The Advantages of One Piece Slate

There are basically two types of pool table slate available - one piece and three piece. Walk into any billiard retailer and chances are all of their tables use 3 piece slate. The main reason for this is that compared to one piece slate tables, they are easier faster and cheaper to build. However, 3 piece slate tables have a few major problems.....

If you purchase a 3 piece table from a dealer you have to pay for the installation. Some dealers include this cost in their selling price while others have a separate charge, but either way, you're paying for it. With our one piece slate tables you have the choice of either having us do the final installation (for an additional charge of $200) or doing it yourself. The finish installation of our tables is very easy for a homeowner to do since we've already done all of the work. The slate and rails have the cloth on and the cabinet is pre-assembled.All you have to do is bolt the legs on, screw in the leg levelers, position and level the table (using the leg levelers) drop the slate in, bolt on the rails and tack in the pockets. If this sounds like a lot of work, in reality, it will take you about an hour, and at the point that you receive the table from us, there is nothing we can do any better than you. And here's the proof of how popular and easy this option is. About three years ago we started giving people this option and since then we've installed a grand total of about 12 tables and we've never had anyone come back to us and say that the job was hard or that we lied to them. In fact, the feedback we get from customers is that they can't believe how easy it is and for a little bit of work they got to save some real money.

Once a 3 piece slate table is set up, it cannot be moved or even picked up without the chance that the seams between the slate will separate. If this happens it is a very expensive service charge. Because one-piece slates have no seams you avoid this problem.

Another minor item that retailers forget to mention is that if you purchase a 3 piece slate and ever want to move it (say from one house to another or just to another room) the table has to be completely broken down. This means that the cloth has to be taken off the slate so they can remove the slate screws that hold the individual slates in place. This breakdown, move and re-set can only be done by a professional billiard mechanic and today the average cost is approx. $350. Sometimes the existing bed cloth can't be saved so then the price jumps to over $500...just to move your table! Our tables are very easy to move yourself so you can save yourself a whole lot of money.

Selling your table and the resale value is the final problem with 3 piece slate tables. Obviously since you haven't even purchased a table you're not thinking about selling it, but things happen. Kids grow up, people get transferred or lose their jobs and some even get divorced, and if the day comes that you need to sell your 3 piece slate table you are going to get killed on the resale price. Again, the reason is simple. Because you have to completely break down a 3 piece slate table to move it, the buyer of your table is faced with paying someone $350 - $500 just to get your table moved into their home. So after you decide how much you want for your table, the buyer is going to subtract another $350 - $500 from your price. So now its easy to see why the table that you spent so much for new isn't worth  much at all. With our one piece slate tables, the buyer can easily move the table themselves so its resale value is substantially higher and, as an added incentive, the new buyer now enjoys all of the benefits of a one piece slate table.

Finally, we think of ourselves as the "working guys pool table company". We don't make dozens of fancy tables with fancy legs,  what we do make are good looking, well built tables for people who work hard for their money and are concerned about protecting their investment.

If you have any additional questions please call us at 1-800-707-7009.