03-02-2017 Parks & Rec Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

pour a patio or sidewalk, otherwise folks end up having to patch their brand new pads to make them work as courts.” Jason emphasized three important points in dealing with your concrete contractor: • Insist on a medium broom finish; • A vapor barrier to help with proper drainage is a must to insure the longevity of your court; • And make sure the contractor uses zip strips in forming the seams between sections of the pad. (If you look at most patios or sidewalks you’ll notice a roughly 1/2 inch gap between sections, which would have to be filled and patched before a court surface was put down. Patches wear down much faster than the rest of your pad. On a new pad, nobody wants a patch!) A couple of other points you’ll want to address with the contractor is whether or not you want permanent net posts installed, if you want fencing around the court, and if you want lighting. If so, all three will need to take place with the pour. Once you’ve got your pad poured to the exact specifications you need, it will take 28-days for the concrete pad to cure before a court surface can be applied; 14-days in the case of asphalt. Once it’s cured, it will take only about 3 or 4 days, sunshine dependent, for a company like Cascade Sports and Tennis Court Surfacing to finish off your new court. For a brand new court at 1,500 square feet, the cost for surfacing will be about $3,500 - $5,000, (a bit cheaper for resurfacing as less coats of acrylic are necessary). “We start by filling in any seems or imperfections the concrete contractor may have left,” Jason said. “We apply an adhesion promoter, which has to be done quickly, but is painstaking work. We get that down and then have to get the first coat of Acrylic down within two hours. For every 30-gallons of the acrylic paint, we mix in 300lbs of sand. This fills in all the cracks and air pockets and gives your court that nice textured surface.” The first coat dries in about an hour and they scrape all the sand that hasn’t gone into any cracks back off, (almost all of it). The acrylic has to cure for about an hour before a second coat can be applied. Next comes the surface paint, which is at least a two day process with new courts as two coats are necessary. This is also a bit weather dependent for outdoor courts as the product requires direct sunlight to dry properly. “We always try to put the second coat on in the morning, so I can watch it dry and make sure the sun hits the whole court,” Jason said. “If you’ve got one corner where the sun isn’t hitting, it won’t dry consistently and cure properly.” Once the second coat has cured properly, court lines are painted and not long after you’re ready to break in your new pickleball court! Invite your friends over and before you know it pickleball will be growing rapidly throughout your community. Building a Community Court Complex Now that you’ve been helping grow the sport of pickle ball in your community by modifying existing courts, working with the Parks & Recreation Department, and even building your own backyard court, perhaps it’s time for a dedicated multi-court complex. There’s a lot of work and organization that goes into getting to this stage, but if your group of pickleballers has the momentum going, perhaps it’s time to start the process.