usually $200 to $400.
Can I move a pool table myself?
It is possible but risky. Slate sections weigh 150 to 250 pounds each with no good handholds, they crack at edges and corners, and reassembly without proper leveling and seam work leaves a table that never rolls true again.
Do regular movers move pool tables?
Most general furniture movers should not, and many will decline. A slate table must be disassembled, and reassembly requires leveling, shimming and seam waxing that general crews do not do. Use a firm that specializes in pool tables.
Should I recloth while the table is being moved?
Usually yes. The cloth comes off during disassembly anyway and often tears in the process, so replacing it then costs $200 to $400 in combined labor rather than paying for a separate visit later.
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