Finding Court Restoration Value

FINDING COURT RESTORATION VALUE

Whether you are a homeowner, Country Club, or Swim and Tennis board member, you are probably perusing our site because you have been awarded, or volunteered for the dubious honor of overseeing an upcoming tennis court repair or restoration project. Your first task is to wade through the myriad of information, claims and offers and then separate all of the noise and hyperbole from important facts. It is our intention to do what we can to help you in this endeavor. We do this selfishly because we believe that, armed with "The Facts", you will likely choose Environmental Sport Surfaces, Inc. for your court project. And if these facts lead you to a company with a better offer, please let us know. We never stop looking for ways to improve the services we provide our customers.

Exactly, What Does Your Court Need?

The obvious first step in this fact finding quest is to determine which areas of your court need attention and what restoration options (at what costs) are available. The best sources for this preliminary information are your local tennis court contractors. Once you have gathered opinions and quotations from a number of contractors you may find yourself screaming for the noise (hyperbole) filter I spoke of earlier. If so, read on, you have come to the right place.

Major Reconstruction vs. Resurfacing (color-coating)

If your court has more than a few minor cracks, Resurfacing will not provide a permanent cure. However, since cracks are prevalent in at least 90% of the courts in the U.S., and the cost of major reconstruction will start in the $25K's, resurfacing, when looked at as maintenance, rather than a permanent cure is the most cost effective method of restoration. In any given year, only a very small percentage of court owners are able to afford major reconstruction work.

Reconstruction And Other Major Restoration

If you are in need of major work and can afford it your next step will be to determine the cause of the cracking (or other symptoms such as settlement or heaving). I strongly recommend you enlist the services of a Geotechnical Engineer. My reasoning will become clear as you talk to the various court contractors you have contacted about their recommendations for this major work. You will get almost as many opinions as to the cause of your court's problems and the correct remedy as there are contractors. Unfortunately, each of them will have their favorite method of repair, which often has more to do with their profit margins of comfort level than it has to do with the real nature of the problem to be addressed.

A Geotechnical Engineer is a third party expert who has no agenda other than identifying the nature of your court's structural problems and designing one or more appropriate cures. His work starts by boring a number of holes to a depth of around six feet beneath the court surface. He will analyze the material that comes out of these borings for moisture, compaction, organic content, and so on, and will then compose a written report detailing the structural defects (if any) and recommended methods of repair. The fee for this work, generally around $500.00, is a real bargain. Without these test borings you are really taking a big gamble. You may choose a method that is overkill, spending thousands more than might be necessary, or worse, you could choose a repair method that inadequately addresses the defect and find yourself revisiting the same problems within five years. One incident I recall:

A court owner found extensive structural problems only after the court contractor backed up onto his court with a loaded dump truck that promptly sank to its axles. At that point the owner was faced with the option of spending an additional $35,000.00 to tear out and replace three feet of bad soil before the court reconstruction could even begin, or he could live with a totally destroyed court. His court reconstruction bill was around $70,000.00.

If you are an Atlanta customer, go to this link (engineers) for the names and phone numbers of four firms that some of our past customer have had great success with If you are in Florida, Please send us an email at: tenniscourts@mindspring.com requesting a local engineer. For more information on court reconstruction read one of our other articles titled Do It Right The Second Time.

There Is More To Resurfacing Than Meets The Eye

If you are like most court owners we work with each year, major reconstruction is either not necessary or not affordable. Resurfacing will then be your likely method of surface restoration. You now must choose which type of Resurfacing will best fit your needs. There are two types of Resurfacing and then two variations on each type.

Standard Resurfacing

I call the first type of Resurfacing "Standard Resurfacing", the method typically proposed by most court contractors. The two variations on Standard Resurfacing are The Two Coat Resurfacing and The Three Coat Resurfacing. The Two Coat Resurfacing includes, as it's name implies, two coats of textured acrylic color-coatings. The Three Coat Resurfacing usually includes three textured color-coats but sometimes includes one coat of a product called "Resurfacer", and two textured color coats. I would not recommend this second method since "Resurfacer" is simply a cheap (usually black in color) coating designed as an inexpensive filler coat. The number of coats of color applied to your court have a direct correlation to the number of years the surface will last. A good rule of thumb is two years per coat. Since Resurfacer is black you may find after 4 or 5 years you have worn through the color revealing black splotches in the heavy-traffic areas.

Maintenance/Surfacing

The second type of Resurfacing, at present only offered by Environmental Sport Surfaces, is called "Maintenance/Surfacing". We developed this method of Resurfacing for those court owners in Atlanta whose courts have major, re-occurring cracks but do not have the available funds for major reconstruction. This method treats Resurfacing as an ongoing maintenance item. The two variations on Maintenance/Surfacing are The Yearly Program and The Bi-yearly Program. At the initial surfacing we usually apply two textured acrylic color-coats after cleaning and patching the surface. Every year or every other year we perform all of the same cleaning and patching procedures and then apply one color-coat and new playing lines. This method brings the courts back to new condition each time we perform the Maintenance/Surfacing. A long-time popular method for cracked courts, it is now catching on with those who have courts in relatively good condition. Ask us about it. It really doesn't cost much more than Standard Resurfacing.

What To Look For In A Resurfacing Proposal

Since the proposal is the sum total of a contractor's offer to perform certain services for you it must state clearly the details of that offer. What should you expect to find in a good Resurfacing proposals? Assuming you will look for the obvious items such as price, I will focus on a few less obvious areas.

References

A credible proposal should always be accompanied by a list of references that include the name of the project, a contact, and a phone number for you to call. We proudly post the references we send with every bid and on our website.

Insurance

Make sure the contractor's insurance coverage includes Workers Compensation and General Liability.

Warranty

The length of the warranty should be clearly stated and should cover you against any defects in materials and workmanship. Any exclusions should be also be included in this paragraph. Our Resurfacing warranties are in force for a full 3 years.

Cleaning

Cleaning is an important step in the resurfacing process. A good proposal will include clear wording that specifies a thorough cleaning.

Crack Repair

It is important that the proposal state that the cracks will be cleaned out and patched to their full depth. Shallow patches or patches applied to dirty edges will deteriorate quickly. No company will guarantee against future cracking but that is no excuse to apply sloppy patches. You will notice a distinct sinking of the patch within a year if the crack is not filled properly.

Patching Low Areas

The proposal should state clearly that the court will be checked for low areas by flooding and that all low areas where water stands at a depth of 1/8" or greater will be patched. This depth (1/8") is the thickness of a nickel. There are situations where all of the water cannot be removed because of improper or inconsistent slope. Flooding to check for low areas is, however, the only sure method of inspection. Our technicians will flood your court again, after patching, to ensure we have removed all of the water possible.

The Textured Color-Coatings

The number of coats that the contractor proposes to apply should be clearly stated. Don't accept wording like: Apply multiple coats of acrylic color the the court surface. If you see this or similar wording assume it means no more than 2 coats. There are at least a couple of companies selling inferior coatings. These products begin fading within the first year. I don't believe it would be proper for me to name these products even though I know who they are. Rather than name the bad ones I prefer to name all of the good ones. If you receive a proposal using a coating not on my list, don't assume that it is bad. I would, however, advise that you do your own investigation to determine how well it has been holding up on past jobs where it has been used.

My List of Quality Coating Manufacturers

Environmental Sport Coatings

California Products

World Class

Laykold

Nova Sports

Lines are also important. Two coats of line paint should be applied.

Icing On The Cake

A good proposal will include sanding and painting your old net posts and cleaning up your net if it is not being replaced. We also re-attach any sagging windscreen before leaving your job.

We hope this page has been informative. Please contact us if you have any questions, or would like a FREE inspection and quote for your court.