Pool table upstairs?

It won't be a problem if you're building new. You just have to be sure to put the right floor trusses in to handle the weight. Pre-fab wouldn't be built to hold that weight, but if you are ordering it, I would think it could be built into it.

How much does a pool table weigh? 1,000 pounds max I'm guessing. That's five adult men roughly. Four fat guys maybe. I would think any house built to code should be able to hold up 5 adult men without a pronlem.

That said, I'm no structural engineer so I'm sure I'm wrong.

The weight of a 9 foot table could weigh around a 1000 lbs. all the way up to 2,500 lbs. for the antiques with 1.5 inch slate and 6 legs.

JTP,

I would recommend speaking with a reputable general contractor or framer in your area. The structure could easily be built to to handle the weight of a pool table upstairs. Your design should start with the foundation and work upwards giving consideration to transferring the point load of the table legs back down to the foundation through proper framing methods. You can size just the area at the legs to handle the table load but should also take into account the accumulation of stuff and extra people that would add load to most or all of the floor area. You may be better served to build the entire area to handle a heavier load. You are more than welcome to PM me for my phone number if you would like to discuss this further.

Keith

jtompilot said:

I’m looking at building a game room upstairs or buying a two story prefab garage and using the upstairs for my game room.

A friend of mine said “everyone that has a 9’ table upstairs always have problems leveling and keeping the table level”.

Who has experience with this and anyone recommend what to look for in flooring requirements?

Thanks
Jim

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The easy part is designing it strong enough to support the weight. The most basic of building codes will keep it from crashing through. The focus should be on deflection so that it isn't moving as people walk around. It's a simple matter of doing the calculations and using heavier beams to limit deflection.

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I have a 9' Diamond above my garage. After it settled in, keeping the table level hasn't been an issue, but there is some movement when people are walking around it, especially people with heavy steps. It normal for floors to flex a bit; they are designed that way, but if it's a concern, there are things you can do to stiffen the floor. I haven't tried any of them yet, but would be interested to hear about the results from anyone who has. Since it's just my garage underneath, it wouldn't be that big a deal for me to get at the joists and add sister joists, metal straps, etc.

I lived above a three car garage for 14 years. When I had my Gold Crown IV up there I had 7-8 extra floor joists installed directly under where the GCIV was going to sit. Never had a problem. None.

r/DCP

Doubling the floor joists or adding a few beams would do the trick. If you want it bulletproof, run it by a structural engineer. There are many variables to consider .. spans, live and static loads, etc....

If you criss cross bracing between joists, you're essentially tripling the joists at each joist individually, meaning the weight of standing on one joist is dispersed over the 2 parallel joists next to the one you're standing on.

Once you have the proper support beams in place overkill the subfloor with screws, mark out where the beams are along the floor and then install rows of screws along those beams, it makes a huge difference in how sold the floor feels and will reduce a lot of that bounce when people are walking around.

I've had a 1700 lb 9 footer over my garage for 15 years, and have never had to re-level. I added horizontal 2x12 blocks between the vertical 2x12 joists. I used real 3/4" nail down hardwood flooring over 2 layers of 3/4" plywood sub-floor with a lot of nails which probably helped stiffen everything up. The 18x26 room is very solid.