Pool Table on 2nd Floor

jsp

jsp

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I have a 20'x15' bonus room on the second floor of my house that I eventually want to furnish with a 9-footer. The room is directly over the garage, and the house is about 11 years old.

Should I be worried at all about the floor supporting the weight of a 1200lb pool table? You think it's worth paying for a professional opinion, or do you think I'm worrying too much?
 
If it's a real room that's designed to be occupied by people, then it shouldn't be an issue. If it is just attic space that has been finished off, then weight might be a problem. The size and support of floor joists is the final answer. If unsure, then consult a professional. FWIW, my gameroom (a real room) is on the second floor of my house. I've had an 8' table up there for eight years, with no problems whatsoever. So if the floor is properly constructed, it's a non issue.
 
jsp said:
Should I be worried at all about the floor supporting the weight of a 1200lb pool table? You think it's worth paying for a professional opinion, or do you think I'm worrying too much?
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Depends on whether you think saving the few hundred it would take for a qualified person to come take a look at the room, is worth the possible risk of either you, someone you love, or your car being crushed by a 1200 lb pool table falling through the floor. :D :D :D :D

I know what MY decision would be! *grin*

Russ
 
2nd floor table

I had an 8' on the second floor of my home in Texas. For banging the balls around it was just fine. But if you walked real hard or if someone jumped up and down the balls would shimmy enough that a solid rack would become a mud rack.

But the fix was not that hard. I took the table out of the room, pulled the carpet up and then the subfloor to expose the joists. I put a new joist between each of the existing joists and then did X crossbraces out of 2X4' s to tie the joists together. Then I SCREWED the subfloor back down and screwed another subfloor (plywood) on top of that. THen I put the carpet back down and moved the table back in. From then on you would have thought that table was on concrete. You could dance an elephant around that room and the balls would not move.

The entire thing was done by me alone over the course of a single weekend. And I am not at all handy with tools.
 
jsp said:
I have a 20'x15' bonus room on the second floor of my house that I eventually want to furnish with a 9-footer. The room is directly over the garage, and the house is about 11 years old.

Should I be worried at all about the floor supporting the weight of a 1200lb pool table? You think it's worth paying for a professional opinion, or do you think I'm worrying too much?
Click to expand...
I would recommend that you get a professional to evaluate whether the additional weight will be an issue. I have the same problem and I just had a structural engineer check it out for his opinion.

He told me that although the room would support the weight, it may cause sagging over time. He suggested that I have a pole installed in the garage between my 2nd and 3rd bay to alleviate the potential issue.

My room was made to be a game room by the original builder, so I would have it checked out. The structural engineer cost me about $300. I am waiting on an estimate on having the extra support installed right now.
 
That is a pretty good sized room, it's not that old. Based on those facts, I would think that it would be fine. I professional would be a good idea, but personally, I wouldn't be too worried about it.
 
mattman said:
That is a pretty good sized room, it's not that old. Based on those facts, I would think that it would be fine. I professional would be a good idea, but personally, I wouldn't be too worried about it.
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My new house was only 6 years old, so better to be safe. JMO.
 
Unless St. Louis builders are just complete idiots, from experience I WOULD be worried about it. I am not saying the floor will crash through or anything catastrophic. I just know from experience that homes are not built like they used to be. It is not unusual to go back several times to a house and relevel because the floors are sagging. It might only be 1/16" here and there but you will have to relevel your table. Builders today use whatever code is and nothing more. Thinner plywood seems to be the main culprit. Too many companys are using 5/8" plywood for flooring instead of 1 inch. Maybe St Louis homebuilders are just being cheap. Maybe I am just frustrated with how cheaply everything seems to be built these days...:(

If it was MY house I would put an ADDITIONAL plywood subfloor and glue the entire floor to the previos one, going at a right angle to the current floor and SCREW BOTH floors to the joists AND each other. It will never shimmy or shift, unless of course you live in CA and earthquakes and such.

A good test is to have one of your friends who weighs 250lbs or more go into the room and walk around or even jump. If you see your drywall ceiling below moving around...you need some reinforcement. All that vibration and movement is not good for keeping a pool table playing well.
 
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I'd definitely have someone who knows look it over. There are lots of things to consider. Over a garage was the ceiling done in 2x6's or 2x8's. Were they 16" on center or 24" on center? Same with the walls. Are they 2x4 or 2x6 and what are their centers? Code should all be 16" on ceiling, but I know sometimes corners are cut on garages.

Its not the 1500 lb. pool table that is your only concern, its the 4handed games of rotation with the buddies and wife bringing up food that can add another 1500 lbs to that.

If I had to personally guess, I'd say its ok. But never the less, piece of mind is worth the cost of the review.

When I first got married, we rented a second floor and attic space in an older 2 family house. The attic was unfinished, but it could have been made into a small third family.

I purchased an old 9' House of Lords table and myself and 3 friends carried the slates up those old winding stairs to the attic.

I swear to you, when we were all done, the four of us along with some interested friends looked the effort over. We could actually (although slightly) feel the house sway with everyone up there! :eek:
 
Thanks all for the responses.

I was going to get a structural engineer's opinion regardless of what I read in this thread. I was just wondering if I was being overly cautious. From most of these posts, it seems like I'm not.

JDB, thanks for the info. If you don't mind sharing the info, can you please let me know the estimate of having a pole installed in your garage? Thanks.
 
i have the same concern. i live above my garage in an apartment, and i had a 7 footer, 8 footer, and 9 footer in the apartment. i had a couple of extra floor joists put in when the place was built, then my uncle and i put in three more floor joists before i put the 9 footer up there.

i am thinking about expanding the place by 12', and putting my GCIV back upstairs. i've already told the builder the floor needs reinforced, and he suggested instead of 16" for the 2x8 studs, he would go 12" if i wanted. my uncle says to just double the joists right below where the table would go, and put a support pole right below also.

when i sold my 9 footer i had the table up there, and including myself there were 6 pretty good sized people upstairs that were taking the table apart. no problems.

i'd say its something you need to check, but you wont have any problems. and if there is a concern one support pole or crossbeam below would solve it immediately. very simple fix here.

DCP

p.s. wait? the garage is right below, can you put up a pole? or would it be in the way of garage door openers, vehicles, etc?
 
Technically, if it is a bonus room that was put in by the builder, it should be built to the same code that the rest of you living space is. The real question would be the support beams in general, not the flooring. Unless you live in some backwoods area that has not caught up on decent building codes, the flooring should be substantial enough for a pool table. I do not know of any area that allows 2x6's to be used as floor joist for a house (maybe a very short span deck), even over a garage. Unless your house is built with floor truses, it will not be on 24" centers. 2x10's on 16" centers are standard for any building code I have ever seen. If anything, the centers would be less due to a long span.
Support beams running acrossed the house are required for areas in certain houses when what would be used as attic space is turned into a bonus room. If the bonus room is part of the original plans, then the added support will be part of the building code. If it is not, then the weight bearing support may not be as good as it is in actual living space, depending on the design of the house.
Rememer that anyone you bring out to analyse this will have to be overly cautious with his recommendations to cover his own butt. If it was part of the original house, I would not worry about it. If you added the bonus room later by finishing an attic area, I would assume that you may need more support.
 
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