Have you been thinking about adding a shuffleboard table to your home or business? It might be a great idea, and it will furnish you, your family and friends with tons of opportunities for enjoyable recreation. Shuffleboard can be a great addition to an existing game room as the table can frequently be placed against a wall that is not otherwise being used.

Before you run and grab a 12 foot shuffleboard table because you think it will fit in your home, consider the following. It’s a big purchase, so you’ll want to make sure you’re getting something that works for you. 

Size, Compatibility with the Intended Room/Setting

All else aside, one of the most important things you should consider is the size of the shuffleboard table. You need to make sure that it can get in and then fit in the room you want to put it in! 

Here are eFamilyFun, we sell shuffleboards in a wide range of sizes and styles between 9’ and 22’, plus we offer multiple KD (knocked down) and two piece board options, so room access can always be managed. 

Don’t gamble on a big expense like a shuffleboard table. Measure the room you want to place it in and make sure you have enough space at the ends and around the sides of the table, not only for people to play, but to get around the room. 

That is, don’t get a 12 foot shuffleboard table if the room is 14’x14’. That’s just not big enough. You should, ideally, have three feet of clearance at both ends of the table to allow everyone to play and move freely, without making the room feel cramped. 

Getting the table into the room is another consideration. For difficult to access rooms we offer the Playcraft Saybrook which is completely KD. You assemble the cradle where you want to place the table, so you do not need to move a completed unit. The playfield is cut into two pieces,  but joined with hardware during assembly. The joining seam does not affect play at all, as can be seen in this video. The Saybrook is available in 12’, 14’ and 16’. Other Playcraft tables are offered with assembled two piece cradles and two piece playfield options from 12’ to 22’.

A good rule of thumb in deciding if you need a two piece is to walk the path into the room with an extension ladder opened to the table length.

Base and Playfield Materials (and Playfield Thickness) 

Another prime consideration you should make before buying a shuffleboard table is to look into the base materials. The base refers to the legs, frame, and the surface/support around the playfield.

The best shuffleboard tables are made with bases of solid wood, but they can also be made with legs and frames of manufactured wood or metal. 

Solid wood shuffleboard tables are heavy, but exhibit exceptionally high quality and durability. They provide the best options for high end finishes, including distressing and weathering. 

 Manufactured wood can also be very strong but it will require a veneer. At the lower end a veneer may be high pressure vinyl made to simulate wood. At the higher end, such as on the Georgetown, the veneer is real wood that is hand stained and burnished.

Metal frames are very durable, decorative and able to support a lot of weight. They are also usually very heavy. However, some outdoor tables are made with aluminum frames that are very strong while remaining lightweight. Aluminum is completely corrosion-resistant and an excellent material for outdoor shuffleboard tables. 

You also need to evaluate the material and quality of the playfield (playing surface). We only sell solid wood vertical stave playfields. This is a true butcher block where the wood pieces are glued together side by side in full width. A laminate on top of engineered wood or layered wood pieces will not produce a stable playing surface and can cup across the length of the table. These should be avoided.

Solid wood makes the best playfields, and the best species is Canadian maple. Maple is hard, dense, and extremely strong and stable. Many antique shuffleboard tables were made with maple playfields, and many of ours are as well. Other wood species are suitable, such as oak, or birch, but maple is arguably the best. 

We offer two major categories of playfields. Pro style 3” thick 20’ wide playfields with a poured polymer top and home style that are 1.75” thick, 15’ wide and a sprayed urethane finish. Both are solid wood vertical stave, and both provide excellent play experiences, although the pro-style will be more familiar if you have played in a bar. Remember that the home style is narrower and that becomes more challenging as the tables get longer. 

Climatic Adjusters 

The playing surface of a shuffleboard table should be ever so slightly concave so that the weights do not easily fall off the edge of it. However, even with the best engineering, no playfield can be made to stay perfectly flat. Moreover, as stable and durable as wood is, it will move over time due to changes in temperature and humidity. 

For this reason, shuffleboard tables with wooden playing surfaces are often equipped with special components called “climatic adjusters”. These are bars mounted underneath the shuffleboard table that can be adjusted via a wrench to move the playing surface into a slight concave. When putting a straight edge across a table you should be able to just get a piece of paper under the straight edge in the middle of the playfield. 

Pro style climate adjusters are the easiest to work with and the most effective. All Playcraft indoor tables are equipped with pro style adjusters. This is an important upgrade from their competitors.

The Extras: What the Shuffleboard Table Comes with

Before you buy a new shuffleboard table for your home or business, you should also look at what extras come with the table, as these will impact the overall value of the package. 

For instance, all of our indoor shuffleboard tables come with board sweeps (necessary to remove and recover the speed wax) pucks, abacus and speed wax. The speed wax is necessary so the weights glide smoothly on the playfield.

We only include high quality USA produced wax that provides a superior play experience when compared to commonly provided low quality wax that is inconsistent. The abacus is for keeping score ( typically to 21) and are built into the table or they are wooden beads stained to match the table. The pucks are of course for playing the game, but make sure they are quality. Playcraft pucks are all finished with convex bottoms to avoid plowing the wax during play. Playcraft has also just introduced aluminum screw top pucks that are sharp to look at and are being included in all their tables. 

We also carry a wide range of shuffleboard accessories, many of which are nice to have and which will increase your enjoyment while playing. Check out our collection via the previous link, which contains table covers, plastic corner tops, climatic adjuster replacements, electronic scorers, covers, bowling pins with pinsetter, abacus scoring systems, and much more

Shuffleboard Aesthetics 

One more thing to consider is how the shuffleboard table will work and look in your existing interior/exterior configuration, given your current design scheme. 

Fortunately, thanks to the number of different shuffleboard tables we offer, and the number of materials, designs, and finishes available, there’s almost certainly something that will work in your home or outdoor entertainment center. We carry both wood and metal tables, some of which feature classic, solid wooden construction, and others with more modern designs. 

Ease of Assembly 

One final note you should take into account before buying a shuffleboard table is how hard it will be to assemble. While professional installation/assembly is strongly recommended for many of our pool tables, some of our shuffleboard tables are easy to install on your own. Make sure you factor that into your purchase decision.

Contact Us If You Have Questions

Not sure if that 12 foot shuffleboard table is right for you? Don’t try to figure it out on your own. If you have any questions about table size, weight, quality, or specifications (or any other questions) feel free to contact us at 877-358-5579 and we will do our best to help you pick the table that’s right for you and your home.