I Regret Using Sport Court Tiles on My Backyard Pickleball Court (Here's Why)

Hello Friends!

The Pickleball Sports Court Saga Continues :-)

Well, we just got a slab of concrete poured!  For those who have been following the blog, you know the sports court tile company (Flex Court) told us they believed we would not have to pour to make their tiles work but unfortunately, over the "ok'd" compacted crushed gravel compound the pickleball wouldn't even bounce.  (I have to say, did the sports court people REALLY not know it wouldn't work? SIGH, we had LOTS of other problems dealing with that company too, one of them being we ordered the tiles in March and received them in July - yep)

MPORTANT UPDATE!! (after 5 years)

Do not use Sports Court tiles on your pickleball court. After spending thousands on these tiles, trying to do our best to deal with the sliding, skidding and unpredictable bounce on these tiles we finally gave up and trashed them after 5 years. I told my husband we have had penance enough playing on the Sports Court tiles. We took them all off and I bought burgundy and green tennis paint from home depot.  Sportsmaster was also a great help with great information on do-it-yourself and prep products I needed to get the job done. 

Do not make the same mistake we did! Do not use Sports Court tiles for your pickleball court

Compacted gravel compound - this does not work.

So, with a very expensive (unexpected) extra cost added to the project, we poured concrete. :-)

It was interesting to see how it was all done :-)

This is what the sport court tiles looked liked delivered to us.  I have to admit I was thinking OH MY, this looks like a very BIG project! :-)

And it was :-) :-)  

Seriously, it was like a giant puzzle!  You started in the center and then followed the lines piecing the tiles together.  It took us a little over 5 hours - my husband realistically inform me that in general, it should have gone a LOT faster as he was sure people would have more than 1 1/2 men working on the project.   

Ummm yes, he credited me as only HALF a man - hee, hee.  FINE, whatever! :-) 

We finished up the court around 10pm and honestly the last few pieces we couldn't even see because it was so dark out (but that didn't stop this 1/2 a man!) 

My son and I love playing together!!

My son encouraging me on :-)

Alright, if I'm honest, I know that in about 2 weeks of playing every night, he will probably be better than me but I'm OK with that.....he'll enjoy sleeping out in the hammock.  Hee,hee.....no, I'm a better sport than that......maybe  :-)

As soon as all the landscape and rock are in (we actually have a few more big landscape things to do)  I'll show you the completed court and maybe a pickleball video. :-)

 

If anyone is reading this post contemplating instillation of sport court tiles in their own backyard you can see how the pickleball didn't bounce over the gravel with a short video on my You Tube channel. Even after pouring the concrete, even though the ball at least bounced up, it scattered dramatically and was incredibly irregular.

*EDIT:  You can go over to the Completed Pickleball Sports Court post to see it all complete, landscape and all :-)

ENJOY the weekend my friends!

Amazon affiliate links :-)