Tennis Court Construction Blog

Archive for June, 2010

Why didn’t they build a centre court with a moveable roof in the first place? It’s not a huge stadium is it… it’s pretty tiny compared to a football stadium.

And why can’t they just rig up some makeshift roofs all over the other outer courts?

As I see it… you’d only have to install a few posts around the courts… with the posts on one side slightly lower than other side to allow water to drain… and then rivet in some tough thick tranparent plastic. Job done for around £10,000 ?

its a lot more work then you think. Its a very difficult shape to dome which is why they had to take it almost completely off. They decided against a new one which could have been done in no time because of tradition. So were stuck with it for 2 more years!

I don,t have a tennis court but i do have an expanse of concrete. How can i build a backboard to
practise on?

i actually have one in my driveway. my dad build it for me

he attached two thin pieces of wood side by side and has wood running across the back to support them. At first, he made the base (The bottom of the board is two feet off the ground) out of PVC (?) pipe, but it wasn’t very stable, so he rebuilt it with wood.
I know my instructions are vague. I didn’t make it. But, you should be able to make it with spare amounts of wood and creativity. You shouldn’t have to spend that much money.

Just a few tips.

I think the smaller the better. Mine is only about 4-5 feet wide and not too high. If it is smaller, you’ll have to chase the balls more because you will miss more often, but you will improve your accuracy.

And remember, it is loud. You will annoy your neighbors if you do it too often, so save it for when nobody is home (if you’re a kid, summer vacation is perfect).

I am wanting to have a new tennis court but i would like to know which ones are the cheapest and eaiset to maintain.

Cheapest and easiest to maintain do not go good together! If you get the cheapest, you are gonna get cracks in it. But the easiest to maintain would be a more expensive one, that won’t crack as easily. If you get the cheapest, you are gonna have to redo the court so many times that it will end up being the most expensive!

im wondering if there is a way to build a drainage system for a grass court without having to put a layer of stone under my entire yard?
is it possible to have a series of french drains that all connect?
basically it would be much much easier and cheaper if i didnt have to dig up my whole yard to put gravel down and then put the dirt back on it, so im wondering if there is a way where all i have to do is level my yard and dig a few trenches?
was thinking of having a pipe every 20 feet or so running across the court connecting to the main drain that would run beside the court. i know i need to surround them with rock and have it slope down, do i have to have all the pipes surrounded by some sort of screen? and do the holes go in the sides it the pipes? how do i keep dirt from mixing with the rock, i was reading about surrounding the rock by sand or something?

any input would be helpful, thanks

French drains would probably work – most modern golf course greens are drained basically with french drains. Make sure you have appropriate spacing, slope, and drain tile size for the area you’re draining. Also make sure you use perforated drain tile (i’m sure you knew this but I’ve dug up a few french drains that had solid tile). The only concern would be repairing the surface after installation is complete. Once you put in the gravel top off the trench with 3-4 inches of sand (if your court is sand based try to use the same type of sand) and then either seed it or sod it with washed sod or sand based sod. You wouldn’t want use sod with dirt because you rill reduce the efficacy of your drain. Obviously, prep work is crucial at this stage to ensure that are no imperfections along the trench lines. You can wrap the tile with a geotextile to prevent soil, sand and/or gravel particles from getting into the tile and clogging the drain.

A "driveway" court is indeed cheap, but not good at all! If you’re serious about making a tennis court I would go with either an asphalt or concrete based hard court or a clay court. If you live in the United States, chances are a hard court will be much cheaper in the long run, as harsh winter climates make clay courts difficult and expensive to maintain.
It’s best to hire a professional to come in and pave your area. After that’s done, you’ll have to surface your court with some kind of acrylic coating. Shop around– there are some cheap options. Here’s a few off the web http://www.novasports.com/tennisx.htm

Well, there are four types of tennis courts. All costs are in USD.
A hard court would cost around 30K, but if you do most or all of the work yourself, you can have a perfectly functional court for around 500.
Clay could range anywhere from 50K to 60K, and they require constant maintenance. Any amount of wind can pick up bits of the clay from the surface.
I’m not sure about grass or carpet courts, because those are so much less common.