Brunswick Billiards assembly
Three slabs of slate, levelled by hand, then the cloth goes on over the top.
A proper Brunswick table is not flat-pack furniture. The playing surface is slate, usually in three pieces weighing a couple of hundred pounds each, and it has to be shimmed dead level and the seams filled before any cloth is stretched over it. That is a trade job, and doing it twice costs more than having it done once.
Find out first whether yours is slate
Brunswick has been making billiards tables in America since the nineteenth century, and their tables are slate: a stone playing bed sitting on a heavy frame. That is what gives a proper table its dead, true roll, and it is also why installation is a different proposition from anything else in a games room.
It matters because the word "pool table" covers two very different things. A slate table from a billiards dealer is a piece of furniture that arrives in pieces with an installer. A budget table from a big-box retailer usually has an MDF or composite bed, weighs a fraction as much, and genuinely is a home assembly job, closer to building a large flat-pack than installing stone.
If yours is slate, the sequence is fixed: build the frame and legs, set the slate, shim it until it is level across the whole bed, wax the seams so the joins vanish, stretch and fasten the cloth, then fit the rails and pockets. Each step depends on the one before, which is why a rushed job shows up later as a ball that drifts, and why fixing it means taking the cloth off again.
What it involves
For a three-piece slate table. An MDF table is a different and much quicker job.
| Model | Time | People |
|---|---|---|
| Move the slate inRoughly 200 lb per piece. See below. | 30 to 60 min | 3 to 4 |
| Frame and legsSquared and solid before the slate goes on. | 45 min | 2 |
| Set and level the slateShimmed and rechecked. The heart of the job. | 1 to 2 hr | 2 |
| Seams and clothSeams waxed, cloth stretched and fastened. | 1 to 2 hr | 2 |
| Rails, pockets, finishThen a final roll test. | 1 hr | 2 |
| MDF or composite tableA genuine home assembly job. | 2 to 3 hr | 2 |
Half a day is normal for a slate table done properly. Anyone quoting an hour is not levelling it the way it needs to be levelled.
The things that decide how it plays
Levelling is iterative, not a single adjustment
The slate is shimmed until the bed reads level at many points across the surface, not just in the middle, and each adjustment can affect the others, so it is a process of working round the table repeatedly. This is the single reason a table plays true or does not. A bed that is slightly out will send a slow ball drifting the same way every time, which is the complaint people describe as the table "having a roll". Because the cloth goes on afterwards, correcting it later means stripping the table back down.
The floor is part of the table
A table is levelled to the floor it stands on, so a sloping, springy or settling floor becomes the table’s problem. Solid ground floors are ideal. Upstairs rooms and older timber floors are worth thinking about before delivery, both for the weight, a full slate table with frame can run well over half a tonne, and because a floor that flexes will need the table rechecked after it settles. Worth mentioning the room and floor type when you book, rather than on the day.
Cloth is stretched, and it shows if it is not
The cloth is pulled taut over the slate and fastened, and the difference between a careful fit and a quick one is visible: wrinkles near the pockets, slack across the bed, or a seam you can feel with a ball. It also affects speed. This is skilled work with a particular set of tools, and it is the part of the job most obviously worth paying someone for.
Moving one is disassembly, not lifting
If you are relocating an existing slate table, it has to come apart: cloth off, rails off, slate lifted out in pieces, then the whole installation done again at the other end. Attempting to shift an assembled slate table, even across a room, risks cracking slate and racking the frame. Plan a move as the same job as a fresh installation, because that is essentially what it is.
An MDF table is a genuinely different job
If your table has a composite or MDF bed, and many family tables do, then it is a home assembly: heavy and awkward, usually a couple of people and a few hours, but nothing that needs a table mechanic. It will never play like slate, and that is fine, it is a different product for a different purpose. The important thing is knowing which one you have before deciding whether to build it yourself.
Before the installer arrives
Confirm whether your table is slate or composite before anything else, because it changes the whole job, the time it takes and who should be doing it.
Clear the room and allow at least four to five feet of open space on every side so a cue can be drawn back fully. Measure this before the table arrives rather than after, since the room decides what size table actually fits.
Say in advance if the table is going upstairs or onto a timber floor, and make sure there is a clear path in. Slate pieces are heavy and cannot be tilted around tight corners, so access is worth checking early. If fresh cloth is being fitted, have the colour decided.
Why this one is worth a professional
Of everything in a games room, a slate table is the item where doing it yourself most often costs money rather than saving it. The weight is genuinely hazardous, the levelling is a skill rather than a task, and mistakes are hidden under cloth until the table is finished.
A table mechanic will also tell you honestly whether the room and floor suit the size of table you have bought, which is a conversation better had before the slate is in the house than after.
What an installation usually covers
- Bringing the slate and frame into the room.
- Assembling and squaring the frame and legs.
- Setting the slate, shimming and levelling across the whole bed.
- Waxing the seams so the joins are invisible in play.
- Stretching and fastening the cloth.
- Fitting rails, pockets and trim.
- A final level check and roll test, and removing the packaging.
Get it built by someone who has built one before.
Tell us your ZIP and what you bought. Installers near you will quote you directly, and you deal with them, not with us.
Questions people ask
How long does a slate pool table take to install?
Half a day is typical for a three-piece slate table, with most of that going on levelling and cloth. A composite or MDF table is a shorter home assembly, usually a couple of hours with two people.
How heavy is it?
Each slate piece on a full-size table is commonly a couple of hundred pounds, and the complete table with frame can weigh over half a tonne. That is why several people move the slate, and why upstairs installations need thinking about first.
Can I assemble a slate table myself?
It is strongly discouraged. Beyond the weight, the levelling and cloth fitting are skilled work, and errors are only visible once the table is complete, at which point correcting them means stripping it back down.
How much room do I need around it?
Plan for roughly four to five feet of clear space on every side so a cue can be drawn back fully. It is worth measuring before the table arrives rather than after.
Can my existing table be moved to a new house?
Yes, but it has to be dismantled and reinstalled rather than carried. Treat a move as a full installation at the far end, including re-levelling and often new cloth.
Brunswick and Brunswick Billiards are trademarks of their respective owner. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by Brunswick. Details vary by table size and model.