Welcome to our "HACKER" page!
We started this page to hopefully educate people to the right and wrong way of handling pool tables. We hope that the information you get from this page helps you to find a reliable company to handle your pool table. While searching the web, we have also come across some pages with some really wrong information as well. Some of which are actually shown below. We do not want to link to the sites but I am sure if you are doing your home work, you may have already come across them.
Please beware if your installer shows up with "WEDGES" Some table mechanics claims that wedges are the new and better way of installing and leveling a table, however, let us point out the issue. Sure, wedges may speed up the installation, but, over time and playing, vibrations will cause the wedges to fall out, leaving you with a very unlevel table. We have gone to so many homes to either recover or move a table and found one wedge left under the surface, and then had the customer ask what it was, as from time to time they had been finding them on the floor under and around the pool table. Flat shims are the ONLY way to level a pool table correctly, yes, it does take more time, but you must take time to do things right.
BONDO or Auto filler as some say, is also a no no with pool tables. BONDO does just that, it bonds. Great for cars; horrible for slate. Slate has holes for screwing it down to the base frame; some of the holes are in the playing surface and must be filled before covering the table. We use bees wax to fill the holes and the seams of the table. This allows for disassembling the table at a later date without damaging the slate or the screws. BONDO will adhere itself to the slate, which can cause breaking when attempting to separate. BONDO also makes removing the screws an interesting challenge and mess with a drill bit.
Finally, our biggest issue with other installers; STAPLES IN THE POCKETS!@!! Let me start by saying leather as we all know is nice, however, over time it can become dry and brittle. The leather drop pockets on a pool table have tabs that need to be fastened to the slate. Wood screws are what are used for this, some pocket companies ship them with the pockets, while others do not. The leather tabs are screwed up underneath the rails to the slate backing or the base frame. Staples going into the pockets can cause damage to the leather, and eventually break the leather tabs.
We apologize to any installers whom we offended and we hope this information helps anyone with a pool table.
If you want your table to be installed correctly, the installer will have to take his time and do things right. I guarantee any one with lower prices than us, are doing at least two of the items above to speed up the assemble and cut corners on cost.
We are not just pool table installers, we are pool players! We want nothing but a perfect table.
Each table we install is being installed as if it was going into our own home.
ENJOY THE PHOTOS BELOW!
This is the INCORRECT way to move a pool table. The owners of this table were extremely lucky that no damage was done to the slate. The moving company they hired, flipped their Olhausen upside down to remove the legs, and never disassembled it. The moving company then realized their mistake and called us to fix it.
While restoring a 1918 Brunswick, we found that some hacker who replaced the rubber on the rails,
must have given up waiting for the glue to hold and stapled the rubber instead! Bet this rail
had a bad bounce!
This is a rail from a Connelly table, we were asked to repair the table after a moving company hired someone with no experience to set it up. Notice the nail in the feathering strip, this rail and one other had about 7 nails each holding the feathering strip in. The slate was mounted off center, and the slate screws actually popped through the cabinet.
This is the seam on an 1918 Brunswick, notice the last company used plaster for the seam,
which breaks apart and does not last.
To top it off, they also placed a line of scotch tape over the seam. For the record, seams should be done with Bees Wax! Although it is harder to use, the results are much better. If your table wasn't installed with bees' waxed seams then the installer is not experienced enough to be installing and I am sure you will find more problems, like the level of the table.
Sorry about this picture being so dark, but you can still see the staples that someone used to hold up the pockets. This is a NO NO. Wood screws should have been used to prevent less damage to the leather and make for easier uninstalls and recovers.
The installer of this table used plaster. When we uninstalled this table, 9 slate screws were destroyed from the plaster, and the plaster itself was broken down and just powder. Not filling in the seam at all. Also, the installer filled all the slate screw holes. The only slate screw holes that need to be filled in on an Olhausen table are the middle slate screws. The slate screws on the edge of the slate, are not on the playing surface, therefore they do not need to be filled. Buyers beware, if your installer is going to use plaster, you should find another installer. Bee's wax is the way to go when installing a pool table.
This is an issue with lazy installation. When Brunswick tables are shipped from the manufacture, they need to be completely assembled, base frame and all. This installer did not want to bother pre-drilling holes for the corner blocks on the base frame, and as you can see, the screw came through. Also, the corner block is not in the correct location. This block should have been snugged up against the rest of the frame, giving it the extra support it needed.
This is an example of what can happen if a table is not moved correctly. When the moving company delivered the table to the customers new house, they placed the slate side against the wall, not the wood backing, and they must of let it fall to the wall, instead of gently setting it there. The slate snapped clear across and all the way through. This is a $400 dollar mistake, minimum. Unfortunately for the customer, they moved over 4 years ago, and never noticed. We were able to modify the slate enough to get this piece almost completely flat. The cloth the customer is using hides what we could not. ALWAYS inspect your slate after a moving company has handled it.
This is an example of how the corners of the bed should NOT be done. This custom was given one of the worse installations we have seen. This was done on a brand new installation of an Olhausen Eclipse in Rhode Island. I will not name the company who handled the install, but I will say, by far one of the worse jobs we have seen. The customers table was not level, the shims used on the floor stuck out from the leg, and then of course there are the corner pockets....sad. Another good example of buyer beware!
Not the best quality picture, but you definitely can see, the installer of this table used a razor blade as a shim. This is exposed underneath, and any of you with small children know, they go under the pool tables all the time, and try to pull out exposed shims. Scary to think they might be pulling out a razor blade.