How would you fit a table in this room?

Texas Prez

Texas Prez

Hook'em...Enough Said
Silver Member
Alright guys, I can use some thoughts here on how to get the most out of a space I have for a pool table.

I just moved into a house with a basement space and it isn't the recommended dimensions for a pool table, but I'd love to at least put a 7' in to practice. Long term I'll have 13' x 17' but that will require moving HVAC.

Here's what I am working with; in the image, the orange is the HVAC and a Column that obstruct the space. The blue is open space and the green is the size of a 7' table.

So how would you position the table to get the most out of it? Sacrifice one corner to the column? Or place it diagonally? Or something else?

Thanks for the thoughts!

WhereToPutTable.png
 
I’m sure you will get a much better reply, but I think it’s much cheaper to get rid of the support beam than all the HVAC. And, if you don’t address one or the other, you’ll be frustrated every game you play.

I can’t remember because it’s costing so much to rebuild from Hurricane Harvey, but I think it was maybe $2500-$3000 to get rid of a support beam in the game room we are rebuilding, plus the cost of the support beam (which had to be custom ordered).

But, if that were gone, you are pretty close to recommended playing space of 13’ x 16.6’. Just a small area where a custom cue would be needed.

Think of the number of times you would be frustrated by the lack of space vs the discomfort of paying a bit to have the support beam removed.
 
So what is the lighter blue color and what is the dotted orange line? Is the post eventually going to disappear or just the HVAC? In my opinion, this is too small a space for now to even bother with a 7' table considering you have issues on both sides, one of the two ends, and in all 4 corners.

Looks like the diagonal placement you have it shown may be about as good as you can possibly do, even though it places one corner roughly 18-20" from the column and the other corner roughly 2' from the HVAC. You'll need to use a combination of 48", 42" and 36" cues for most shots, and even considerably shorter than that in the worst spots.

If you already have the 7-foot table, I guess you could try it, but I wouldn't go out and buy one for this space if you don't already have one. - Sorry
 
Maybe put the table in the corner against the walls so you only have access to two sides of it? Use it for drills only?
 
Ouch, so close! The best advice I can give would be to make the green area the size of the area you would need to play comfortably, not just the actual size of the table. Then you can move that around to see where your trouble spots will be. Then later on you can figure out if it's better to move the AC or column. Without seeing your AC I'd guess it would be cheaper re-plumb your AC in new a location rather than modify a structural part of the house.

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Put the pool table in the well lit dining room and the dinner table in the dark basement.

Sell the ol' lady on dining by candle light.
 
Without altering the column or HVAC area ...

I wouldn't put it on a diagonal.

I'd place a 7-footer with the playing surface (40" x 80" on some 7-footers) about 64" from both the bottom of your diagram and the HVAC area on the right of your diagram.

That would give you full access to one end (I'd make it the foot end of the table), almost full access to one long side, and compromised access to the other end and long side (52" from cushion edge to wall on the left and 60" from cushion edge to wall at the top).

That assumes that if you play in competition it's on a 7-footer. If you compete on 9-footers, I'd buy a 9-foot table instead. I'd still place it the same way in the room, accepting the fact that the left side of the table would then be 42" from cushion edge to wall on the left and 40" from cushion edge to wall at the top.

Regardless of table size, I'd always want two adjacent sides unimpeded (or at least as close to that as possible) to be able to practice all types of shots with a full-sized cue.
 
Obviously, a couple of Lam Beams to eliminate the column and a HVAC move is in order. That said, for the time being, I would position the table with foot end blocked off.
This give you the nearly 3/4 table for practice drills, even break drills.
At 13' across the sides, only shots at the rail shooting directly across the table are affected.
IMO, get the most out of it as a practice table vs total frustration attempting to make it playable.
My first home table in the mid 80s was given to me, but I simply had to room, it spent its remaining life against a wall in a garage; learned a lot using all but one side.
 

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I would put the table like you have it drawn and then focus on relocating the HVAC and the structural modifications needed to eliminate the post.

Then put a 9 footer in and enjoy!!
 
AtLarge said:
Without altering the column or HVAC area ...

I wouldn't put it on a diagonal.

(snip).
Click to expand...

I agree. Make it look nice and deal with the problem area as it come up.

I have one corner of my table that is too close (3.5 feet from corner of table to corner of wall in the kitchen) to the wall. It rarely is problem.
Put the rack end where the most room is.

I think such close quarters can make you a better player by incentivizing you to keep the cue ball center table, or at least making you
better consider shape.

When practicing, I sometimes allow myself to move the cb or ob when cornered.


Have fun with it, regardless,


Jeff Livingston
 
13' steel W6 (to span 12' with 6" on steel plates on each wall) is relatively cheap depending on what poundage you choose for the weight above. (couple hundred$ +/-) If you have masonary or concrete basement walls, that would be a cheap fast way to ditch the support column. Faster than dithering about table placement. No expense of tin-knockers & carpenters & a tech to cut and frame new openings & re-work your HVAC.

Brunswick says that space would then accommodate a 4 x 8. All except the one slight corner.

OTOH if you want to have a 4-1/2 x 9, it will be necessary to move the HVAC.

Maybe 30 years ago i built a house for a guy whose life revolved around pool. He designed the basement with something line a 25' clear span. We ended up with a W12 or 14 x some unholy wt/ft, seemed almost wide enough to drive a golf cart along, lol. But at 12' span, you really don't need anything very heavy.

smt
 
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Thanks everyone for the thoughts! I really appreciate all the points of view.

Sounds like moving the beam is the best bet (I didn't even think of that!).

I'll have to repost to this thread once I get a table in.

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