If you have a garden, decking area or other outside beer garden then you can earn additional income from an outdoor pool table or provide your customers with a free fun activity that will be a great talking point for your pub.
“Have a pool table outside? You must be bonkers!” – not at all, depending on how much you are prepared to spend you can reproduce the same game experience in your beer garden as in your pool room.
Designed and manufactured from special weather-proof materials you can choose from American or British pool variants. Why not have British pool indoors and an outdoor American pool table so your customers can experience both types of play.
American Pool Table
You can now get a high quality American style pool table that has been specially designed for outdoor use. By combining new materials, the latest design and professional quality specifications these outdoor pool tables are suitable for most exterior positions.
A very reasonably priced American Outdoor Pool (at about £1,200) table will feature a relatively lightweight construction in aluminium, it will still have rubber cushions and a slate bed, with a special synthetic water-proof cloth. You can opt to have it fitted with a free play ball return mechanism or have a coin operated mechanism installed.
British Pool Table
This type pool table outdoors is constructed from marine or external quality plywood and treated with waterproof stain. It will come with either an MDF or a slate playing surface and should be fitted with a green rainproof and non-fade waterproof cloth. All the features of your indoor pool table will be incorporated, including cushions and pockets and again can be free play or coin operated.
These outdoor pool tables are built to last (tend to be more expensive than their American style counterparts) and should be a great hit in your pub garden. It will be made to the same standards as a normal indoor model, providing a professional quality pool table with the playing characteristics that your pool players expect.
Whichever outside pool table you choose it should come with the basics required for immediate use, including pool balls, cues, the triangle, chalk and an outdoor cover.
Optional extras that you can pay an additional charge for are a pool table trolley (to move the pool table outdoors around – they can weigh over 200kg), a more robust cover than the free one supplied (which can be somewhat flimsy), outside pool lighting, cue racks and even glass or wooden tops that convert the outdoor pool table into a dining table.
Of course, you’ll want to care for your outside pool table as much as the one you have inside and you’ll need table care brush and cloth cleaner.
Whilst the majority of suppliers will deliver your pool table to your roadside for free, they will not put it together or carry the components up and down steps etc without some extra payment.
“Requires Some Assembly” – Do It Yourself or Leave It To The Professionals?
These outdoor pool tables often come in 3 main parts, the cabinet, the slate and the legs. The slate and cabinet are extremely heavy, so if you opt to install the table yourself you will again need at least two able people to carry it to your chosen location and assemble the table.
Assembling a pool table outdoors correctly is a specialist job, if you are in doubt as to whether you will be able to complete the job satisfactorily yourself you should pay the supplier to install it. Not only will the standard manufacturers warranty remain intact but they will be insured and very capable of doing the job.
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