Thanks John for the information. Maybe you can help me with my flooring
decision. Every few years regardless of precautions taken my basement gets
water from the sump pump hole in the concrete.
Last time I had a battery backup system installed to prevent this very
thing. A few weeks ago in the very heavy rain my power was on but the main
pump failed and the backup pump couldn't handle the volume.
So.... I am getting tired of spending days vacuuming up water from the
carpet. So my choices are to put the carpet, now dry, back down without the
pad (never dries) or glue down some laminate flooring. I don't want to
install underlayment due to possible moisture.
Can I lay laminate floor tiles on the bare concrete? I know they may have
some out of level spots but most of it will then be covered with an area
rug. When I get water again will the water get under the laminate and
possibly cause mold etc. that I cannot see.
Any help is appreciated.
Phil Nase
http://home.comcast.net/~philnasecpa
-----Original Message-----
From: John P. New [mailto:jnew@hazelden.ca]
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2006 3:40 PM
To: Phil Nase
Cc: 'Shop-Talk List'
Subject: Re: Lifting a pool table
Phil,
I wouldn't risk damaging a slate table by using hydraulic jacks to lift it
as you suggest. I would suspect that the joints between the slate pieces
would at a minimum crack or separate, and at worst the edges of the slate
(which are _very_ crisp, even sharp) might chip. Even if you could do it
safely, chances are it wouldn't be level after you've finished.
That being said, you could minimize the costs to dismantle and reassemble
the table.
First, you could attempt to dismantle it yourself. The table should be
assembled with screws, nuts and bolts. Just make sure you save everything
and you are careful with the cloth. You don't have to disassemble every
piece, just the main assemblies.
A few things to note. Depending on the size of your table, the slates can be
_very_ heavy (the five slates on my 6x12 weigh upwards of 400 pounds _each_)
and since the edges are sharp, you need enough manpower to lift them safely
off the table frame. Note: Slate weighs about 2,691 kg/cubic meter, so you
can calculate the weight of the slates yourself.
The joints between the slate pieces usually have some sort of
bonding/levelling material; some of this stuff is soft and some is hard.
Just lift one edge of the slate a little and hopefully the joint will
separate easily. Store the slates on an edge (i.e. _not_ flat) and put some
soft wood between them and the floor. Once the slates are off the table, the
frame itself shouldn't be too hard to lift to get the carpet out from
underneath.
I would leave reassembly to the pros. They have the materials and tools
(especially the machinist's level which 99.9% of us don't have) to do the
job right.
When you lay carpet back down, do what I did: don't lay any carpet under the
feet of the table, but set the table directly on the floor (actually, on
spacers that will lift the table slightly to compensate for the thickness of
the carpet). That way, if (when) you have to replace the carpet, you don't
have to move the table again. If the carpet is going over hardwood (as mine
does), leave the floor under the table exposed; if the carpet is going over
sub-floor or concrete, patch in matching carpet under the table and seal the
seams.
Hope that helps,
John New
London, Ontario, Canada
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