Installers use “resurface,” “recover” and “refelt” for the same thing: stripping the old cloth from the slate bed and rails and fitting new cloth. That is the job most people are pricing.

Cushion replacement is a separate line. The rubber cushion is glued to a wooden rail liner, and the rail cloth wraps over its nose and is stapled underneath the rail, as the World Pool-Billiard Association’s equipment specification describes. You cannot reach the rubber without taking that cloth off, so new cushions almost always mean new rail cloth, and most owners recover the bed at the same visit.

Slate repair, the third job, is priced case by case; if a seam has opened or a corner chipped, read whether a cracked slate can be repaired before you collect cloth quotes.

HomeGuide prices an installed recover by table size and cloth grade. Going from a 7-foot to a 9-foot table adds only $15 at the budget grade; moving up the grades on the same table adds $185 or more.

Installed price for cloth and labor, from HomeGuide’s refelting cost guide (written April 2023). Treat it as a range, not a quote.

The same guide shows where the money goes on an 8-foot table. It assumes $125 of labor in every case, so the spread is the cloth: about $255 installed with a budget Teflon-treated woolen cloth, $440 with Simonis 860 and $460 with Simonis 860HR. A worsted cloth plays faster and costs more; woolen vs. worsted covers which suits your play. HomeGuide also lists custom printed cloth at about $550 for a 7- or 8-foot table and $600 for a 9-foot.

Not sure the cloth is finished? How often to re-felt gives rule-of-thumb intervals by use, and the recover-or-replace decision tree helps with the borderline cases.

Cushion rubber is a small part of the bill. HomeGuide lists rail rubbers at $45 to $55 for a set of six and cushion facings at $5 to $10 a dozen. Labor and the rail cloth you have to replace make up the rest.

New cushions during a recover

$60 to $180 on top of the refelt (HomeGuide “rebumpering”)

Bumpers and labor alone

$50 to $90 (HomeGuide’s lowest cushion figure)

Full rail replacement

$280 to $450 (HomeGuide)

Refelt + tune-up + rail replacement

$495 to $695 as a package (HomeGuide)

Expected life

10 to 20 years on a good-quality table, per HomeGuide

HomeGuide’s own cushion numbers do not line up perfectly, so budget toward the top of the $60 to $180 range. Expect more on a custom or designer table, where the rail profile may be specific to the maker and the right part may have to be ordered from them. That is one reason to keep the model and build details from the replacement-parts file every owner should keep.

Diagnose before you buy rubber

A dull rail is not always dead rubber. The WPA specification says rail bolts should be placed so that, properly torqued, they give a quiet, even rebound from any point on the cushion. A loose bolt can mimic hardened rubber. Checks to make before replacing the rubber walks through the tests.

The figures above assume the table stays put and the installer is local. HomeGuide lists the common extras:

Service call and tune-up

$60 to $195

Leveling

$240 to $360 at setup, or about $80 an hour plus a $60 to $95 call-out fee on a separate visit

Travel outside the service area

About $25 at 10 miles (16 km), $50 at 20 miles (32 km), $75 at 30 miles (48 km)

Move within the home and refelt

$500 to $600

Disassemble, move, reassemble and refelt

$600 to $700

If you are moving house anyway, the cloth has to come off for the move, so HomeGuide suggests it is a sensible time to recover. On a slate table, follow the maker’s procedure for moving a slate pool table.

Two quotes with very different totals can describe different work. Send each installer the same facts.

1. Describe the table. Maker, model, nominal size (7, 8 or 9 ft), playing area, one- or three-piece slate, and photos of each rail, the pockets and any damage. The WPA playing area for a 9-foot table is 100 x 50 in (2.54 x 1.27 m) and for an 8-foot table 92 x 46 in (2.34 x 1.17 m).
2. Name the cloth. Brand, model and color, and whether the price covers both the bed and the rails.
3. Name the rubber. If cushions are included, ask for the brand, the profile and whether it is the table maker’s part. A brand name alone does not prove the profile fits your rails.
4. Itemize. Cloth, rubber, labor, travel, leveling, disposal of old material and tax on separate lines.
5. Set the approval rule. Ask what would add cost once the rails are off (loose seams, split rail wood, stripped bolt holes) and require a call before any extra work.
6. Agree how the result is checked. The WPA asks for a cushion nose height of 62.5 to 64.5% of ball diameter, about 1.41 to 1.45 in (35.7 to 36.9 mm) for a standard 2¼ in ball, and a ball shot firmly from the head spot through the foot spot should travel at least 4 to 4½ table lengths. Our installation sign-off checklist turns that into a simple test.
7. Get the warranty in writing. Thumbtack advises asking whether labor is guaranteed against installation problems and getting estimates from three pros.

The cheaper quote is only cheaper if it names the same cloth, the same rubber and the same checks.

Pool Table Portfolio, on reading quotes

Labor is roughly $125 of a typical recover in HomeGuide’s breakdown, which is the most a DIY job can save before you buy tools. HomeGuide lists a complete recovering kit (cloth, rail cushions, facings, adhesives, seam cement and spots) at about $230 for a 7-foot table, plus about $25 for an 8-foot and $45 for a 9-foot. It rates the job about 6 out of 10 for difficulty: two to three hours for a professional, most of a day for a first-timer. Thumbtack puts a professional recover at two to four hours.

The cloth stretch takes the most care, and a cloth that is too loose shows up in play; see how to tell if the cloth was not pulled tightly enough. Cushion work is harder again, because the rubber has to be glued straight and at the right height along the full length of each rail. The step-by-step refelting guide shows what is involved. On a custom table, check the maker’s instructions before you open the rails.