purchasing a new table

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fluffybunny

New member
Hello everyone,
I am purchasing my first pool table, I played at my grandparents house and I have never had room for one, we are moving into a new house so we are finally going to have room for one.

I am looking at olhausen americana link. I am purchasing it from a local dealer who is a family friend. It is going to be very slightly used(4 days for some promotional thing) so I am getting a good deal on it. I may upgrade to some better cloth in the future but I am going to stick with the same cloth.

I have a few questions though. Where I am hopefully going to put it is in a bonus room which is over our garage. I have read that some people have their tables there. I asked the builder about if the floor would hold it and he said that he would not recommend putting one there. Our real estate agent though has said that many people in the same type rooms have put pool tables there and they have no problems. She also mentioned that why the builder may say that is liability issues. I have no details at the moment on construction but I may be able to find them out. Does anyone here have any personal experience with a table in this type of room?

Also does anyone have any experience with the conversion tops for a ping pong table? I may be interested in one, if it wouldn't damage the table.
 
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Typically floors are supposed to be built to a load spec of 41lbs per sq ft capacity. An average solid frame Olhausen table in 8' plus a couple of average size players standing around it, exerts close to 38 to 39 lbs per sq ft.
So obviously if there was any skimping on construction techniques, there could be a problem. Some of this can be resolved if the room is unfinished, by adding an extra layer of 5/8" or 3/4" underlayment to distribute the weight more evenly. Check with a local engineer if necessary to determine if your loft area is beefy enough. As far as the table tennis top is concerned, most of them have foam weatherstripping stuck to the underside. This, combined with a nice heavy duty dust cover should be enough to protect your table. Good Luck!

Chris
 
Thanks a lot for the reply, when you say there could be a problem do you mean catastrophic failure such as the floor collapsing? or just warp?
 
fluffybunny said:
Thanks a lot for the reply, when you say there could be a problem do you mean catastrophic failure such as the floor collapsing? or just warp?
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I don't know squat about floor capacities etc and that's why, if I were in your situation, I'd spend the extra $$$$ and go to an architect (sp?) for some REAL facts about this situation.

This is not something you can take a chance on! I would think that "catastrophic failure" is a possibility that must be ruled out by a competent professional after measurements are taken, and after construction methods and materials are inspected.

I'm betting that floor/garage ceiling needs some extra reinforcement.... like a laminated beam down the middle or something. I'm in favor of overkill when it comes to this situation. My family room floor was heavily reinforced and I even beefed that up considerably.... and I'm not going to be walking and parking under my table.

I don't know anything about ping pong table conversions. I hate to be a snob but they are uncool in the pool world... imo. :D
 
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Many home builders advise against putting a pooltable in the room over the garage...and then many of the stick built, custom home builders say its not an issue. Your builder advised you NOT to...your builder knows how your home was constructed so I'd listen.;)
 
JimS said:
I don't know squat about floor capacities etc and that's why, if I were in your situation, I'd spend the extra $$$$ and go to an architect (sp?) for some REAL facts about this situation.

This is not something you can take a chance on! I would think that "catastrophic failure" is a possibility that must be ruled out by a competent professional after measurements are taken, and after construction methods and materials are inspected.

I'm betting that floor/garage ceiling needs some extra reinforcement.... like a laminated beam down the middle or something. I'm in favor of overkill when it comes to this situation. My family room floor was heavily reinforced and I even beefed that up considerably.... and I'm not going to be walking and parking under my table.

I don't know anything about ping pong table conversions. I hate to be a snob but they are uncool in the pool world... imo. :D
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Psh, I wouldnt be worried about the car, I'd be worried about the table!!! I don't think it'd survive a drop through a floor!!!
 
fluffybunny said:
Thanks a lot for the reply, when you say there could be a problem do you mean catastrophic failure such as the floor collapsing? or just warp?
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I don't believe catastrophic failure is something to worry about, but floor flex, as well as floor movement when walking around the table is possible. All of that adds up to the table leveling being hard to control, which in turn diminishes the enjoyment of your new table. Now, the Olhausen Americana is solid POPLAR. That will decrease the weight compared to oak or maple. Still...I probably play it safe and find another location for the table.

Chris
 
Neil said:
All you have to do is find out if you have 2x4 or 2x6 or 2x10 framing in your floor, find out the weight of the table, and call the local building inspector. He will know if it will support it. If it's a finished room, it's probably 2x10 framing.
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That's exactly it. Depends on the construction of your house. I worked construction for five years prior to the job I have now, a couple of them were spent framing. The houses we built were in the 500k - 1mil range, and the room above the garage was always finished, and intended to be used as any other room in the house would be. We always used 2x10 floor joists under that floor, and I am 100% positive they would hold up.
 
Thanks everyone for your advice, I found out what was under the floor and it is I-Joists(wood I think) on 16 inch centers, do you think that will hold it?
 
fluffybunny said:
Thanks everyone for your advice, I found out what was under the floor and it is I-Joists(wood I think) on 16 inch centers, do you think that will hold it?
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16 in centers are pretty standard. You might double check to make sure they're 2x10", but I'm sure they are. If that part of your house is on 16 in centers, then the rest of it probably is too, so that floor will hold up just as well as any other floor in the house.
 
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