Over the years, priorities change and evolve and so too do our homes. Man caves turn into home offices, spare rooms turn into nurseries and the items that once occupied those spaces can be incredibly difficult to part with.
Whatever it is that’s pushed your hobby out of the home, whether it be a snooker table, foosball table or anything in between, make sure it’s stored safely until it can return to its rightful place with a convenient self-storage unit.
How to disassemble a pool table
Heavy, expensive and tricky to maneuver, putting a pool table into storage isn’t as simple as lifting it and leaving it in a garage to gather dust. Instead, when the time comes to find proper pool table storage, it’s important to properly disassemble it first.
As painful as it might be to take your pool table apart, it is the safest way to ensure the condition of your pool table during its stay in storage. Not only does this make moving the table easier and safer, but it also provides the perfect opportunity to check the individual parts of the pool table for damage prior to storage.
If you’ve had your pool table for a long time, chances are you won’t remember assembling it and may even have hired someone to put it together in the first place. If this is the case, you may prefer to hire a professional to take care of the disassembly process but, if you’re ready to tackle the challenge yourself, follow our step-by-step instructions on how to disassemble a pool table below.
- Step 1: First things first, before you actually disassemble the pool table, your first step should be to ensure all of your accessories are accounted for. Remove the balls from the storage spaces (there should be 13 to a set including the cue ball), and empty the under-table storage of any pool cue chalks and triangle racks.
- Step 2: With the accessories out of the way, it’s time to begin the disassembly. Starting at the corners, use a screwdriver or staple remover to detach each of the pockets, which tool you use will depend on the fastening.
- Step 3: Next up, you’ll need to circle the table, removing the bolts as you go. These bolts will vary depending on the manufacturer so, if you’ve retained your pool table manual instructions, use these to determine the correct socket to use for removal.
- Step 4: Before beginning this step, ensure you have another helping hand available as lifting and removing the rails requires some heavy lifting. Start by removing the screws that hold the rails in place before gently lifting it and setting it upside down on a padded surface to ensure the wood isn’t scraped or damaged. Once flat, remove the additional underside bolts to separate the rails at the corners, leaving only straight pieces.
- Step 5: The next step in disassembling a pool table is to remove the felt from the top. This material is typically held in place with staples which should be individually removed before lifting the felt so that it’s not ripped in the process. Once removed, fold the cloth and set it aside.
- Step 6: The trickiest part of the disassembly process, removing the slates is a task that should never be done alone. Beyond simply being heavy enough to injure someone if dropped, the slate section of a pool table is expensive and can shatter or chip if not treated with the care it needs. In order to remove the slates safely, unbolt them from the frame before carefully lifting away and setting aside.
- Step 7: Lastly, separate the bolts that secure the legs to the table frame and carefully lift them away before also disassembling the frame, including the crossbar that holds up the slates.
Please note: As you go through the steps, there are a lot of screw and bolt removals. Be sure to keep all removed bolts in a small zip-lock bag or storage box with small compartments so that none are lost while in storage.
How to store a pool table
With a fully disassembled pool table, transportation is the easy part (provided of course that you handle the heavy slates with care and have some fellow helpers on hand). With those elements accounted for, finding a suitable pool table storage space is the last thing on the list.
All too often, if there isn’t room for a snooker table or similarly large piece of hobby furniture within the home, the first place it’s moved to is the shed or garage. Unfortunately, these spaces commonly suffer from damp and mould and the poor conditions can take their toll on your treasured possessions. Pool tables are also very expensive and, should a burglar find it stored within an easily accessible outdoor storage space, there’s always a chance it could be stolen.
For such a valuable item, it’s worthwhile saving yourself time and money on repairs and replacements by using a self-storage unit. Convenient, safe and inexpensive, self-storage units are the best option available for well loved and expensive items such as pool tables, snooker tables and foosball tables. In their disassembled form, pool tables also take up significantly less space, giving you the choice of renting a small storage space or a larger one if you have other possessions to store alongside it.
If you’re looking for safe and secure pool table storage and would like help finding the right size unit for your table, contact our friendly team today. Able to give you a quick quote for a wide variety of unit sizes over all three of our facilities, and experienced in providing additional packaging advice, call the team on 0800 310 0450 or fill out the form on our enquire page.
