Have a great opportunity to get a contract on a Extremely large tennis ranch here in Texas. They have over 40 tennis courts and are wanting a contract to do a few every couple months. Ive been reading the few posts about tennis courts on here and they have been quite helpful, my only concern as I have not ever done a court is striping. That seems to be the main concern for most people and is mine for sure. This is a very well known place that could bring great/or terrible rep for my company. Anybody have tennis courts down to the “T”? Also seems to be some rust on the courts from posts, can f-9 be used on courts?
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How old are the courts? Have they ever been washed? How is the drainage? Is there black algae? I did a Tennis Court last year and it was the worst job ever. The court was older, never been washed, and had thick black algae in areas where water would sit when it rained. I threw down a 50/50 SH mix twice and used a surface cleaner at 4,000 psi. 90% of the court came out great just from the SH, but in areas that never got sun and had bad drainage pressure would barely touch it. I know hot water will/ can strip the paint. I underestimated the surface, and was super happy when it was done. I would maybe spot clean one of the worst ones and see how your results are. Good drainage and plenty of sun it wouldn’t be to bad.
Those pics don’t look to bad, the ones I did was a red court that looked black from a distance
Biggest thing I found to help was to apply a strong mix and then use a push broom to agitate and move the mix around, like cleaning a flat roof
Not sure of the age of the courts but I believe they have had them done in the past judging by the wand looking strokes in that one picture. Ever had to deal with rust on courts?
Wow yah just seen your pictures. Someone butchered that court pretty good. That might be a good area to spray with a pump up and see the effect of the SH and what pressure will do.
Rust on the courts, no I have not. Test that too before throwing in a bid. You will know after that how much $ to charge and/or if it’s even worth it.
When you’re pricing, really look at the drainage. In fact go visit the site on a rainy day. Cleaning it is the easy part, rinsing can kill you though if you’re having to chase dirty water everywhere. You can easily spend as much time rinsing , if not more than the time you spend cleaning.
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This is very true…I have gotten on some concrete like that…what a pain in the butt. And, tennis courts will probably be worse since they need to be level.
Ox acid will kill the rust but how much will it lighten the coating? Thats the issue. You could maybe use it and be ready to rinse as soon as the rust is gone. Not a second later
Well i contacted the facility today because Ive been out with a nasty stomach bug for two days and they already signed a contract. You win some lose some. Went out there Sunday afternoon and they told me they werent even planning on doing this for months so figured I would have more time to put together a agreement. Thanks for the advice
Racer nailed it, check your drainage first. That was the biggest lesson I took away from my first tennis court last year. It was a great job, I just expected to be done quicker than we were. Had to chase dirty water around for a little bit until we saw how it was draining.
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Keep an eye on it over the next year. See how they do and re-approach the customer in 11 months or sooner if it doesn’t look like they’re doing a good job.
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They are pretty easy. About 3% SH and a good surface cleaner. F9 is good for rust. The SH will help with the stripes, but take the slow and get it right the first time.
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You might not regret losing that contract. I did a private tennis court and God that was a pain. Like racer said it took me longer to rinse it since the court texture held onto the dirt. Something I thought was only going to take a couple hours turned into an all day job of chasing muddy puddles around.
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I did a private school the whole place big school. Man called and wants the 6 Tennis courts done… They are PAINTED I might just use my`small one for this unless the will repaint them.``
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Use a 12v pump and hit it with 1-2% SH very little soap.
Rinse with your machine and hire 2 kids to push squeegees around for a few hours.
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Alright Im back to a basketball and tennis court yet this time I have the job as part of a big HOA neighborhod park area. Doing them Friday and to save my skin i asked and told the property manager to be there as I test out a section to see if they are satisfied with the results and would like me to proceed. I also am having them sign something saying I am not liable for getting the courts resurfaced as I have issued the warning to them before of the possibilities of lightening the paint and striping. There is plenty of others things im doing to this property so losing the courts i wouldn’t cry (6,000 ft of stone walls, pool, playground, 3 neighborhood entrances) aka I love GC’s…sometimes
