From relationships to houses and cars, almost everything needs maintenance for their usefulness to last long. In the case of a tennis court, you will need to replace the nets, lights, and the court surface regularly. Generally, a tennis court in Utah needs resurfacing after four to eight years, but what determines if your court will need four, six, or eight?
Given the costs incurred in resurfacing a tennis court, everyone would like a low resurfacing frequency. If you want your tennis surface to remain durable for a long time, you need to know the various indicators when a tennis court needs resurfacing.
How fast a tennis court wears out depends on different factors, from how it was constructed to how often it is used. To know if your tennis court can be durable for a long time you need to ask yourself several questions:
Does the court have proper drainage?
Ponding water accelerates the wearing out of a tennis court surface; the court should have mechanisms of getting rid of excess water. The surest way of avoiding ponding water is having a proper slope on the court. A tennis court should slope in one plane —the plane can be corner-to-corner, side-to-side, or end-to-end. The slope should be more for hard courts, and lesser for clay courts. Such a slope is too little to affect the play but good enough to drain the court.
Is the court surface clean?
Even if the tennis court is rarely used, you need to pass by regularly and clean it. That includes removing any dirt, leaves, and debris as well as removing any creeping vegetation from the court’s edges. When these materials accumulate on the court surface or edges, they retain moisture and damage the court. Further, dirt and rock particles damage the court surface through friction. Keeping the court clean reduces the resurfacing frequency.
How often is the court used?
Tennis courts with high foot traffic tend to wear out faster than rarely-used courts; this is because they experience more friction and support more weight. It is not a bad thing for a court to wear out due to high traffic — it indicates that you are getting value for your initial investment. Properly-drained and well-compacted courts last long despite high foot traffic.
Signs that your tennis court needs resurfacing
Obvious signs include faded lines, water pools, birdbaths, and cracks. Sometimes, the holes and cracks are too small to note; if mold or mildew grows on the surface, it’s a sign that the court surface is retaining water, and it needs resurfacing. Evaluating changes in the speed of play is one of the best ways to tell when your tennis court needs resurfacing. If you start noticing faster and low bounces, it is an indication that the court surface is wearing out.
The bottom line
Though the most tennis courts in Utah needs resurfacing after four to eight years, you can control how long your tennis court lasts. Do that by varying factors such as the compactness of the surface, the slope, and the cleanliness of the court. When you notice cracks, holes, and faster bounces, it’s time to resurface the court.
