How to Resurface a Tennis Court

Step 1. Clean courts with a high pressure power washer (3000 psi) if needed. Most don't but some have sap from trees or are just really dirty.

Step 2. Clean, fill and smooth all cracks. We use a modified concrete to fill them. You can also buy an acrylic patch to fill them as well.

We like to refer to it as filling a crack instead of fixing a crack as almost all cracks comeback. Almost every court I have seen has cracks whether they are hairline cracks or large cracks. They will likely reappear after they are filled/fixed usually they only come back as a hairline crack. But not all cracks come back. We use a polymer modified cement with silica sand to fill all our cracks. Some people use crack filler but we find it to expensive and not as effective.

Procedure:

Cracks that have grass or weeds growing out of them must be cleaned out first. (use a screwdriver or putty knife to scrape them out)

Use a grinder to V out the crack the give the cement more surface area to hold onto. Small hairline cracks can be left alone as the resurfacer will fill them in.

Mix up the cement and pour it into the crack. Use a trowel to smooth out the cement. Use a rub brick when cement is dry to knock off any high spots.

Step 3. Fix bird baths or low areas with a few layers of resurfacer or acrylic patch.

For deep low areas we use polymer modified cement. Depending on the depth of the low area you can use some pea gravel to help fill it. There is an acrylic patch that you can buy that will fill the low areas. We just prefer the cement.

Procedure:

1. Clean the surface with a power washer or use a grinder to scar up the surface for better adhesion.

2. Use a 2x4 to spread out the cement. Let it completely dry before applying resurfacer.

Note: We usually put an extra coat of resurfacer over a low spot to help smooth it out.

Not all low areas of a tennis court can be fixed. If the asphalt has sunken causing a bird bath (low area that collects water). Sometimes it will be to time consuming and costly to repair this. So we will put 2-3 coats of resurfacer on the area to help build it up.

Step 4. Apply acrylic resurfacer to tennis courts. Mix as per instructions. Varying amounts of clean silica sand added for increased durability and ball speed.

Base Coat

After all cracks and low spots are filled we apply a base coat acrylic resurfacer. Though a base coat is not always required. It does help since it contains more silica sand than the colored resurfacer There for it fills in more imperfections in the surface.

The base coat is applied with a squeegee. You must always keep a wet edge.

Tips: Make sure you have enough people to help so that you have 2 people with squeegees and at least 2 people mixing. Any less than this will cause the product to dry before it ca be evenly spread out.

Step 5. Apply two coats of acrylic color.

If you are a applying color coat to an old tennis court surface without putting a base coat down,(not suggested) make sure you power wash the surface for increased bond.

It is the most important as it will be the coat that you will see for many years to come. It is applied the same way as the base coat (with a squeegee). Make sure you keep a wet edge and have enough people mixing product for you.

A few tips:

Always keep a wet edge.

Mix the material the same way with the same amount of each product. This will keep the color consistent.

Apply it as soon and as quick (don't run) as you can so that it doesn't dry or the sand settles to the bottom. This will cause a color variation.

6. Stripe (paint) lines to regulation size.

Painting can be a very time consuming experience. We use masking tape to map out the lines. Using two people we mark out where the tape is to go. Then we pull out about 6-10 feet of tape and line it up with the next mark. This helps keep the lines as straight as possible. And you can get a court done in a couple of hours.

Tips:

They sell a product that you can paint over the line before you color them to stop the paint from bleeding under the tape. We find it to be a waist of money and time, just make sure the tape is good quality and is down good. When you paint don't press to hard and use a good 2" brush.

Have one person pouring the paint out while another is spreading it out. The third person will be touching it up. This will make sure you have even paint and you get it spread perfect before it dry's.