Can You Move a Pool Table to a Basement?

Can You Move a Pool Table to a Basement?

Last updated: October 2026

Yes. Basements are where most pool tables live.

It makes sense. A pool table needs a big room with space to swing a cue on every side, and the basement is usually the only room in the house that fits. Getting it down there is the hard part. A pool table doesn't go down the stairs in one piece. It goes down one careful piece at a time.

Why it comes apart

A pool table is heavy, wide, and awkward. The slate bed alone is the heaviest part, and the frame, rails, and pockets add more. Trying to move it in one piece down a basement staircase isn't safe for the table, the house, or the crew.

So the table gets taken apart first. The slate comes off and goes down separately. Plan on about an hour and a half to two hours to take the table apart. Taking it apart is included in the hourly rate.

Down the stairs

Basement stairs in Chicago homes are often narrow, steep, or both, and in a lot of older bungalows and two-flats they turn at the bottom right where you'd least want a corner. It's tight. Every piece of the table goes down carefully, and the stairs and walls get protected along the way. Floors and door frames are covered at both ends of the move.

Measure your basement stairs before moving day, especially the turns. Tell us about them when you call, so the crew comes with the right plan.

After it's in the basement

Here's the part people don't always know. Once a pool table is moved, it needs to be leveled, and often the felt needs to be re-stretched or replaced. That's a job for a billiards specialist.

Plan to book a billiards specialist after we deliver. They'll level the slate and get the felt right so the table plays the way it should. Our post on how long it takes to move a pool table covers the timeline.

Other game tables

Pool tables aren't the only ones that end up in the basement. We also move shuffleboard tables, ping-pong tables, and poker tables. Read do you move other game tables besides pool tables.

Before moving day

Clear the basement path. Boxes, bikes, and anything on the stairs out of the way.

Clear the room. Make space where the table is going.

Book the billiards specialist. Get them on the calendar for after the move.

Tell us about the stairs. Width, turns, and anything tight at the bottom.

Moving a whole basement?

A finished basement usually holds more than a pool table. A bar, a sectional, maybe home gym equipment. If you're moving all of it, tell us about the whole room. Our heavy gym equipment moving service covers the gym side, and bulky pieces that won't make the stairs can come in another way through our hoisting and crane service.

Pricing

Pool table moves are hourly, like our other moves, with a 2-hour minimum. Moving companies in the Chicago area charge at least one hour for travel.

Basement installs are part of our pool table moving service, one of our moving services.

Call (773) 275-4100 or email info@wcmoving.com, and tell us about the stairs.