Building a padel court: prices, maintenance, etc.

Padel is a tennis-like sport that combines several other sporting disciplines, such as pelota, squash and tennis. It's becoming increasingly popular, and many individuals are building private courts to make the most of the sport. If you're thinking of doing so, here are a few details on pricing and maintenance.

Turn to a professional company!

Most of the time, it's best to contact a professional company to build the right padel court. Firstly, the task itself is fairly complex and requires a certain amount of expertise. Secondly, the French Tennis Federation precisely defines the measurements and standards to be respected when building a court of this type. These must be scrupulously respected, or risk building a playing surface that poses a risk to users.

The chosen company is to build a playing area 10 m wide and 20 m long, divided by a net and including service lines running parallel to it, 6.95 m apart. The net is 10 m long and 0.92 m high at the posts and 0.88 m in the center, with 4.5 cm diagonal meshes. An existing tennis court can be converted into a padel court, thanks to preparatory work to fix the posts. Finally, padel courts include square and rectangular rigid walls and panels measuring 2m x 2m and 2m x 3m.

Overall, building a padel court from the ground up involves the following steps:

• Earthworks and soil removal
• Manufacture of the porous concrete or solid concrete slab (including slopes for water drainage)
• Laying out the playing perimeter
• Installing the metal framework
• Glass installation
• Fence installation
• Lighting installation
• Laying the artificial turf, sand and netting

How much does it cost to build a padel court?

The cost of building a plot of land varies from one service provider to another. It also takes into account your needs and the options included in the plot. You should sometimes request more than one estimate to choose the one that offers the best value for money. In 2017, the average rate is generally between €19,000 and €21,000 excluding VAT for providers offering quality plots over an existing slab. A 220m2 slab would cost around €12,000 excluding VAT.

The price can be higher depending on the options: if you want to install 8 lights instead of 4, use LED or halogen lighting, use thicker glass (12 mm, for example), etc. Sometimes, the type and quality of the synthetic turf or the addition of height-adjusting nets can also inflate the price.

Another price-determining factor is the thickness of the posts and mesh. For entry-level padels, many suppliers opt for 2 mm thick posts and 4 mm mesh. But the result is often disappointing, because the structure is not solid and wobbles when players rush onto it at full speed. At VW Sports, we offer stronger 2.5 mm thick posts and 5 mm mesh to make the structure more solid. These are the types of details that will make your padel court a quality one.

If you choose only equipment that complies with the standards specified on the French Tennis Federation's website, it's possible that the price will exceed 27,000 euros including tax. Once again, it's best to compare quotes and review everything the contractor promises to do before making up your mind.

Maintaining a padel court

Even if you can perform some of the tasks involved in maintaining the structure (window cleaning, lawn aeration and sand removal), this is still a precise, meticulous and skilled job. Once again, you'll need to turn to a professional company.

This includes regular cleaning of the artificial turf with the right tools. Next, he redistributes the sand evenly with a brush in both longitudinal and transverse directions (15kg of sand/m2).

The service provider must also check the joints and replace any damaged ones to ensure that the structure remains secure. If the sand is not distributed correctly, it may have to be replaced to improve the padel court's properties and its ability to drain water.

For all these tasks, a qualified company like ours will also deliver an accurate quote and complete the job on time.