flooring for pool table

Chris_Lynch said:

I'm putting a pool table in my house and am redoing my house for it. Are there any kinds of flooring that are inappropriate for a pool table? I am looking at the click lock engineered hardwood floors but some of them (Pergo) seem to have a bounce to them when walked on. Recommendations anyone?

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Hi Chris,
I have installed many tables on Pergo (aka; floating floors). I have not had any problems. One thing that I do is use 3" hard rubber shims under the legs. These keep the table from slideing on the laminent floor.

For the price per square foot and the relativly easy install for the semi-skilled DIYer you can't beat laminate flooring.

Check these guys http://www.lumberliquidators.com/catalog/flooring.jsp?categoryId=4&nsa=1 for some good prices.

Chris_Lynch said:

Thanks. Good to know. Where in NJ are you? I'm in Essex County.

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I am in Ocean County. We cover the entire state.

laminate flooring

I too have successfully installed tables over laminates. If the laminate flooring has not been installed yet, you can enhance the performance of both the table and the floor with these few tips.

Laminate floors have a resilient pad either attached to the plank or installed from a roll before the planks are laid down. This pad is designed to hold its memory, i.e., remain springy. The flooring acts as a structural membrane, dispersing concentrated loads (like a pool table leg) over a broader area.

Plan where the table legs will be and scrap or cut a 12 x 12 square of the resilient pad away at those points. Next, replace the pad with 12 x 12 peel and stick vinyl tiles. They are available in different patterns (thicknesses) so you can find a pretty close match to the thickness of the pad.

By doing this, you avoid having the floor dish down under the weight of the leg. This dishing is particularly noticable in the low light hours of the day and especially if light sweeps the floor from a low angle. Additionally, the foundation for the table becomes more stable, resulting in better long term levelness.

My most recent pergo job was to floor the gameroom and then install a ten foot snooker on top of it. We went back two months later to pergo her dining room as well and made a couple of bucks doing it.

Kerry
www.ridgebackrails.com

Wood flooring is nice but I would never suggest it for a pool table. I prefer carpet over wood any day. Carpet is more comfortable, quiet and keeps room quiet by absorbing sound, and much nicer to cues if dropped. Industrial carpets have a low pile and may be more expensive but its a better way to go. If your a pool player there is nothing worse than reaching out on a shot and having your foot loose traction on a wood floor. Even worse than that is if you wear leather shoes which I am sure many don't anymore. Plus playing in your socks sucks on a wood floor. At the end of the day you want a poolroom IMO to be like the one you play at. Most poolrooms have carpet.

Right, one thing for sure, you will be playing pool in your socks at home, ask anyone. Area rugs are fine as long as they are large enough so you have both feet on them. Oh, a CT state champion plays all the time without shoes in the poolrooms here.

Ask the expert in NJ, Daniel Caffo, at DCaffo61@msn.com.

"Floating Floor" is ok if the table is heavy. I put a 7ft. Connelly on a floor like that and it was very bouncy.

floor

I am putting an addition on our home for the sole purpose of housing a pool table. I have 1i/8 subfloor over which I will install carpet tiles. These are industrial strength and low nap. The advantage is when a path is worn around the table you can pull the up and replace them. I like the quiet that carpet provides also.

Chris_Lynch said:

We may have an area rug for the table but I just wanted to make sure there isn't anything wrong with the flooring we're looking at. Dampening the sound is a concern so thanks for bringing that up.
I don't play pool in my socks at the poolroom.

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Cork! It's the nuts, especially if dampening the sound is a concern and you want the look of a natural material. I've seen it from a somewhat glossy finish to a dull finish and in 12" and 16" tiles. REALLY nice looking stuff. Self-healing and very quiet. Unfortunately it can get expensive, but I have been really impressed with the few cork floors I've seen.

When I had the new table installed, I had 1/2-inch bamboo hardwood installed below the table and left the carpet for the rest of the room. There is no possible settling problem for the table and the carpet keeps my toes warm. An added benefit is that when I have new carpet put in I won't have to remove the table.

This is exactly the setup I'm trying to build in my basement. How big is that rectangle of hardwood flooring? I don't have the table yet (a 9-foot Gold Crown).
Thanks in advance,
jeff

The hardwood area under my table measures 86"x50.5". I don't believe all Gold Crowns have the same dimensions, so make sure you get the right specs before having the flooring installed. I sent Brunswick an email and they provided the dimensions. I'm glad they were accurate, because I had the flooring installed before the table was delivered.

This is not snap-together flooring. It is tongue and groove and the pieces are glued together and glued to the floor, which received a lot of prep work before the wood was glued down. I would not use a floating floor, but some seem to think that's okay.

I assume your basement has a concrete floor. Is that right? The floor under my table is wood, so there were supports added under the floor: large beams running under the joists from foot to head, directly under the feet. From those beams, posts at the foot locations run down to bedrock. Couldn't get a more solid wood floor.

Good luck,
Howard

Chris_Lynch said:

We may have an area rug for the table but I just wanted to make sure there isn't anything wrong with the flooring we're looking at. Dampening the sound is a concern so thanks for bringing that up.
I don't play pool in my socks at the poolroom.

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I practice at home and always wore house slippers or just socks depending on the time of year. Every time I went out it always seemed as if the tables were lower and i missed balls that I would normally make. One day my wife bought a pair of platform shoes and she was wearing them around the house to make sure they were comfortable and fit. She made a comment that everything looked different by being higher up. That comment made me realize the problem that I had on the pool tables. When I went out I wore shoes that were at least one inch higher than when I played at home. Now I have a pair of shoes that I use strictly for home when I play on my table. Solved that problem about the tables appearing lower and the shots looking different.

Hello Junkbond-your setup is exactly what I was looking for as well. Did you use any kind of transition pieces along the perimeter of the wood floor, or is it just the bamboo planks going all the way to the edge to the carpet?

jonah5,

There are no transition pieces. The carpet is folded over at the edges and tack strips were used.

Here is mine that was done a few years ago.

Floor is tongue and groove engineered Santos mahogany that is glued to the concrete slab. I used oak hardwood moulding to frame the floor.

Ignore the dust.