How do I re-felt my billiard table?

Question

When we moved to this house we didn't know where it would go, so it was stored in our garage. My husband recently brought it in, set up the frame and legs but top is not on. We need someone to bring in the slate and re-felt it. Local billiards stores only will set up a table that was purchased from them. The slate is in one piece. If I can get helpers to bring in the slate, how then do I proceed to re-felt it and finish it? I live in Brunswick, Georgia. Any pool table installers in the area?

Answer 1

Can you do it yourself? What does it take to refelt a pool table?

Until recently the world of pool retained it secrets and had been a mystery. Those who were good players or table mechanics kept their knowledge to themselves to protect their livelihood. The Information Technology era has made it profitable for players and table mechanics to share their knowledge and allow the average person to benefit from their knowledge.

So what should you look for if you want to save some money and undertake the task of recovering your own pool table? There are three factors that are going to make the task much easier and raise you level of success mainly:-

The quality of materials being used

The correct set of tools.

Lastly is a good set of instructions.

So how do I know if I am getting good materials? Locally this is much easier than on the Internet, but even there, there are ways to identify a reputable dealer for your purchases. Here are a few things to consider.

First if the price seems low there will always be a reason. It may be old cloth, materials from odd lots or even overseas material that will not have quality controls found in the US. If you find a website that looks good and the prices seem reasonable. If they provide a contact method send them an email and ask a technical or service question. See what kind of response you get and how responsive they are. This will give you an idea how responsive they will be if you have a problem later when something goes wrong or you have another question.



Cloth manufacturers are pretty consistent in the prices they sell to wholesalers so if you find someone selling way below the average price beware! Finding good instructions may also take a little searching. Many sites taunt instructions but many turn out to be little more than a few penciled pictures and less than a page of how to cover the bed. What I recommend is detailed step by step instructions with actual pictures. Good instruction will almost assure success, but if you have additional questions look for a site that will provide email or phone support they are out there.

What about tools? Well most of what you need is readily available in the average home but there are some specialty tools that can make the job much easier:- Staple pullers, feather strip removers, specialty razors and pounding blocks. These sound simple but having them can make a job go so much smoother and reduce some mistakes that can happen when using an incorrect tool. Look for a recovering kit that contains these types of tools and your job just got easier.

I hope this helps in your search for those of you thinking of refelting your own billiard tables.

Answer 2

call hobart carpenter,,,in charlotte,in the ph bk..,,he will travel and he is the best in the area,,,he also has several friends who have done it for yrs,,he in his 70`s,,,,there are many places,,such as american billiards on 4th street,charlotte,,who can tell you who can do it,,,,,

Answer 3

It would be best to get a professional to do it for you. I'm not familiar with any in your area, but you could try calling a couple of pool rooms and see if they could recommend someone.

If you choose to do it yourself there is a installation guide at the bottom of the page that is listed below.

Answer 4

If your ambitious and want to save some money you can try refelting your table yourself. Just go to refelting.com and they will show you step by step how to do it. My friend and I redid his table this way and it turned out great.This is a really great website that shows you how to do all kinds of pool table maintenance and it uses real pictures and clear explanations. If you don't think your up to it then call your local pool hall and they will recommend somebody to you. Good luck to ya!