Sports Court Surfacing
Coloured Porous Tennis Courts by Neill Newport
In Britain the majority of coloured tennis courts are porous macadam, coloured with specialist tennis court paint. This can be explained as follows;
* Acrylic Tennis Court Paint
* Polyurethane Tennis Court Paint
Acrylic Tennis Court Paint
Neill Newport only uses paint that passes all Lawn Tennis Association, I.T.F. and Trade standards.
The acrylic coatings contain slip resistance additives – there is no such thing as a non-slip surface. Through years of testing, consultation and experience, paint manufacturers now produce long lasting coatings that also contain algaecides and fungicides. This is because plant life can feed off of acrylic. This can also be seen where black mould grows on the walls of painted houses. It is best to describe the additives as “inhibitors” as they will not last for ever. Hence the need for periodic cleaning and treatment. Please refer to Tennis Court Cleaning Data Sheet.
Colouring is normally applied by means of specialist airless spray equipment. This equipment is very powerful and some machines can spray at a pressure in excess of 3500psi. If used by an inexperienced operative then a poor finish can be achieved and at worst personal and serious injury can be sustained. Allow only experienced personnel to paint your tennis court(s).
Prior to painting, the court should be cleared of all obstructions and where necessary, be masked up. The paint should be applied to a clean surface in two coats. The second coat should be applied at 90degrees to the first coat in order to cover all sides of the aggregate stone. An experienced sprayer will apply the correct amount of paint. Too little paint and the court will look patchy. Too much and the porosity will be adversely affected. Too much paint also has a tendency to shrink with age and can cause unsightly cracking and curling. Some sprayers always mask the tennis post sockets whilst others always paint them. Acrylic paint is not intended to be painted to metal or plastic and we tend to make a decision as to whether to paint them after inspecting them.
The playing lines can be applied either by hand or by specialist lining machines. Hand painted lines are usually acrylic. Because the paint is being forced into the gaps between the stones by the paint brush or roller, it gives a different finish to the rest of the court. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, too much paint can shrink causing cracking along both sides of the line. Some sprayers blame this cracking on chlorinated rubber paint. If applied correctly through a machine, chlorinated rubber will not cause this type of cracking. In our opinion, sprayers who do not use machines to spray lines lack the confidence to keep the machine straight. We normally spray the lines using specialist lining paint through specialist machines. This gives a consistent finished appearance to the court surface. It also helps to prevent back injuries to the contractor. Acrylic tennis court paint is a water based emulsion. Because of this it is imperative that spraying is only carried out in good weather. Our experience leads us to believe that temperatures need to be 9C and above. The paint manufacturers maintain that surfaces can be painted at 5C but we find that this can dramatically shorten the life expectancy of the paint. The surface needs to be dry or almost dry and there needs to be a period of dry weather for several hours after colouring. The paint can re-absorb moisture through the damp nights even though it may not have rained. Curing can take several days for the paint to reach its’ optimum hardness. During the hottest part of summer, this can be reduced to 24 hours.
Life expectancy of the paint can be as much as 8 years or as little as 4 years, with a gradual decline in appearance and performance during that time. Life expectancy can depend on the following;
The acrylic coatings contain slip resistance additives – there is no such thing as a non-slip surface. Through years of testing, consultation and experience, paint manufacturers now produce long lasting coatings that also contain algaecides and fungicides. This is because plant life can feed off of acrylic. This can also be seen where black mould grows on the walls of painted houses. It is best to describe the additives as “inhibitors” as they will not last for ever. Hence the need for periodic cleaning and treatment. Please refer to Tennis Court Cleaning Data Sheet.
Colouring is normally applied by means of specialist airless spray equipment. This equipment is very powerful and some machines can spray at a pressure in excess of 3500psi. If used by an inexperienced operative then a poor finish can be achieved and at worst personal and serious injury can be sustained. Allow only experienced personnel to paint your tennis court(s).
Prior to painting, the court should be cleared of all obstructions and where necessary, be masked up. The paint should be applied to a clean surface in two coats. The second coat should be applied at 90degrees to the first coat in order to cover all sides of the aggregate stone. An experienced sprayer will apply the correct amount of paint. Too little paint and the court will look patchy. Too much and the porosity will be adversely affected. Too much paint also has a tendency to shrink with age and can cause unsightly cracking and curling. Some sprayers always mask the tennis post sockets whilst others always paint them. Acrylic paint is not intended to be painted to metal or plastic and we tend to make a decision as to whether to paint them after inspecting them.
The playing lines can be applied either by hand or by specialist lining machines. Hand painted lines are usually acrylic. Because the paint is being forced into the gaps between the stones by the paint brush or roller, it gives a different finish to the rest of the court. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, too much paint can shrink causing cracking along both sides of the line. Some sprayers blame this cracking on chlorinated rubber paint. If applied correctly through a machine, chlorinated rubber will not cause this type of cracking. In our opinion, sprayers who do not use machines to spray lines lack the confidence to keep the machine straight. We normally spray the lines using specialist lining paint through specialist machines. This gives a consistent finished appearance to the court surface. It also helps to prevent back injuries to the contractor. Acrylic tennis court paint is a water based emulsion. Because of this it is imperative that spraying is only carried out in good weather. Our experience leads us to believe that temperatures need to be 9C and above. The paint manufacturers maintain that surfaces can be painted at 5C but we find that this can dramatically shorten the life expectancy of the paint. The surface needs to be dry or almost dry and there needs to be a period of dry weather for several hours after colouring. The paint can re-absorb moisture through the damp nights even though it may not have rained. Curing can take several days for the paint to reach its’ optimum hardness. During the hottest part of summer, this can be reduced to 24 hours.
Life expectancy of the paint can be as much as 8 years or as little as 4 years, with a gradual decline in appearance and performance during that time. Life expectancy can depend on the following;
- Location
- Quality of the materials
- Quality of the workmanship
- Correct usage
- Correct footwear
- Maintenance
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