What It Takes to Put a Tennis or Pickleball Court In Your Backyard
For the third year in a row since 2020, both tennis and pickleball have seen major growth—interest in tennis is up 33 percent, while pickleball has increased 158.6 percent. If you’re an avid player of either sport, surely you’ve fantasized about installing a court in your own backyard. Off the bat (or shall we say racquet?), it’s not cheap to install a court, but it’s also not impossible.
For Salt Lake City-based content creator Megan Moore, installing a court for both tennis and pickleball play was a long-term goal. She and her husband discovered a shared love for tennis when they first met in 2004. After they got married, "we always had this dream that someday we could have our own tennis court," she says. It wasn’t until eight years after they moved into their current home, and with the help of a skilled contractor, that they finally built the court that they’d always wanted.
"It's a really big investment so we waited to save up until it was the right timing for us," says Moore. "Now every time we play, it's one of those pinch-me moments because it's something we wanted for so long. I can't believe we pulled this off." Ahead, Moore shares her tips and advice for how to determine if your home is well-suited for your own private tennis or pickleball court.
Know what you want
When it comes to courts, the three most popular surface types are clay, grass, and hardcourt, with hardcourt being most common in the US. Clay and grass both require high maintenance—clay courts need to be brushed and watered before and after every hit; grass courts need to be mowed, watered, re-lined, and rolled every few days. In contrast, hardcourt, which is a concrete or asphalt base with a top rubberized coating (the same kind of surface you see at the U.S. Open), is relatively easy to maintain and it lasts a long time. "Salt Lake City has extreme heat and extreme cold, so grass and clay would not work. It wasn’t really an option for us to do anything other than a hardcourt," says Moore. Luckily, hardcourt works for nearly all climates and environments, and it’s the surface we’ll be focusing on for this story.
Find the right space
Building a full-sized tennis court with doubles alleys requires a lot of space—the exact dimensions are 78 feet long by 36 feet wide, and you’ll also need to account for perimeter space. (In comparison, a standard pickleball court is 44 feet long and 20 feet wide.)
In addition to having enough space, the court needs to be positioned in a specific way: "Tennis courts have to run north and south because the sun goes east and west," says Moore, "the reason being that if the court runs east-west, the person facing the sun always has a disadvantage."
For Moore and her husband, fulfilling their dream of building a court meant "finding a piece of property that can fit a tennis court that was going in the right direction," rather than finding a house with ample backyard space. The couple found and bought the lot first, then built their house, and then installed the court eight years later after saving up for it.
Hire a contractor
Finding an experienced contractor is crucial because a court isn’t a simple slab of concrete—it has to stay intact and crack-resistant over time. A specialized contractor will include a layer of rebar mesh under the concrete so that the court can expand and contract with the changing seasons and temperatures without cracking.
"The way our contractor explained it to me, it's the same technology they use on skyscrapers, so they can subtly move. They put these wires through the middle of it that allows the concrete to shift without pulling apart," says Moore. "There's a lot of engineering underneath the concrete that people maybe aren't aware of, which is why courts cost a lot."
You’ll also want to interview several contractors to make sure all parties are aligned with the project scope: in addition to the court itself, you’ll likely want the same contractor to handle the fencing installation and overhead lights. Costs can vary a great deal as well. "Here in Utah, there aren’t a lot of companies that build courts, so the prices reflect that. You need to do your research," says Moore. "All in with the permits, materials, labor, fencing, and lighting, we came in about $95,000. Our research ahead of time said to plan for anywhere between $70–100,000 so we knew going in what to be saving towards." (Pickleball courts would be closer to $50–70,000 depending on the scope.)
Questions you’ll want to ask include timing (i.e. "Are you installing three courts at the same time or do you take one project at a time?") and what kind of warranty the contractor offers in the event of cracking or other problems that may need fixing. For Moore’s court, the end-to-end process took two months: four weeks for the initial build, then another four weeks for the coating to set. (A pickleball court install would be shorter.)
Keep the surrounding area clear of plants
Plant life is beautiful but you don’t want it to interfere with your court. Keep the area clear of potential rooting that may crack the concrete from underneath. You’ll also want to avoid trees that will release things like sap, leaves, seeds, and other things that will be a nuisance to clear. Moore, knowing that she wanted to install a court one day, never planted anything near the court except for shrubs. "If you can have the court be free from all that, it just makes your life easier," she says.
Fence it in
"Typically on tennis courts, you’ll want a tall fence that’s 10 feet on the two ends, because that’s where the balls are flying on the sides. It’s usually more common for lower, three-foot fences on the sides, but balls still go over that too," says Moore, who has installed chain link fencing around her court. Moore also added a 6-feet-tall white vinyl fence on the outside of the chain link fence for more privacy. (For extra money, you may consider installing a backboard for hitting a ball against a wall.) Fencing is also the best way to prevent balls from going over to neighbors’ property. "Make sure everybody’s on board," Moore advises. "We had to go through the city to get permits. You don’t want to spend all this money and then have neighbors complaining."
Turn on the lights
Overhead lighting is optional, but if you want to play at night, you’ll want to get those installed. "We play mostly at night because the heat in the summer is so bad," says Moore of the bright LEDs that light up her court. "They are concentrated and designed specifically for sport. They’re not the kind of lights you see in a parking lot that shines everywhere; they don’t spill out into other people’s yards." Moore’s contractor installed the poles and then worked with an electrician who handled the wiring that connects the electricity from the main house.
Consider the upkeep
Your court will need maintenance and regular tune-ups—but one way to make sure things run as smoothly as possible is hiring a contractor who can install the court with a subtle, slight slope. "You can’t really feel it when you’re walking on it, but the court does need to slope a little bit so that water runs off of it when there’s rain or snow," says Moore. "Maybe twice a year we’ll power wash it and use a squeegee to really get all the dirt off of it." In addition, the rubberized coating will need to be redone every 10 years—this is to maintain the gritty texture so your shoes don’t slip.
Invite your neighbors
"If you’re going to spend the money on installing a court, you want to make sure it gets used! We always invite our neighbors to use the court too, because then it feels like it was worth it," says Moore. The couple like to play equal amounts of both tennis and pickleball—the tennis lines are painted in white; the pickleball lines are painted in blue. "We have both options since my husband plays more pickleball than I do. You just lower or raise the net two inches depending on what you’re playing," she says.
Moore especially loves the sense of community surrounding her court. "We have people over many times at night to play because it’s an awesome opportunity for people to get together since tennis isn’t always accessible to everybody. It’s such a privilege to have it. We want to share it with other people as much as we can."
Illustration by Joanna Grochocka
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