Restoration of a red clay tennis court: the main rules to avoid mistakes

The restoration of red clay tennis courts is essential to maintain the playing area in ideal conditions, and therefore should be considered – in a broader sense – as an integral part of the court’s maintenance. In practical terms, there are differences between routine maintenance, extraordinary maintenance and restoration of a red clay tennis court, and that is why it is essential to explore all specific characteristics to intervene correctly.

The ordinary maintenance of a red clay tennis court includes its complete cleaning, including the delimitation lines, its hoeing with the use of specific tools and machines in accordance to the compactness of the ground, and operations such as undercoat installation, leveling and rolling. On the other hand, complete maintenance (or extraordinary maintenance) will also involve the laying of the knurled lines and that of the final mantle over the entire extension of the court.

The restoration of a red clay tennis court is, instead, the set of suggested actions and operations for the playing areas that remain uncovered during the coldest months of the year. In this sense and for obvious reasons, the intervention must be more specific and accurate.

In general terms, to restore your red clay tennis court you can proceed as follows:

• Roll the heads using specific tools and machines and in accordance to the compactness of the playing field
• Proceed with the installation, if and whenever necessary, of new red soil both on specific areas of the field and its entire surface
• Roll the field both longitudinally and transversely with the aid of specific equipment
• Proceed with the partial laying of the bottom lines, that are normally made of knurled PVC and fastened to the ground with hot-galvanized nails
• Conclude the operations with the laying of the final mantle over the entire playing field

What we have spoken about so far are, of course, the general rules for the proper restoration of a standard red clay tennis court.

However, if your tennis court is made with the exclusive Red Plus technology, it will be necessary to take into account the specific characteristics of this solution: Red Plus is designed to significantly reduce maintenance costs, which become comparable to those of a synthetic field. At the same time, the playing ground will maintain the high-quality of a classic red clay tennis court.

Red Plus stands out whenever compared to any other tennis court for a series of positive characteristics: the possibility of installation on any type of surface (from cement to mateco, from soil to resin, etc.) and the considerable cost savings during the preparation of foundations in case of new constructions are only two of them. In addition, you will notice a different reactivity of the playing ground under duress.

Specifically, Red Plus red clay tennis courts:

• Are windproof
• Do not frost when the temperature drops
• Guarantee an absolute water drainage
• Require minimal addition of red clay during maintenance operations
• Avoid the formation of holes
• Maintain both the specific characteristics and softness of play
• Are barely affected by humidity phenomena

In this way, Red Plus always guarantees significant savings in terms of maintenance costs, which also reverberate positively on any restoration activity on the court.