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For Williams’s wannabes, a home tennis court is a dream. Or, perhaps you are involved with a local community center or athletic club for your tennis playing and practicing. Either way, you need to make sure the surface court is safe and free of debris.
Things like dirt, mold, mildew and algae can fester on a tennis court. This dirty surface poses a potential safety hazard to players, as one could slip and fall during a swing. And falling can lead to a potential injury. A serious injury could mean, well, no tennis for a while. The court simply has better traction when it is clean. So, not only is your clean court safer, but you’ll also have a better game! Another reason to keep a tennis court clean is the high maintenance cost if the court is left unclean for extended period of time. If the surface deteriorates so much that you can’t see the lines, and cracks start to appear, your cost for repairing the area will be extremely high. Hard court resurfacing will cost you between $2,500 and $5,000 per court. The more low areas and cracks there are, the higher the price will be. So, don’t let your tennis court get to that stage.
| If you have your own tennis court, you are in luck as you can do this yourself by using a pressure washer. (If you do not have your own, you can suggest this to the maintenance department where you play.) |
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A standard tennis court is 60 feet wide by 120 feet long. However, the length and width of the court can be slightly larger or smaller, depending on the application. Therefore, you will need a pressure washer that will able to reach all four corners of the court. Use a pressure washer with at least 100 FT long hose. But, before giving your tennis court a cleaning and pressure washing treatment, you will want to remove anything loose in the area that could be blown away, such as benches, tennis court equipment, balls and more. Also, make sure that there is a trench drain, ditch or swale on the low side of the court to collect and remove water. The next step would be to remove any heavy debris. This is sort of like when you are vacuuming at home, as you would pick up pennies and paperclips before you turn on the sweeper. Around a tennis court, if in a rural area, you may have twigs, branches, leaves and even litter. There may be things like gum that cannot be removed by hand, but can be removed later with the high pressure. After the debris is removed, the area to be pressure washed is usually pretreated with a mixture of water and detergent. Then, the area is washed using a pressure washer, adjusted to the appropriate PSI. For this type of job, a medium duty one, about 2000-2600 PSI will do. After letting the soap sit for about five to ten minutes, the area is rinsed and any excess dirt is washed away, just like that ball you let whiz by during your opponent’s last serve. Be sure to hit all areas of the court, including those areas outside the playing lines and around court perimeters. Another useful piece of equipment that can be used in combination with your pressure washer is the water broom. It is used to clean surfaces quickly, easily and evenly. The water brooms serve great for cleaning and rinsing any flat surface. The benefit of using them are clear, more work can be done in less time, requiring less labor, less fuel and less water consumption--all of which means greater savings in time, stress and money.
Here is some basic guideline on how often you should consider cleaning tennis courts:
Daily: After the day's play is completed, pick up trash, leafs and other debris. Inspect and repair any excess court damage (i.e. foot dragging).
Weekly: Perimeter areas, cabana areas and net lines should be cleaned.
Monthly: Lines should be painted as needed. Check areas of heavy play (baselines and service boxes) for wear.
Quarterly: Low end of the court should be cleaned and excess material removed as needed.
Yearly: A professional tennis court construction company should conduct a complete maintenance surface checkout (color treatment may be needed, structural crack repair, etc .)
The publisher of these pages is in no way responsible for any damage caused to you, your pressure washer, anyone else, your property, or anyone else's property by trying to implement or by successfully implementing the above-mentioned performance and services.
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Check out our instructional books and videos/DVDs for very thorough guides and step by step instructions on pressure washing. Whether you are just getting started or are an expert who wants to expand your knowledge of our industry, you will find these books and videos to be a great resource for new techniques.
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