Tennis Court Resurfacing

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 return. 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. There is a product called armor crack which uses a fabric to cover the cracks. In my opinion this is just a costly band aid fix. This little piece of fabric is not going to stop two pieces of asphalt from moving.

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 or asphalt crack cleaner to V out the crack and  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 tennis court resurfacer or acrylic patch.

For deep low areas we use polymer modified cement. Depending on the depth you may have to apply several coats.

Procedure:

1. Remove the existing court material is you can or use a grinder to scar up the surface for better adhesion.

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

Note: We usually rub brick (sand) then put an extra coat of resurfacer over a low spot to help smooth it out.

For areas that are just a little low 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 on the court.

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.

6. Stripe (paint) tennis court 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 10-15 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. Best to do when it is not windy.

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. We use a 2 inch roller on a pole and press all the tape down. When you paint don't press to hard and use a good 2" brush or tape a 2 inch roller from rolling and use it to spread the paint.

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.