Patching Your Court

 INSPECTION

1. Once your court surface has been thoroughly cleaned, take out a note pad and pencil and draw a large rectangle that represents your court.  Now, leave your drawing and drag your garden hose out to the court. 

2.  Flood the entire court, holding the hose nozzle upward at a 45-degree angle.  Let the water come down onto the surface like heavy rain, making sure to hold the stream of water in each area until it begins to run off.  If you have the time you can wait for a heavy rain.

3. Whether you flood with the hose or wait for a good rain, your next step is to mark all of the imperfections that need repair.  To do this you must outline these areas with a carpenters crayon precisely 1 hour after flooding.  You will notice that the remaining water will help highlight the areas needing patches or other work.    For the most part, just outline the puddles and use any kind of shorthand that will help you recognize the problem areas when patching.  Use the inspection checklist provided at the forms page of our site to guide you through the inspection.  You don’t need to mark such things as cracks that will clearly be visible after the court has dried.  Below are some typical markings used by the pros.     

4. Now that you have finished the inspection and marked the court, it’s a good idea to sketch the problem areas and make notes on the court drawing you made prior to flooding.  From this diagram and your inspection checklist you will be able to determine exactly which of the following instructions you will need for your project.

PATCHING LOW AREAS AND OTHER IMPERFECTIONS 

1. Using a tape measure, measure the width of each patch you have marked on the court and record the measurement on the corresponding drawing of the patch on your diagram.  These measurements will help you determine the length and number of straightedges you will need for patching.   

2. Round off your measurements to the nearest foot.  Add one foot to each measurement you come up with.  In other words, if you determine all of your patches measure either 3’, 5’, or 6’ wide, you will need three straightedges: a 4’ straightedge, a 6’ straightedge, and a 7’ straightedge.  Refer to the drawing below:

3. A straightedge can be made from almost anything, as long as it is very straight and rigid.  Wood 2-by-4s, steel angle iron (1”), or aluminum rectangular tubing (2’ x 4”), make excellent straightedges.  All can be purchased at your local builders supply.  Remember, whatever you use it must be perfectly straight.  We offer a patching straightedge set for sale for your convenience.

4. Below is a list of other items you will need for patching low areas and other imperfections.  Most can be purchased locally, all are available from us.

5. It’s now time to start patching.  Open a five gallon bucket of  TruPatch.  Pour 2 gallons of TruPatch into a 5 gallon bucket and then add 2 - 2.5 gallons of sand (30/60 mesh) and stir with mixing paddle and drill until well mixed (no lumps).  After mixture is thoroughly mix, blend in  1 gallon of portland cement.  The patch mix should have the consistency of a thick milkshake.

6. Place the appropriate straightedge on the court about 1 foot in front of where you plan to start your patch. Pour the TruPatch mixture in a pattern as wide as the patch at the edge of the straightedge.  Preferably with a helper at the other end of the straightedge, pull the patch mix across the area to be patched.  Add more patch mix as needed.  If the patch is not fairly smooth, pull the straightedge back over the patch.  Make sure the edges of your patch completely cover the area  you marked.

7. If the patch becomes too stiff to work before you achieve a smooth finish, lightly mist the surface of the patch with some of the TruPatch binder, using our spray applicator, and pull the straightedge over the patch again.

8. Feather the edges of your patch using a square trowel hand squeegee.  Try to blend the patch edges with the court surface.  This is the secret to blending the patch into the court so that is invisible once the resurfacing is complete.

9. After the patches have dried overnight, take a masons rubbing stone and rub any rough or high spots smooth.  Blow off loose particles created by the stone.

10. It is always a good practice to flood the court again, after the patching is complete.  Patch any areas which are still holding water.

11. Many professionals apply a coat of color over all of their patches prior to the application of the color over the entire court.  This extra coat over the patches, called a “feather-coat” or “skim-coat”, helps hide the patching.  I highly recommend you take the little bit of extra time and materials to apply this technique.  It is truly one of the secrets of the trade.

12. After any patching or coating application you should always walk the entire court with your floor scraper, scraping up any drips or smears left on the surface.  It is very important to scrape these areas well.  Once you have finished this step, blow all of the scrapings and other debris off of the court before starting the next step.