When we founded Backyard Pickle Courts we conducted interviews with homeowners who had courts built by other post-tension court companies, asking what they liked and disliked. We found two consistent themes. First, they felt the quality of their courts ranged from moderate to high. And second, they were unhappy with a disorganized process, hard-to-contact contractors, unclear and frequently changing timelines, and late-stage upcharges. We designed our entire operation around solving these frustrations, and are confident that you’ll be very pleased with your experience and the end product.

There are three levels of concrete slab tensile strength: plain concrete, reinforced concrete, and post-tension concrete. Post-tension concrete is used on bridges, multi-level buildings, and pickleball, tennis, and basketball courts. Plain and reinforced concrete require expansion and control joints (spaces) or saw-cut joints every few feet. Post-tension slabs, however, use special steel cables that are tightened after the concrete sets to provide extra tensile strength to the slab and protect against serious cracks, without requiring joints of any kind. A post-tension slab is more expensive, but it’s the only option that gives you one even playing surface, while also performing better against, and lasting longer in, Utah’s freeze-thaw cycles.

To have a high-quality, post-tension court built will likely cost you between 40-65k, depending on several factors including court size, site accessibility, posts/net, lighting, fencing, basketball standard, etc. There are cheaper ways to build a court, but if you love pickleball and want it done right, we think it’s worth the additional cost. We also build non post-tension courts for around 10k less.

USA Pickleball recommends a minimum court size of 30’ x 60’, and most customers choose dimensions between 30’ x 60’ and 34’ x 64’. The court lines are 20’ x 44’, and you’ll want a few feet beyond the lines on all four sides to have adequate room to return long and wide shots. A home lot that’s bigger than 0.3 acres can usually fit a court comfortably, depending on lot shape, home size, what else is in the yard, etc.

Because the concrete slab has to cure for a month before it can be surfaced, the fastest a court can be finished is around 7 weeks from the day we begin dirt work. This is the ideal scenario, but inclement weather can impact the timeline. But regardless of the circumstances, we give our customers frequent updates on the stages and timeline of their project. We also