How to build a basketball court?
Here you can see how easy it is to create a basketball court for children, young people or recreational athletes. These instructions are aimed both at families who want to create a basketball court in their garden and at local authorities, parents' associations, schools or sports clubs who are planning a basketball court or football pitch.
Step-by-step instructions
- Checklist – Planning and construction of a bastketball court or small pitch
- Counsellor – Which floor covering for a basketball court or a small playing field?
- Criteria – What does a good floor have to offer for outdoor sports?
- Realisation– Simply build a new basketball court yourself!
- Ball game tiles – Which type is suitable for which pitch?
Checklist - Planning and construction of a bastketball court or small pitch
As always in life, when building a small pitch for basketball, football, volleyball, tennis or any other sport, good planning is half the battle.
So take some time to collate the necessary information. A simple checklist will help you to analyse.
▻ Slope available and drainage works
▻ Rainwater remains in puddles
☐ Meadow, lawn or natural soil
▻ Deep - good infiltration of rainwater
▻ compacted - poor infiltration of rainwater
☐ public park
☐ Public playground or sports field
☐ Schoolyard
☐ City centre square or pedestrian zone
☐ Club premises or company premises
☐ Outdoor fitness at the gym
☐ Streetball court with a basket
☐ Football pitch or small pitch with two goals
☐ Other sports such as tennis, volleyball etc.
☐ Multifunctional use as a terrace or festival site
☐ The area is regularly used by motor vehicles
☐ Members through labour input
☐ Municipal building yard or company building department
☐ External service provider
☐ Dimensions: length _ _ _ _ m, width _ _ _ _ m
☐ Fire protection should be guaranteed
☐ Noise protection should be guaranteed
☐ the pitch is to be fenced in
Guide - Which flooring is suitable for a basketball court or small pitch? - Which surface is suitable for a basketball court or a small playing field?
There are various ways to play ball sports outdoors. The easiest way is to play on a lawn or grass area. A tarmac road or paved area is also often used. A rubber sports surface, on the other hand, is really pleasant and favourable in the long term.
In contrast to a grass pitch, a sports floor made of rubber granulate can be
- can be used all year round and in all weather conditions.
- do not become muddy or dusty.
- without watering, mowing or replanting.
And compared to a concrete or asphalt floor, the rubber floor scores points - durch eine versickerungsoffene und schnell trocknende Charakteristik.
- als eine griffige, elastische Sportfläche die guten Fallschutz bietet.
- durch geringe Investitionskosten und eine einfache Handhabung.
Criteria - What does a good floor have to offer for outdoor sports?
In order to enjoy the court for a long time, the floor covering for the playing field should be well matched to the existing surface and the desired use. This is very easy to achieve with rubber granulate slabs, which are available in different versions as ball game slabs from WARCO.
The ball court fulfils all the requirements of a good sports facility for playing basketball in leisure time: The court offers a precisely defined ball bounce and is elasticated to protect the joints. An agile, fast basketball game is possible on the non-slip sports floor. The entire surface is water-permeable and dries quickly in damp weather. As an essential safety feature, the ball court offers good fall protection and protects players from injuries caused by falling.
With good planning and appropriate equipment, the court is of course also suitable for badminton, volleyball, football or streetball. The elasticated court can also be used for fitness or other sports.
Good reasons for
ball game tiles
from WARCO
- for large and small, public and private playing fields
- Can be laid permanently in a stable position on any base course using simple means
- Outdoor and indoor - also mobile use
- Weatherproof, frost-proof, durable
Realisation - Simply build a new basketball court yourself!
Bonded base course - Lay ball game tiles on the base course
On a bound base layer, for example a paved car park, an asphalted school playground and even on an old tartan track, WARCO ball game tiles can usually be laid directly without any further preparatory work.
The pitch must have good vertical or horizontal drainage. This is because the rubber granulate slabs should not lie in water for long periods of time. If puddles form on the future basketball court in rainy weather, these must be filled with a suitable material before the WARCO tiles are laid. Sand or gravel are unsuitable; the material floats away. In the event of minor unevenness, it is sufficient to lay sheets of roofing felt on top.
If only part of the paved area is covered with WARCO ball playing tiles, a small step will form at the edge of the playing surface. To prevent this area from becoming a stumbling edge, the open sides of the playing surface are edged all round with the RM anti-trip wedge. The anti-trip wedge is simply glued to the base layer.
Grown soil - Laying ball game tiles on an unbound base course
A small or large playing field for basketball, football, tennis, volleyball or another ball sport can also be created on a "green field", i.e. on grown or poured soil, using simple means.
In many cases, this does not even require major earthmoving. This is because when using plastic honeycomb grids as a base layer, excavation to a depth of 10 to 20 cm is often sufficient.
Create subgrade and remove chippings
Once the pitch has been measured out on the site, the excavation can begin.
How much soil is removed, whether frost protection and a border of low boards is installed, depends on the size and type of the pitch and the soil quality of the given subsoil.
As a rule of thumb:
x cm Thickness of the ball game board
+ 4 cm height of the honeycomb grids
+ 2 cm grit under the honeycomb grids
+ x cm chippings and frost protection if necessary
The chippings are carefully levelled off.
Laying plastic honeycomb mesh
The honeycomb grids or plastic grass grids are laid on the levelled chippings. The area of the honeycomb grids should be at least 5 cm larger than the finished pitch where there are no kerbs, kerbstones or a wall bordering the pitch.
On the underside, the honeycomb grids are fitted with 4 cm long spikes that drill into the chippings and connect the honeycomb grids to each other at the edges. This creates a stable surface. Care must be taken to ensure that the entire surface lies flat.
Fill honeycomb grid
The rough base layer of honeycomb grids is filled with paving chippings or fine chippings with a grain size of 2-5 mm or 5-8 mm.
Coarser grain sizes are possible, but it is difficult to fill the honeycombs completely. Quarry sand can be used as an alternative.
When selecting the material for the backfill, care must be taken to ensure that the area remains well permeable to water and open to infiltration.
The honeycombs are filled completely, right up to the top edge. Pulling off the surface with a slat simplifies the work.
Laying ball game boards
Laying the ball game tiles on the base layer of plastic honeycomb grids is very simple: the tiles are simply laid on top. Connecting elements are moulded into the edge of the tiles, which interlock positively during installation. This means that the individual tiles form a permanent, firmly connected carpet of tiles as soon as they are laid.
The recommended laying strategy depends on the size and type of surface. In some cases, it is better to work from the centre of the surface towards the edges. This is because, unlike when laying from one side, slight laying errors do not accumulate over the entire surface and a symmetrical edge is created.
Cutting rubber granulate slabs to size
Sheets made of rubber granulate can be cut with a sharp knife or a saw with a coarsely toothed saw blade for wood or a saw blade for rubber. However, a cutting disc or a saw for metal are unsuitable. The material behaves similarly to a beech wood plank of comparable thickness
For straight cuts, we recommend a hand-held circular saw with a guide or a powerful circular table saw. Curved lines or passages can be cut precisely with a reciprocating saw or jigsaw.
Remaining pieces of rubber granulate slabs can be disposed of with household waste.
Ball game boards - Which type is suitable for which pitch?
Situation | Particularly low-priced SBR | Durable & colourfast EPDM | For intensive use |
|---|---|---|---|
Mobile use, indoor & outdoor, | Sports flooring tile BZ • 18 mm | Sports flooring tile BZ • 18 mm | Sports flooring tile Pro BZ • 18 mm |
Surface size up to approx. 25 m2, | Sports flooring tile BZ • 18 mm | Sports flooring tile BZ • 18 mm | Sports flooring tile Pro BZ • 18 mm |
Area size up to approx. 50 m2, soft ball rebound, bound and grid-like base course | Ball game tile TZ • 30 mm | Ball game tile TZ • 30 mm | |
Area size up to approx. 50 m2, good ball rebound, bound and lattice-like base course | Ball game tile Pro TZ • 30 mm | Ball game tile Pro TZ • 30 mm | Ball game tile Pro TZ • 30 mm |
Any size of surface, good ball rebound, bound and lattice base course | Ball game tile TZ • 40 mm Ball game tile TZ • 50 mm | Ball game tile TZ • 40 mm Ball game tile TZ • 50 mm | Ball game tile Pro TZ • 40 mm Ball game tile Pro TZ • 50 mm |
Any area size Indoor, surface size up to approx. 300 m2 outdoor, good ball rebound, tiles without bevel - interlocking between tiles without joint bonded and grid-like base course | Sports floor CZ • 30 mm |
Summary
So it really is quite easy to create an attractive basketball court for any requirement in any environment.
In many cases, the inexpensive WARCO ball game tiles can simply be laid on the existing surface. Sometimes, however, it is necessary to build up a suitable base layer.
At "WARCO Knowledge" you will find further practical information and tips for your project.
Ball game tiles from WARCO are worthwhile!
Use the WARCO APPs and plan to measure
In just a few steps, test your desired floor covering on site with your smartphone, or use our installation planner.
- Select your desired product and start the preview.
- Mark the area to be laid and select the appropriate colour.
- Determine the number of pieces of flooring required with the help of the installation planner.
