Refelting a pool table costs $495 for labor — the same price whether your table is 7 ft, 8 ft or 9 ft. Cloth is priced separately, so your total is that labor plus whichever cloth you pick. Bumpers, if yours need doing, are quoted on their own. Call (408) 605-0117 and we'll walk you through the whole number.
That's the answer first, because it's the thing everyone wants to know and almost nobody puts in writing. The rest of this page covers what makes up that number, how to tell when your table actually needs new cloth, and what happens when our crew shows up at your house.
What refelting costs, and what drives the price
There are three pieces to a refelting quote. One of them is fixed.
- Labor: $495. That's our crew, at your table, in your home. It does not change with the size of the table.
- Cloth: priced separately. This is the part you control. We carry 28 felt colors across different grades, and the grade you choose changes both the price and how the table plays.
- Bumpers: quote only. Cushion rubber is priced by brand and grade, and tables differ a lot here, so we won't guess at it on a web page. More on bumpers below.
Does a bigger table cost more?
Not for the labor. A 9 ft table is the same $495 as a 7 ft table. It's more cloth to stretch and more rail to wrap, but it's the same job and we charge the same for it.
Size does affect the cloth, since a bigger bed takes more of it. So the honest way to think about your total is: fixed labor, plus however much cloth your table needs in the grade you picked.
Have the table size handy when you call — 7 ft, 8 ft or 9 ft. We need it to cut cloth, not to price the labor. If anything about the table is unusual, tell us that too. We'd rather sort it out on the phone than discover it with the rails already off.
Signs your pool table needs refelting
Most tables tell you well before they force the issue. Look for these:
- Balls stop rolling true. A ball you hit straight drifts, or dies short. This is the one that ruins the game.
- Shiny lanes. The break spot and the paths in front of the pockets go slick and polished while the rest of the table still looks fine.
- Fuzzing and pilling. Little balls of fiber you brush off every week and they come right back.
- Ripples, waves or slack. Cloth that has let go of its stretch, usually showing up near the pockets first.
- Burns, tears and cuts. Miscue marks and rips don't heal. They spread.
- Stains that won't come out. Drinks, chalk, dust ground in over years.
- The table plays slow. Cloth loaded with chalk and dust drags. If you're hitting harder than you used to for the same shot, that's why.
If your table has one of these, you have time. If it has three, the cloth is done.
What the job actually involves
Refelting isn't laying a sheet over the table. It's a partial teardown and rebuild. Here's the shape of it:
- Our crew arrives and looks the table over before anything comes apart.
- The pockets and rails come off.
- The old cloth is stripped from the slate bed and from each rail.
- With the bed bare, the slate gets checked and the table gets leveled. This is the only time anyone can see the slate, so it's the time to do it right.
- New bed cloth is stretched across the slate and fastened down — even tension, no wrinkles, no slack.
- Rail cloth is cut, wrapped and secured, and the pockets go back on.
- The rails are bolted back down and the table gets a final level.
All of it happens in your home. Nothing gets hauled off to a shop and nothing gets shipped anywhere. If the table needs to move rooms or come apart for other reasons, we do that work too.
How long it takes
Most re-felts are finished in a single visit. One crew, one trip, table playable when they leave.
We won't promise you a day of the week on a web page. Call and we'll tell you honestly what the schedule looks like for your part of the Bay Area.
Choosing your cloth
This is the only real decision you have to make, and it's worth five minutes of thought.
Color
We stock 28 felt colors. Tournament green and the classic blues are still the most familiar, but plenty of people match the cloth to the room instead of to tradition — a game room isn't a pool hall. Have a look at the colors before you call so you're deciding on something you've actually seen, not on a name.
Grade
Cloth comes napped or worsted. Napped cloth has a soft fuzzy surface, plays a little slower, and is the cheaper way back to a good-looking table. Worsted cloth is tighter woven with no nap — it plays faster, holds a truer roll, and stands up to more play before it wears. Serious players almost always want worsted. Family tables go either way, honestly.
Simonis
We carry Simonis cloth, including Simonis Rapid 300. If you already know you want Simonis, say so when you call and we'll price it with the job.
One thing worth saying plainly: the cloth outlasts the labor. You pay our crew once, and then you live with the cloth for years. Buying the better cloth is usually the cheaper decision over the life of the table.
Bumpers and cushions, and why they get done together
We replace bumpers as well as cloth. Two things you should know before you call.
First: if your bumpers are being replaced, the table has to be refelted at the same time. That's not a package we invented to raise the ticket. It's mechanical. To get at the cushion rubber, the rails come off and the rail cloth comes off with them, and that cloth doesn't go back on. So bumpers always bring new cloth with them. The reverse isn't true — you can refelt a table and leave good bumpers alone.
Second: bumper pricing is quote only. Cushion rubber varies by brand and by grade, and what fits your table depends on who built it. Tell us the make of your table when you call and we'll price it properly instead of guessing.
How to know your cushions are gone: hit a ball firmly into a rail. It should come back with life. If it thuds and dies, or comes back noticeably weaker off one rail than another, the rubber has hardened. Dead cushions change every shot on the table, and no amount of new cloth fixes them.
Where we work
The SF Bay Area, and only the SF Bay Area. We're a family-run business in San Jose and have been since November 1999. The work is done by our own crew — not a subcontractor, not a freight service — at your table, in your home.
We refelt 7 ft, 8 ft and 9 ft tables.
If you're outside the Bay Area, we can't help with refelting, and we'd rather tell you that now than after you've waited on a callback.
What else our crew does
Same crew, same trucks, same part of the world:
- Pool table moving — across the room or across town.
- Dismantling and re-assembly — for moves, remodels and storage.
- Delivery and setup — new table in, leveled and playing.
- Table tennis assembly.
If you're moving a table anyway, that's the natural moment to refelt it. The rails are already coming off.
Getting on the schedule
Call (408) 605-0117. Have your table size ready, the make if you know it, and a rough idea of what's wrong — worn cloth, dead cushions, or both. That's enough for us to give you a number.
If it's easier to write than to call, send us a message and we'll get back to you.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to refelt a pool table?
Refelting labor is $495. That is a flat price for 7 ft, 8 ft and 9 ft tables, so a bigger table does not cost more to work on. Cloth is priced separately, so your total is the labor plus the cloth you choose. If your bumpers also need replacing, that's quoted separately, because cushion pricing changes with the brand and grade of rubber your table takes. Call (408) 605-0117 and we'll give you the whole number.
Does it cost more to refelt a bigger pool table?
Not for the labor. Our $495 refelting labor is the same for a 7 ft, an 8 ft and a 9 ft table. A bigger bed does take more cloth, and cloth is priced separately, so that part of your total goes up with the size of the table.
How long does it take to refelt a pool table?
Most re-felts are finished in a single visit. Our own crew does the work at your table, in your home, so there's nothing to ship out and nothing to wait on. Call us and we'll tell you what the schedule looks like for your part of the Bay Area.
Can I refelt a pool table myself?
You can. People do. Just be honest about the hard parts first. The bed cloth has to be stretched evenly across the slate with no wrinkle and no slack. The rail cloth has to be cut and wrapped so the pockets sit right. The rails have to come off and go back on without stripping bolts or throwing the table out of level. Mistakes show up as balls that won't roll true, and cloth isn't reusable once it's cut. If you'd rather not gamble a good piece of cloth on a first attempt, that's what our crew is for.
How often should a pool table be refelted?
There's no set schedule. It depends on how much the table gets played and how it gets treated. A table in a busy rec room goes through cloth far faster than one that gets used a few times a month. Go by what you can see and feel instead of the calendar. Fuzzing and pilling, shiny worn lanes at the break spot and in front of the pockets, ripples or slack, burns, tears, and balls that drift off line all mean the cloth is done.
Do bumpers have to be replaced at the same time as the felt?
It works the other way around. If your bumpers are being replaced, the table has to be refelted at the same time. Getting at the cushion rubber means pulling the rails and taking the rail cloth off, and that cloth doesn't go back on. You can refelt without touching the bumpers, but you can't replace bumpers without new cloth.
What size pool tables do you refelt?
We refelt 7 foot, 8 foot and 9 foot tables. Tell us the size when you call so the cloth gets cut right.
What areas do you cover?
The SF Bay Area, and only the SF Bay Area. We're family run out of San Jose and have been since November 1999, and our own crew does the work in your home. We don't travel outside the Bay Area for refelting.
