DPT – Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is a Slate Bed Pool Table?

A Slate Bed Pool Table is the type of table that you would find and play on in most pubs, clubs, hotels or other commercial premises. As the name suggests, the playing surface for a Slate Bed Pool table is an actual levelled piece of slate that is covered with the playing surface cloth.

Slate Bed Pool Tables are extremely high quality and long lasting and offer a professional, even and smooth playing surface.

Slate Bed Pool Tables are heavy and generally weigh around 250kg, however these types of tables are suitable for domestic use as well as commercial.

2. What accessories do I get if I buy a pool table?

All our tables come complete with a set of 2” red and yellow pool balls, 2x cues 48” or 57” depending on the size of the table), a black plastic triangle and a piece of chalk.

3. What type of balls do you use? And what size are they?

All balls included with our tables and sold on our site are Aramith balls. These are the top quality balls.

The balls included in our free accessory pack with every table are 2” red and yellow Aramith balls. We also sell Aramith balls of size 1 ⅞.

4. What type of cloth is used on our tables? 

The brand of cloth used on all of our tables is the Strachan West of England cloth. This cloth is made by one of the leading pool and snooker table cloth manufacturers and is of a professional tournament level quality.

Our tables are available in a variety of cloth colour finishes, the different variations available can be seen when you click on any of the individual tables on our site.

As well as the colour variations on offer, you will see that most tables come with the choice of being covered by either a Wool or a Napless cloth.

5. What is the difference between Wool and Napless Cloth?

We use a Strachan West of England Wool Cloth on our tables. Strachan cloths are regarded as the leading brand in the pool table cloth market and have been made in the West of England since 1890. Strachan cloths are well known for their longevity, classic appearance and for having a lifespan that outlasts its closest rivals. As well as being the official and exclusive cloth of choice for the International Pool Players Association and the World Eightball Pool Federation, Strachan cloths are endorsed by the top manufacturers of English pool tables throughout the UK.

Napless cloths offer a smoother, faster playing surface than traditional Wool Cloths. Napless cloths are ‘nap-free’ meaning that they will not pill, fluff or shed and therefore will allow the balls to run a lot quicker and unobstructed across the playing surface. This type of cloth is traditionally found on American Pool Tables, Outdoor Pool Tables and many tables in commercial settings.

6. Do I have enough room for a pool table?

Please see our room size guide for more information on this.

7. How do I pay for my order?

We require all orders to be paid and processed via our website in full and at the time of ordering. We accept credit / debit cards and PayPal.

8. How long will it take for my table to be delivered?

We are currently working at an extended lead time of 18-20 weeks. We aim to manufacture all orders as quickly as possible, but we can’t always guarantee a set delivery date once your table has been ordered. All of our tables are made to order, we don’t hold any stock tables.

Lead times have been extended due to the current circumstances and we do normally work with shorter lead times. However we cannot promise when they will be reduced again, so we do recommend placing orders sooner rather than later in case the lead times stay extended for the foreseeable future.

9. How much is delivery and installation?

We only offer delivery and installation, we don’t recommend customers trying to manoeuvre and install the tables themselves, as they are an awkward heavy item and can easily be damaged, if not handled correctly. When spending a large amount of money on a pool table, for £99.00 it’s worth the extra cost to have it completed by a professional.

Delivery & Installation – £99.00

• We only deliver & install pool tables to a ground floor.

• 2 people will install the table, they will set up and level the table, ready for play.

Delivery & Installation to outer lying areas – £199.00

• Outer lying areas are classed with the following postcodes: PA 19+, PH, DD, AB, IV, KW.

10. What size are your slates and cushions?

6ft Slate: 1676.4mm x 901.7mm x 19mm 

7ft Slate: 1905mm x 990mm 19mm 

Cushions: 6ft side: 740mm & 6ft end: 785mm

Cushions: 7ft side: 860mm & 7ft end: 880mm

11. What is the height of your pool dining table?

Please see image for height reference.

12. Why are some pool tables more expensive than others? 

The varying costs of our Pool Tables are reflections on different factors such as;

• The type of table it is –

Is the table a Coin Operated Table, a Freeplay Table or a Pool Dining Table?

• The materials used to make the table –

Does the table have Metal or Wooden legs, is it an Outdoor Table that needs to be constructed from Marine Plywood?

• The time taken to construct the table –

Will the table legs require more time to style and craft to give a certain finish?

Whatever price you pay for any of our tables, you can rest assured that all of our Pool tables are constructed by us here in our UK manufacturing site and are all made to the highest quality using the finest materials that we can source.

13. I have never bought a pool table before, what kind should I buy?

We understand that a Pool Table can be an expensive purchase, and with so many tables on offer you will want to make the most informed decision that you can. You will see on our site that we sell different categories of Pool Table ranging from;

• Coin Operated Pool Tables

• Pool Dining Tables

• Freeplay Pool Tables

• Outdoor Pool Tables

As we know, when buying a pool table, whether it be for home, commercial or professional use, you want the playing surface to be of the highest quality, therefore we use a slate bed on all of our pool tables to provide the highest quality of product to all our customers. 

Coin Operated Pool Tables

Traditionally, Coin Operated Pool Tables are used in commercial settings such as; pubs, clubs and hotels as additional amenities and to provide extra revenue. However, such tables are also suitable for domestic play, the amount to charge per game is easily adjusted and the table can be fitted with a manual coin operating system or the more expensive electronic coin operating system.

You can also request that we fit your table with a Coin Mechanism that will work off Tokens rather than coins. Add this to the notes section when placed your order.

Pool Dining Tables

You may not have enough space for a dedicated games area to keep a pool table and need to be a bit more economical on how you use the space you have to work with. This is where Pool Dining Tables come in handy, as they double up as both a high quality pool table and an attractive dining table.

Freeplay Pool Tables

Again, as with the Coin Operated Pool Tables, the Freeplay Pool Tables are suitable for both domestic and commercial use. The difference with these tables is that they are not fitted with a coin mechanism, hence the name ‘Freeplay’.

All our freeplay tables have a professional standard playing surface. They are also all fitted with a Ball Return System, which means that when you pot a ball it is automatically returned to the end of the table and will not just sit in the pockets. Some of our freeplay tables are fitted with a Cue Ball Separator return system (the same as what you would find on the Coin Operated Tables) which means that the Cue Ball is returned to one of the table and the colour balls to the other.

Outdoor Pool Tables

Although fitted with Slate Beds like the Freeplay and Coin Operated Tables, our Outdoor Tables are manufactured in such a way that makes them suitable to withstand the rigors of outdoor use.

The Outdoor Pool Tables are fitted with the Napless nylon based cloth, this cloth contains no Wool and therefore prevents it from rotting it prolongs the life of the cloth itself.

Our outdoor tables are constructed from laminated Marine Plywood, this is a specially treated material that is designed to resist rotting in environments where the material will be exposed to moisture for long periods of time. Our Outdoor Pool Tables are available in the Coin Operated, Freeplay and Pool Dining Table forms.

If there are any other questions that you may be asking yourself before purchasing a table, have a look at our buyer’s guide to see if it can offer further guidance.

 14. Why should I buy a table from DPT Pool Tables?

This is not just a website that sells Pool Tables, it is the online retail division of one of the largest and most established Pool Table Manufacturers in Europe; DPT. Established in 1974, we have been in the business for over 45 years, and have a state of the art manufacturing facility here in the UK over a 30,000 sq foot site.

Unlike many other online Pool Table retailers, we manufacture every single Pool Table that you can find on our site, and therefore have a complete knowledge of everything we produce, even down to the smallest component part, of every table that you can find on the DPT Pool Tables site.