A basketball court for your backyard is a great investment and a ton of fun for your family. However, it’s not without its costs. This post is to give you an idea of how to save the most money on your backyard basketball court by being your own general contractor.
Before we get into the costs, here are a few links that will help you with the types of courts, tips for installing one and and backyard basketball court dimensions.
Basketball COurt Surface Options:
http://basketballhoopsblog.com/2012/03/24/backyard-basketball-court-options/
Basketball Court Dimensions:
http://basketballhoopsblog.com/2014/02/03/basketball-court-dimensions/
Basketball Hoop Options:
http://shop.homecourthoops.com/Basketball-Goal-s/1814.htm
Basketball Court Paint:
http://shop.homecourthoops.com/Basketball-Court-s/1825.htm
Biggest Factors for pricing:
1. Basketball Court Surfaces
The above link describes the different types of surfaces such as asphalt or concrete as well as court types such as brick paver or sport tiles. This post goes into the costs associated with each surface.
Putting down the pad is easily the most expensive portion of your project.
Asphalt pad- This is your most affordable option. Asphalt is an easier installation process than concrete and the raw materials are also less expensive.
Asphalt paving is a very, very localized business. I know here in the NY Metro Area, most pavers don’t want to travel outside of a 15-mile radius. They get volume pricing when they use the same quarry and their trucks and equipment are heavy and take a lot of time and use up a great deal of fuel traveling outside of their territory. Therefore, hiring a local paver saves a great deal of money.
Tennis courts are painted asphalt and there are specialty pavers that install tennis courts. Installing tennis courts requires a specialized skill set and heavier equipment not required on a small backyard court. It’s a little overkill. If you want your court to be perfect, you can hire one of these companies but their costs will be significantly more expensive than the costs I will soon itemize.
If you’re going for a small backyard court, a REPUTABLE local paver, should be up to the task. I would ask your neighbors, community groups you belong to or go to sites such as Angie’s List to find one.
Ask for the bare minimum of a 4″ compacted base and 2.5″ of compacted asphalt.
In the NY Metro Area, you can expect to pay $3-5 per sqft to have your driveway repaved. Keep in mind, this is with them being able to operate from the street and right off the back of their trucks. When you go into a backyard, factors such as distance from the street, access to the backyard, pitch/slope of the property and difficulty of the soil will play into the cost of installation. In some cases, you can expect to pay two to three times the cost as for your driveway.
45’X30′ = 1,350 sqft X $6 = $8,100 or more (NY Metro Prices)
30’X30′ = 900 sqft X $6 = $5,400 or more (NY Metro Prices)
26’X22′ = 572 sqft X $6 = $3,432 or more (NY Metro Prices)
Concrete pad- This is going to cost two-thirds to twice as much as asphalt. However, there are many people that swear by concrete for a backyard pad. There is an argument to made for its longevity but we’re discussing timeframes over 20 years.
Much like asphalt pavers, masons and landscapers tend to operate locally. A local reputable mason or landscaper should have no problem putting in a concrete pad.
Ask for the bare minimum of a 4″ compacted base and 2.5″ of compacted asphalt.
The same factors of distance from street, ease of access, slope/pitch of property will come into play with the pricing.
45’X30′ = 1,350 sqft X $10 = $13,500 or more (NY Metro Prices)
30’X30′ = 900 sqft X $10 = $9,000 or more (NY Metro Prices)
26’X22′ = 572 sqft X $10 = $5,720 or more (NY Metro Prices)
Brick Paver Court- This is nothing more than a glorified patio. Many customers like this option because they can just extend their current patio slightly and add a hoop to it. Doing something like this can be very affordable. Also, some people like the aesthetics of a brick paver court.
One concern often expressed is whether the pavers will cause the ball to not bounce properly. If you get pavers with flat edges, not rounded, and place them flush to one another you should not have that problem. WIth this being said, is it as smooth of a dribble as either asphalt or concrete? No, it is not but it they are beautiful courts.
One thing you can do with these courts that is very sharp is to cut out or remove the bricks where the lines will go and replace them with off-colored pavers.
This is a job for a landscaper or mason. Again, this is nothing more than a glorified patio. You can expect to pay $10-15 a sqft.
45’X30′ = 1,350 sqft X $10 = $13,500 or more (NY Metro Prices)
30’X30′ = 900 sqft X $10 = $9,000 or more (NY Metro Prices)
26’X22′ = 572 sqft X $10 = $5,720 or more (NY Metro Prices)
Sport-Tiled Courts- This is a very sensitive subject because many, many people have these courts and paid a great deal of money to have them installed. I, personally, am not a big fan. If you’ve read my other posts you will hear me say that I view things from two perspectives, aesthetics and athletics. Aesthetically speaking, these courts look absolutely unbelievable. However, they don’t stand up athletically.
Surfaces such as asphalt, concrete or wood are considered hard surfaces and the ball reacts as it should. When you add an inch or more of plastic between the ball and the hard surface, you cannot help but have a reduction in the quality of play. In fact, the sport tile manufacturers many times recommend that you over inflate the ball to compensate for potential dead spots in the court. Therefore, you have to play with an overinflated ball on the chance you hit a dead spot that isn’t supposed to be there in the first place.
The bottom line, in my opinion, is if these surfaces had the best quality of play, they would be used for professional sports events such as the US Open or NBA games. They’re not.
Furthermore, they’re more expensive. You still have to install a base such as asphalt or concrete. The tiles go on top of these surfaces. So you are paying to have the better surface installed and then paying to have it covered by something more expensive with not as high a quality of play.
Pick the sqft pricing of any of the court surface options above and add $3.75-$4.00 sqft for the sport tiles, $500-1,000 for a rubber underlayment plus over $1,000 for installation. You’re basically adding the following costs to your project with a reduced quality of play.
45’X30′ = Plus $7,000 to the costs above
30’X30′ = Plus $5,000 to the costs above
26’X22′ = Plus $3,500 to the costs above
