We often are asked to dismantle full size snooker tables and relocate them , this is around 10% of our yearly work load .
This week we where asked to dismantle a full sized Riley Aristocrat from an outbuilding upstairs location which had two stair case entry points .
one having a turn half way down , the other a balcony fire exit which I decided was the best way to get the heavy sectional slate downstairs
here is how three men achieved this .

this is the table in question , you can see the internal stair case at one end

this was our preferred route , as you can see we lay an old strip of carpet down the stairs to protect the staircase from our wooden slate slide.

one section of slate weighs around 200kg , you can see we have ratchet strapped our slate slide on one edge
I custom made this slate slide around 15 years ago .

the table with two sections left on ready to come off onto our Piano trolley ., this piano trolley has hard rubber tyres
the one we used at the bottom of the stair to get the slate to the van has pneumatic tyres on that can go over rough ground and the odd bit of loose shale or gravel which was the case here .

a close up of our slate slide  , once laid flat we wheel in position to the top of the stairs on the trolley .
two at the bottom edge the third person is at the top guiding the slate and also keeping it upright as we guide it down that carpet on the stairs .
it is important to hold back the weight as you slide it down , the danger of going too fast can result in a broken limb or worse
and there is five slates so we take our time .

once at the bottom of the stairs flip it back upright on its edge , ready to take off the slate slide and lower onto trolley

onto this pneumatic tyre trolley as we had to take this slate behind a building that only had a slate shale path .

two and half hours and we had the entire table dismantled and loaded and blanket wrapped .

loaded and we are ready to go , the slates came around the building on the right , the table was located upstairs in the far building with the twin dormer windows in the roof .
not an easy job , but we have been moving tables some years and we take the rough with the smooth , you do get some tables that take all day to safely get out of a building
we have even had to have windows taken out and tele handler fork lifts to get slates downstairs .
Normally 4 men are used to carry the slate downstairs using slings , we prefer to use the slate slide and this allows for one less man and therefore  lower priced to bring downstairs .
we do take risk’s though and the odd time I have refused to handle slate if I think it is unsafe to do it , only last month I declined to lower some extra thick slate down into a basement because it was unsafe and they then got a builders wagon in to lower them down with a crane .
each job has to be done it’s safety aspect and we have to access each job  , and if it is unsafe then we do not take the risk for a few hundred pounds profit .
This table was sold on our for sale section of GCL billiards web site as a private sale , and you can read the report on my website why my buying client bought this table off our selling client to replace a very shoddy made one .
this is what we do best , we put buyers in touch with sellers of tables and we just charge for the removal and fitting side of the work .

As a billiards fitter you think you have seen it all in the 40 years I have been fitting Billiard tables
Well this week I have just scrapped one of the worse tables I have ever worked on and good riddance to it .
It looks like someone has copied a hard board bed 6ft Argos table and tried to replicate it as a full size snooker table
Have a look at these photo’s of what I describe as the worst designed full size table I have ever worked on  .

looks ok to the untrained eye but cushion has no bolt holes in because it is just wood screwed from under the slate

someone has certainly taken their time in shaping and undercutting this rubber angle and made sure it is fastened to the block by nailing it on ?

No slip rebate strip , this has no slip out cushion slips for retaining the cushion cloth for future re-covering you have to unscrew the blocks off the outer wood

notice that this 5 section slate is thinner than normal slates and has no cushion bolt holes for cushion bolts in the side
and the cloth was just glued on around the outside edge

Slates are off to reveal a very shoddy thin plywood construction inner frame  held together with nothing more than coach bolts that you would use on a fence post
they even nailed the panels over the coach bolts to hide this , this table was very unstable and could have come crashing down if anyone had leant on it too hard .

the pocket plates where the type you would normally see on a Argos wood bed 6ft for £99

a close up of one corner leg thin wood work side and end frame , nailed on knee panels to hide 4 coach bolts
This table was shown me by the owner who was expecting me to re-cover it , I simply refused to work on it and I informed  I could get you a better table for under £500
plus the cost of dismantle and transport plus assemble with original cloth that was ok for say a years life left in it
in the long run I advised him this was his best option , the better table being a Genuine riley Aristocrat that if bought new today would be over £10.000
I showed the client a photo and he quickly agreed my route was better than him wasting a re-cover on this table that we eventually scrapped .
here is that table , you decide if I gave him the best option

the Riley Aristocrat Frame in the room set up in place of the rubbish scrapped table note the build quality of this table
thick wood used and sturdy large turned legs , and the polish was in very good unmarked  condition .

the Riley set of 5 slates which have hole in the side for the cushion bolts . click on any photo to enlarge for a better view .

the bed cloth has now been re-fitted , this cloth was not in bad condition and should give our client at least a year or two before a re-cover is required .
better to save money at this point in time to afford the table and moving costs rather than re-cover it now .

the finished table , our client is highly delighted that I refused to re-cover his badly made table
he now has a good table in excellent condition that going forward will re-cover correct and perform to a high standard .
this table with all the man power to get it downstairs the mileage delivery charge and the 2nd day dismantling his old table and assembling this one came to £1250 in total
I would say this was an excellent price for a Genuine Riley Aristocrat set up with original cloth back on .
I saved my client wasting £400 on a re-cover of his old table which would have had to have wood linings fitted and maybe add another £100 for the hassle of working on it .
so take £500 of that £1250 and he extra outlay to get a quality table put in place of his old one was £750.
and he has something that is worthwhile playing on , I could have bought this table in re-rubbered the cushions and put new cloth and pockets on and sold it for over £3000 plus delivery and set up .
there are plenty of people wanting genuine Riley Aristocrat tables with or without steel cushions .
but they have to be competitively priced and in a form of affordability like this one was , the only thing I will warn anyone looking to buy a second hand table , the cost of dismantle and moving a bad table is the same as a good table so get it right in your choice of table .
ask Geoff at GCL BILLIARDS for any advise about a table you know about for sale and send him photo’s if you are thinking of buying a table …ADVICE IS ALWAYS FREE

I have been out and about local today , first stop off was a club in Hucknall in Nottinghamshire .
the club has two 8ft Riley pool tables .
and they decided to have one refurbished with a new pure wool 6811 tournament napped cloth recover .

The before and after re-cover on the Riley 8 foot pool table .
the club also plays snooker on these 8 foot pool tables

The 7 ft pool table at Watnall , a very old Super League that has seen better days , but our client wanted to keep it in a playing condition .

and now refurbished playing area with new pocket liners too .

I have just spent the last three days traveling down to Cornwall and staying over for two nights before traveling back today .
I had previously visited the same home 5 weeks ago to dismantle the table after a flash flood had flooded the lower rooms to my clients house .
this table was not without it’s problems , the owner having bought the table in dismantled form and it came with the property and was stored in the garage
I had worked on this very table 8 years ago for the first time and noticed it had a odd slate on one end that had come from another table .

this is the set of slates back on the table , this end slate is smoother than the other slates ,
and I think the old table was used as a work bench at some time in it’s life due to very large score marks in the slate .

here is a close up of those score marks , it looks like someone has been cutting something on the slate bed and this is on 4 slates , the odd slate being smooth
and someone had removed the brass dowels on the joint of this odd slate so it would butt up to the 4 original slates .
I have seen this done on a few tables that have had a slate broken or damaged to a point that it cannot be used .
it is possible to do this but you may have to shim here and there under the odd slate to get the joint to stay level .

on one corner there had been some damage to the top of the slate , so I re-filled with car body soft sand filler , I was very pleased with the result
once the cloth is back on , no one will have a clue as to the condition of the slate bed on this tbale having all those score marks and damage in them .

as you can see I got it very level with thye rest of the slate bed .

time to fit the new cloth to the table , and my most popular and recommended choice is the Strachan 6811 30 oz tournament cloth

The finished Billiard table which is a Burroughs and watts pre 1895 circa , Bob the owner is very pleased with the way GCL Billiards handled the work , making two trips down to Cornwall 5 weeks apart
quoting for the Home Insurance approval to allow us to be succesfull with our quote , we have done a few insurance claims on snooker tables and pool tables mainly due to water or flood damage , but occasionally Fire or smoke damage too , Bob also asked for Me personally to carry the work out because he knew me from 8 years ago and knew I was up to the work involved to get it back to playing standard
I also sorted out three broken bolts that had been snapped off inside the slate bed , replacing them with new bolts and insert lugs .
The strangest insurance claim I have had to deal with was a pheasant flying into a window and smashing glass all over the cloth ripping the cloth and also scratching the cushion capping’s .
Bob the owner of this Billiard table in Cornwall designs high end Retro Stereogram’s mainly for the vinyl LP revival hobbyist , they are based on retro styling of the 1950’s and have Full valve amplification and all high end fitments and craftsmanship , Bob also restore old Dansette record players .

this is Bob’s Flagship , retro 1950’s designed Stereogram with valve amp , high end turntable and speakers in a Craftsman made cabinet , I will put POA
but to anyone who knows what high end hi fi costs you will have a good idea  , the sound by the way was very deep warm sound that only a Valve amp could reproduce .
Bob also let me have a peak at his other pride and joy .

a 4 seat Home cinema room with projector screen and also another top end surround sound hi fi system .
Bob lives in a beautiful countryside in the heart of Cornwall of which he maintains to a very high standard , not only did Bob’s snooker room get flooded but also the room with the stereogram in and this home cinema room and his Music room which housed  a grand piano , it was a right mess a few weeks ago , but it is now looking it’s best again after a major refurbishment from the Insurance e company and the specialists firms that undertook each part of the work .

I have been over to Willingham-by-stow near Gainsborough Lincolnshire to re-cover a supreme winner 7×4 pool table
the owner also has a full size snooker tbale that I re-covered around 2 years ago .
The room is a DIY built shed at the bottom of the Garden in what must be one of the largest ones I have worked in.

both tables in one of the largest Man caves I have worked in .

the room has a large Log Burning fire and it’s own Toilet room a kitchen area and a large screen TV.
the owner has built most of this shed out of reclaimed throw away materials as he works for a large Builder and rips Buildings apart he has access to re-use the throw away materials .

the slate bed is re-covered in Strachan Tournament 6811 all new wool and slightly lighter 29 oz cloth weight .
The cushions where re-covered in the heavier 30 oz Strachan tournament 6811 all wool cloth .

the table is around 2008 and is in excellent order , I did clean the insides out and washed the ball runs down .
My Client plays to a decent county level at World Rules Pool for Lincoln .

We have been over to Burton on Trent where we where instructed to replace the cushions and the fixings of the cushions
to more modern Allen key fitting upgrade for a super league table

Old poor designed four prong cushion fitting screw cam .

Brand new cushions which had full size snooker rubber fitted to them and the new Allen Key type fitting to fasten them on nice and tight .

cushions covered and fitted with Allen key bolts , and slate covered in nice new Burgundy 777 Strachan cloth

Finished table all it requires now is a new dust cover

Nice new fitted Peradon UK made dust cover to keep the sun from fading the cloth

I am about fed up with so called web designers contacting me by email and saying they can improve my web site and my business and my turnover .
I get around 50 a month saying they have this and that experience to redesign my web site .
I am very content with my web site and the business turnover and the fact that I am always busy proves this .
I get good feedback from my web site , and if you study the content it is more advisory than hard sell .
informing future clients how busy we are and how we go about our profession as a Qualified Billiards fitter
also showing the downfalls of cowboy work and how we rectify it .

I let my customers feedback guide me , I get good response from work that I have completed or even if it’s a bit of free information or guidance on tables .
We do not buy or sell snooker tables the market has been poor for years and it is a buyer’s market , so no profit to made from selling snooker tables unless you have something special or famous owner owned .
We like to stick to what we are good at and that’s fitting & maintaining snooker and pool tables

My web site gives good information , there are many stories about tables we have worked on
we do not try and be something we are not .
we do not pay £2000 for a nice designed e-commerce type web site , we go for a more direct personal approach that is easy to understand .
all our second hand snooker tables advertised on our web site  are privately owned and still at owners home address , you can deal direct with the seller unless the seller would like anonymity then we deal with the table sale on your behalf  and you save middle man fees this way , as we said we are not interested in collecting large stocks of snooker tables and paying warehouse storage only to sell one or two a year .
I have seen this done many times with other firms and it is a loss making enterprise to stock so many second hand tables when the demand is so low .
so we leave stock piling snooker tables to other firms that specialize  in buying and selling snooker / billiard tables .

a typical table for sale on our web site direct from the seller .
you just decide which table you are interested in we let you contact the seller , then you can arrange for professional dismantle and delivery and set up from GCL billiards
it is a proven system that works for us .

a table move for a local council sports center

So having explained the situation on our current web site and how it performs there is no need to upgrade or alter it
as the saying goes if it’s not broken don’t fix it .
I know web site designers have to earn a living , but to bombard my emails with such requests is not doing themsleves any favors
I have a good friend who put together my web site and it works very well for me and my Business .
if I need to tweak it , then he would be my first point of call , not some web site design enquirer from half way around the world .
I do not even open them ,  I just put them in spam folder and delete .