Home Ping Pong Table Instructions

Constructing a homemade ping pong table is a great way to add table tennis to your home without having to break the bank on an official table. There are two ways to go about creating your own table, depending on available funding. You can either create your own, standard-dimensioned table, for less than a store-bought model, or you can create your own improvised table from household items.

  1. A Standard Table

    • Building your own table, to official dimensions, can still be substantially cheaper than purchasing a table, and if done well can yield a table indistinguishable from an official one. For the surface of the table, you are going to be looking to build two wooden halves which are 4.5 feet by 5 feet. The type of wood used is not important, so long as it yields a ping pong ball bounce of about 9 inches when dropped from a foot above the table. Likewise, table thickness is not mandated, though a 1- to 2-inch-thick table is usually best.

      Once you have the wooden halves, you can get some matte-finish paints, both white and your table's main color, and paint the lines on the table. The surface of the table should have a 1-inch-wide white line running around the exterior, and a 1-inch-wide white line should run through the middle of each half, bisecting the 5-foot width into two halves.

      Ping pong nets are easily purchased, and cheap, and help complete the surface of your table. If your table will simply be resting on a pre-existing table, your work is done.

      If you want your table to be self-standing, a set of legs for the half are another cheap purchase. Most folding legs are attached with no more than a simple screwdriver and some screws, the latter of which should come with your table. An alternative option for a self-standing table is to build one long 9-foot-by-5-foot plank, which allows you to purchase only two sets of folding legs for the whole table, as opposed to four (two for each half.)

    Improvising a Table

    • A fun, and especially cheap, option for home ping pong table creation is to improvise your own table out of materials lying around your house. Any table of suitable surface area can suffice for the table. Ping pong balls are able to bounce fairly well on most table surfaces, and to test your table just hit a few balls back and forth off of it with a friend. So long as you are not having a hard time getting the ball to bounce up off of the table, your table will work for a homemade playing surface.

      Your net can be constructed out of any material that can effectively bisect the table. One option is to find small cardboard boxes which can be laid on end across the table. Empty window blind boxes make for excellent improvised nets. Another option is to tie a rope or string across the width of the table, about 4 inches above the surface. The string alone can serve as your net, or if you wish for a more clear indicator of if a shot has cleared the net, you can hang a towel or sheet across the string so that a low shot will strike the fabric and not cross to the other side. With an improvised table, the only limit on what you can use to create your net is your own imagination.