How Much Room Do You Need Around a Pool Table? (Formula and Examples)

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If you’re currently making plans to invest in a pool table, you should take a pause after you’ve compared prices on your prospective units.

If you’re like many homeowners, you may have forgotten to consider the table’s weight and physical space needed to properly install and utilize a pool table. That’s okay because you now have a fresh opportunity to measure out your game room’s space and determine if its dimensions are suitable for cue sports.

To make that measuring process easier, we’ve put together this guide.

How Much Room Do You Need Around a Pool Table? (Formula and Examples)

Herein, you’ll learn the factors that must go into your calculations when appraising a room’s suitability for a pool table. This guide will also provide you with a few quick reference points about the space needed for 7-,8-, and 9-foot pool tables.

In all, this information should ensure that you’re able to choose the perfect pool table to fit within your home’s current dimensions.

How to Calculate Space Required for a Pool Table

Calculating the space required to properly install a pool table is a bit more complex than most folks imagine. As such, it is important to always full measure out your target installation space before putting any money down on a desired pool table.

To that end, your measurements should start by considering the dimensions of your prospective table. This will allow you to determine how much floor space your chosen table will occupy.

For example, if you have a 7-foot table with actual dimensions of 38-inches x 76-inches, you’ll need that much floor space in the center of your chosen installation space. This space cannot be shared by any other objects unless they fit properly beneath the table.

However, your measurement calculations do not stop there. After figuring how much space your chosen table will take up, you need to begin measuring out “playing space” around your table.

In other words, you need to measure out an ample amount of space for players to stand and properly draw back their pool cue. Without this space, you and your opponents will likely hit the walls surrounding your table on a regular basis.

To factor for this necessary “playing space,” first determine what length cue you intend to use (most standard cues measure 58 inches in length). From there, multiply that cue length by 1.5 to determine the amount of space needed to draw that cue from your table’s edge. Add this length onto each of the sides of your table’s length.

The resulting sum is the total amount of space needed to install and use your desired pool table.

Room Size Requirements Based on Pool Table Size

With the formulas out of the way, let’s take a look at some practical examples.

7-Foot Table

Using the formula set forth in the section above, you can quickly determine the amount of space needed to install a 7-foot pool table in your home. In most cases, you’ll need around 13 x 16 feet of space to properly situate a pool table of this size.

This spacing accounts for a regulation length 58 inch pool cue.

However, if you are using a shorter cue, you may be able to fit a 7-foot table in a smaller space. To that end, users of a 48-inch or 52-inch cues can fit their table into an 11′ 6″ x 14′ 6″ or 12′ x 15’ space, respectively.

8-Foot Table

For an 8-foot pool table, you’ll also want to use the spacing calculation outlined above.

If you do so, you’ll find that a 13′ 6″ x 17′ space will be needed to use such a table with regulation length cues. However, a table of the same size can also be used in a tighter space if smaller cues are used.

To that end, an 8-foot table can be squeezed into either a 12′ x 15′ 6″ or 12′ 6″ x 16′ space with a 48-inch or 52-inch cue, respectively.

9-Foot Table

Because of their overall bulk, those looking to purchase a 9-foot pool table must carefully examine their home’s capacity for properly installing such a unit. To be specific, they’ll need to cordon off a 14’ x 18’ space to properly use a 9-foot table within their home. 

However, these tables can still be used in a smaller space if a shorter cue is utilized. Specifically, when a 48-inch or 52-inch cue is used for regular play, a table of this size can be slotted into either a 12′ 6″ x 16′ 6” or 13’ x 17’ space without much trouble.

What Can I Do If My Room Is Too Small for a Pool Table?

Many homeowners want to add a pool table to their home but come up just a bit short when it comes to meeting the ideal dimensions for a table’s placement. That’s okay because there is an alternative option that will allow you to still use your desired table size within your slightly undersized room.

To be specific, you can elect to use slightly smaller pool cues with your chosen pool table. This will decrease the amount of buffer space needed on each side of the table.

In particular, you can turn to either a 48-inch or 52-inch cue to meet your needs on this front. Both cue types play as well as their longer counterpart, but require less space during the drawback and follow-through motions.

Summary

That just about covers everything you need to know when it comes to determining how much space you need to install your new pool table.

Using the dimensions and the formula described above, you should be able to undertake this process on your own. However, you can also still elect to hire a pool table sales representative to visit your home and perform professional measurements of their own.