How difficult and expensive is it to replace the felt on a pool table?

Question

How difficult and expensive is it to replace the felt on a pool table?

Answer 1

It isn't very difficult to replace the cloth on the bed of the table but the rails are a lot more challenging.  Doing both at the  same time is advisable if you want the table to play properly. There are instructions available on the net if you search, however if you want to do the bed and the rails I would suggest getting a table mechanic to do the work.

The cost depends largely on the size of the table and the type of cloth you go with, as well as what a table mechanic charges in your area.

For a 4x8 table, cloth could run you from around $80-$250ish depending on the brand. The more expensive ones like Simonis or Championship(tour edition) are made with worsted wool, which will have a lot less fuzz and pilling, and play faster and more accurately. The cheap cloth often pills a lot, is slower, and many times won't last as long.

Check yellow pages or talk to a local pool hall or billiards supply store to find rates of some local table mechanics.

Hope this helps, and good luck.

Answer 2

We are a retail business @ westernslopebilliards.com. We charge about 275.00 for an 8ft table. A few of our customers do the whole job job themselves. It is not too difficult to put the bed cloth on but the rails are a little tricky. If you want to do it yourself you might ask the billiard store what it would cost to have the installer to cover the rails, then do the bed cloth yourself. Many of our DIY customers go this route.  At our store we charge 50.00 to cover the rails if you bring them in. The cloth  for the table itself costs 125.00 from our store. We use Velocity for the most part. Doing it that way the cost ends up being 175.00 as opposed to 275.00 in our area for a recover.  There are places on the web to purchase cloth and supplies to do the job yourself.  Thanks Connie ~ westernslopebilliards.com

Answer 3

iam not sure my dad tells me our felt cost 300$ so dont ruin it

Answer 4

I    would    hire   someone   to   do    it    and    I    think   it   would    cost    between    100    and   250.

Answer 5

If you're hiring someone typically it's about 200 - 500 depending on the type of cloth and size of the table and type of slate installation (glue on vs backed slate).  Pulling it properly and getting it straight is something you don't really want to do for yourself if you don't know what you're doing.  If you ruin a cloth it's one thing, if you ruin a rail or worse the slate it's another.

As was mentioned Simonis and Championship Tour, are worsted wool this means they use longer wool fibers and a special weave, both of these cloths are also shaved on one side to prevent pilling, and you have to make sure you put the correct side up.  Getting a proper fold at the corners isn't easy.  I wouldn't dream of doing my own, luckily for me, I know a few people who do it for a living, they install for a number of different table makers, so I get it done for the cost of the cloth and a case of beer.

Another thing is that when you get someone to do it, they'll also re-level the table and make sure the rails are on straight, pockets should all have a consistant width.  You can get a rough measurement by putting 2 balls in the pocket side by side and see how tight or loose they are.

Answer 6

If you've never done it before it can be quite a job. My brother and i redid his table using the direction of this website http://www.refelting.com/ It actually turned out pretty good. It was our first time. We took our time and it wasn't really too difficult. If your not sure you can do it then hire a pro. Just call your nearest pool hall and they can turn you onto somebody that can help you out. Don't use actual felt though. It is not meant for pool tables. Get a good pool table cloth like simonis or brunswick centennial. It will cost you more but it's well worth it in the long run. Good luck to ya.