Once the new macadam has been laid on your court, it needs a minimum of 3 to 4 weeks for the oils to come out of the macadam before it can be painted with an acrylic colour coat or lined. The court can be used during this period so should you require any temporary lines, these can be applied with an aerosol line marking machine. In colder months, the process for the oils to come out of the macadam can take longer and, in some cases, we advise that the court is cleaned with a gentle pressure wash before applying the paint.
As we like to offer a personal service, we advise carrying out a site inspection for all of our projects. We can, however, offer a provisional quoting service based upon the details supplied from our clients and the use of Google Earth for estimated court dimensions. At a site inspection which is completely free of charge, we will discuss in detail your requirements and then from this supply you with a no obligation quote for the project.
Macadam playing surfaces ideally need a professional clean once a year using a bespoke high-volume, multi-nozzle floor-based pressure wash system to remove all moss, algae and detritus from the surface and within the pores of the macadam. It is also recommended that a suitable non-residual moss treatment is applied to kill off any remaining moss and help inhibit immediate future growth. More stubborn courts with heavy moss growth may need treatment prior to cleaning, but we can advise upon such needs.
A macadam all weather court requires relatively little maintenance, but it’s important to keep the playing surface clean, this can be achieved by having a regular maintenance regime, such as:
Daily - at the end of the days play
- Make sure the tennis net is slackened and rolled up in the middle (if applicable)
- Make sure the gate is shut
Weekly
- Clear leaves and any vegetation from the court
Monthly
- Deal with any moss or algae
Annually
- Pressure wash the court
- Apply moss-killer
Please note that these are minimum recommendations. Common sense and careful observation should prevail. If any serious doubt exists about the effectiveness of the maintenance regime or the condition of the court, call us as it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Following the application of acrylic or water-based polyurethane paint to the playing surface, we advise a minimum of 72 hours (or longer if wet weather has intervened) before using the court again. It will also take a further few weeks for the painted court to ‘settle in’ as it may initially appear a little slippery under wet conditions, but this is normal until the paint has fully cured.
The advice we offer is always to check with your local planning authority, as it’s better to be safe then sorry if you discover after having the work done, that planning is required. Normally speaking if your fencing around the court is above 2m then planning will be required or if there is a change of use to the land. If you are also considering floodlights, then planning will need to be sort. More advice on this can be found at:
https://www.planningportal.co.uk/info/200130/common_projects/43/outbuildings
This will depend upon the location of the court and the needs of the client. To save on cost, it is always better to try and keep the soil (known a spoil) onsite and neatly distribute or landscape it around the court or elsewhere on the client’s property. However, if the spoil needs to be removed from the site this is not a problem and can be arranged for an additional cost.
If your existing macadam (asphalt) court has seen better days and the surface aggregate has started to come loose, then it will need more than just a simple clean and paint. Therefore, following a site inspection, we may advise that a new macadam ‘overlay’ is suitable, which can bring another 12 to 15 years of life back into the court. If the current playing surface is level and relatively stable, it can simply be overlaid with a new compacted layer of appropriate macadam, so that the current playing surface doesn’t have to be removed.
This is achieved by:
- Piercing the old surface at 450mm centres and backfilling with a clean pea shingle to aid drainage
- At the same time, the court perimeter is also chased out to allow feathering in of the new surface with the existing kerb edgings
- Similarly, tennis and netball socket raisers are bolted onto the sockets to raise the height of the posts (when inserted) to that of the new playing surface
- Spraying a bitumen emulsion tack coat to aid adhesion between the existing surface and the new macadam to be imported.
- Importing a specific macadam wear course for the desired sport and compacting it to a suitable consolidated depth.
- This new macadam is hand laid and screeded in bays across the court, such that where possible the join lines are positioned under the play lines of the court, thus reducing their visibility.
- Finally, the macadam is rolled and cross-rolled to ensure an even close-knit and level finish