Disclaimer

We do not test equipment in person

Nobody buys nine slate pool tables and four pinball machines to write a roundup. What we do is read published specifications, the playing standards that govern each game, and a large volume of owner reviews from people who have lived with the equipment long enough for cloth wear, cabinet movement, slate settling and electronics failures to show up. Every page says so. If a page here ever reads as though we handled the equipment, that is an error in the writing and we want it reported.

This method is good at dimensions, clearances, what comes in the box, what fails after eighteen months and what a replacement part costs. It is not a substitute for standing in front of two tables and feeling the difference in the rails. Where feel decides it, the pages say to go and play on one.

Clearance and room size figures

Room size figures are arithmetic: the equipment footprint plus the clearance the game needs on each side. They are correct as arithmetic and they are still planning guidance rather than a guarantee, for reasons that have nothing to do with the maths.

• Manufacturer dimensions vary between finishes and production runs of the same model name. Always confirm against the specification for the exact table you are ordering.
• Measure to the obstruction, not to the wall. A radiator, a column, a stair stringer, a door swing, a window sill you cannot lean over and a low soffit all take clearance away permanently. A room that measures wide enough on paper and has a column inside the cue band does not fit the table.
• Rooms are not square. Measure both ends and both sides. Older houses in particular are routinely out by two or three inches, and the number that matters is the smallest one.
• Minimum means minimum. A room that meets the minimum plays every shot with a full cue and does not feel spacious. If you have the room, the comfortable figure is better, and the calculators show both.

Floor loading and structure

A three-piece slate pool table weighs roughly 700 to 1,000 lb depending on size, and a full shuffleboard or a loaded kegerator concentrates real weight too. On a concrete slab this is a non-issue. On a framed floor it usually is not a problem either, because the load spreads across six or eight feet and is comparable to a well filled bookcase or a waterbed.

Usually is not always, and we cannot assess your floor. Joist span, spacing, species, depth, notching and condition decide it, and none of that is visible from a web page. If the room is above a garage, on a long span, in an older building, or if the floor already moves when you walk across it, ask a structural engineer. That inspection typically costs less than the delivery fee and it is the correct place to spend the money.

Installation, electrical and gas

Slate table installation is not a DIY job and every page here says so. Slate arrives in sections of 150 to 250 lb each and is brittle, a dropped corner is a cracked slab rather than a scratch, and levelling a bed to within a fraction of a millimetre across eight feet needs a machinist level and the experience to read it. Use a professional installer.

Anything on this site that touches electrical work, including dedicated circuits for arcade cabinets and kegerators, is written to help you plan and brief an electrician, not to help you do the work. Circuit sizing, wiring methods and permitting are governed by your local code, which varies, and which a licensed electrician knows and we do not. The same applies to any gas line for a bar, and to CO2 handling for a draught system.

Prices, totals and availability

Every price on this site was accurate when the page was compiled and is stale by some amount now. Prices in this category move constantly and around holidays they move fast. Confirm each one before ordering.

Build totals are the sum of the priced lines on that page and nothing else. Lines with no single price, dealer-quoted tables and installation ranges in particular, are shown as a quote and excluded from the total rather than given an invented figure. That is deliberate, and it means the honest reading of a build total is "budget above this number, not at it". Every buildout page says which lines are excluded.

Safety

Darts are pointed and thrown, and a steel tip board wants a clear lane, a hard floor protected by a mat, and nothing breakable behind the throw line. Arcade and pinball cabinets are top heavy, and an upright cabinet with a riser should be secured where children are around. Dry ice and CO2 cylinders for draught systems must be handled and stored per the supplier's instructions in a ventilated space. Alcohol is for adults. None of this is exhaustive, and the manufacturer's manual for your specific equipment takes precedence over anything written here.

No warranty

GameRoomSetup.com is published as-is for general information. We make no warranty as to accuracy, completeness or fitness for a particular purpose, and we are not liable for loss or damage arising from acting on anything here. Nothing on this site is professional engineering, construction, electrical, legal or financial advice, and no reader relationship creates a professional one.

External sites we link to are not under our control and we are not responsible for their content, prices or policies.

Corrections

A wrong dimension is the most consequential error this site can publish, because a reader can act on it with a delivery booked. If you find one, send the page and the figure through the contact page and it will be fixed. See also the affiliate disclosure and the terms of service.