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OT- advice on backyard basketball court

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OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#1 » by supra2k8 » Fri May 3, 2013 1:22 am

If mods feel this is too OT you can lock it, but in the mean time I hope I can get some advice :oops:

My family and I are planning to build an outdoor basketball court in our backyard. It won't be full size, aprox 40'x30' not sure exactly how much room we have, need to remeasure it again.

Edit: We are not expecting to add value to our house and it might even make it harder to sell the house in the future, but this is for our enjoyment only. Worst comes to worst we take off the rim when we move, which is $2500 alone.

I only know of one company that sells and installs these courts which is FlexCourtCanada. Their hoop alone is aprox $2500, but great quality, and they charge aprox $2.50 per square feet. I don't have an exact quote from them yet, but probably will cost us between $5000 to $7000.

So I was wondering anyone here has a court in their backyard or played on something similar, is it worth the price? Any advice will help. Flexcourt claims they build the NBA 3 on 3 courts each year, and their courts come with 15 years warranty.

It might look something like this, except we won't have that much room around the court, will be very tight space :(

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Edit1:
Remeasured again today, seems like we have a lot less room than I originally thought, but it looks like we can move our fence at least 4' towards the road and 7' on the left side since it's a corner lot and by leveling it to the pool surface we should have close to 30' from the rim and 30'+ horizontally.

Option #1 = wider court, will work well if the court is leveled with the pool surface to give us aprox 10-12' more room which is flat enough that you can dribble the ball without any problems.

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Option #2 = very narrow, about 20' but you can make the court 30"+ long

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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#2 » by mirrornick » Fri May 3, 2013 1:32 am

Why not just get a rim. It will save you a lot of money.
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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#3 » by Throwback24 » Fri May 3, 2013 1:33 am

Would be worth it imo even if it was tight for room.
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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#4 » by God Squad » Fri May 3, 2013 1:41 am

I'll tell you this much. I'm Jelly (jealous) already. But I understand the reservation because its an investment at the end of the day.
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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#5 » by DarrylFlicking » Fri May 3, 2013 1:49 am

Having done a fair amount of concrete and asphalt placement, I will say the most important thing you can do is ensure the site is as level as possible while shedding water in the direction you want it to. Get a laser, even for the prep, it is the only way. You will want to do this whether you buy this extremely expensive product, or pour a court (which I would encourage).
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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#6 » by supra2k8 » Fri May 3, 2013 1:51 am

mirrornick wrote:Why not just get a rim. It will save you a lot of money.


We had a Spalding $300 hoop for about 8 years in our old house, which had a flat drive way, our current house has a slanted drive way and the road is a whole different story :lol: if the ball rolls off the drive way, you'll have to sprint as fast as you can or you'll end up walking 1km to get the ball and lots of cars.

God Squad wrote:I'll tell you this much. I'm Jelly (jealous) already. But I understand the reservation because its an investment at the end of the day.


I'm hoping in the long run it will be an investment that will add value to our house.

DarrylFlicking wrote:Having done a fair amount of concrete and asphalt placement, I will say the most important thing you can do is ensure the site is as level as possible while shedding water in the direction you want it to. Get a laser, even for the prep, it is the only way. You will want to do this whether you buy this extremely expensive product, or pour a court (which I would encourage)


Thanks for the great advice Darryl, right now we have grass in that area of the backyard and the ground is very uneven, won't be an easy task at all :cry:
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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#7 » by sanity » Fri May 3, 2013 1:52 am

If you have enough money (or free labor) to blow, dig ~1.5-2feet beneath for a foundation to ensure you wont get sink spots x years down the road
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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#8 » by Spacing » Fri May 3, 2013 1:57 am

The only issue I see with this is the snow/rain ruining the expensive court which is why I would say to pour concrete and simply paint it. This will be easier to maintain to.
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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#9 » by supra2k8 » Fri May 3, 2013 1:58 am

sanity wrote:If you have enough money (or free labor) to blow, dig ~1.5-2feet beneath for a foundation to ensure you wont get sink spots x years down the road


Don't have enough money to blow or free labor but we're hoping to set up a monthly plan with whoever installs the court. From what I have seen flexcourt does lay the concert, but probably not 1.5 to 2 feet, that's something to think about, thanks for the advice everyone.

Spacing wrote:The only issue I see with this is the snow/rain ruining the expensive court which is why I would say to pour concrete and simply paint it. This will be easier to maintain to.


Their courts are suppose to be all weather, how much do you think it would cost to level 30'x40' and pour concrete?

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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#10 » by SirBounceAlot » Fri May 3, 2013 1:59 am

not tryna be a dick but why dont you pay for membership at a gym? unless you the bandz than by all means but it would be cheaper and you get better runs
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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#11 » by supra2k8 » Fri May 3, 2013 2:08 am

SirBounceAlot wrote:not tryna be a dick but why dont you pay for membership at a gym? unless you the bandz than by all means but it would be cheaper and you get better runs


That was our first option, I'm a College Alumni and I live walking distance from it, and the gym is open all the time...but the problem is they only allow Alumni memberships plus spouse and kids under 18. Our problem is I have 2 brothers, and the College won't accept other members which is pretty stupid since the gym is always empty.

One year membership would cost aprox $1000 for all 3 of us, which we were ready to do, until they rejected us, and only other option is YMCA which a bit far and always packed.

btw even if this court costs $7000, I'm sure we could increase our price by $7000 if we ever sell the house
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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#12 » by Raptors Realtor » Fri May 3, 2013 2:08 am

supra2k8 wrote:
I hoping in the long run it will be an investment that will add value to our house.


If I can offer any advice, it would be not to do it with the expectation that you'll get a solid return or even your money back when you decide to sell your house because you probably won't, but do it because it will provide you and your family with hours and hours of fun. The truth is that I've seen people spend obscene amounts of money customizing their homes to their tastes and things that interest them and rarely do people get that investment back.

If you do decide to follow thru with it, it would be great if you update the thread with pics...
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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#13 » by supra2k8 » Fri May 3, 2013 2:16 am

Raptors Realtor wrote:
supra2k8 wrote:
I hoping in the long run it will be an investment that will add value to our house.


If I can offer any advice, it would be not to do it with the expectation that you'll get a solid return or even your money back when you decide to sell your house because you probably won't, but do it because it will provide you and your family with hours and hours of fun. The truth is that I've seen people spend obscene amounts of money customizing their homes to their tastes and things that interest them and rarely do people get that investment back.

If you do decide to follow thru with it, it would be great if you update the thread with pics...


I agree with you, only doing this for us to use, if we get anything back whenever we sell our house, that's a bonus.

As far as updating, if we do end up doing this, I'll be sure to update with pics maybe even video, before/after. Right now I don't even know which way to place the court, since we have a rectangle shape to use. So either it'll be a narrow long court or a wide short court. Plan is to make it wide and level the ground with the rest of the yard so you can dribble the ball off the court too.

Maybe I'll post some pics of the area before deciding. Might even have to call City Hall about moving our fence a couple feet back, if that's allowed at all.
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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#14 » by J-Roc » Fri May 3, 2013 2:23 am

One foot max for a foundation. But leveling will be a pain. Does anyone know the slope for an outdoor court? 2% or 1%? Could need a wall to make that happen.

I've been curious about building one too, so please update if you do it.

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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#15 » by supra2k8 » Fri May 3, 2013 2:28 am

J-Roc wrote:One foot max for a foundation. But leveling will be a pain. Does anyone know the slope for an outdoor court? 2% or 1%? Could need a wall to make that happen.

I've been curious about building one too, so please update if you do it.

Sent using the RealGM mobile app.


If we go with flexcourt, I'll see what they say about the foundation, but yea leveling won't be easy at all and not having enough room is another problem. I honestly don't want to spend the money when you can't shoot from the 2 sides beyond 15'

I will update for sure if we things go through, thank you all for your advice.
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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#16 » by Raptors Realtor » Fri May 3, 2013 2:48 am

supra2k8 wrote:
Raptors Realtor wrote:
supra2k8 wrote:
I hoping in the long run it will be an investment that will add value to our house.


If I can offer any advice, it would be not to do it with the expectation that you'll get a solid return or even your money back when you decide to sell your house because you probably won't, but do it because it will provide you and your family with hours and hours of fun. The truth is that I've seen people spend obscene amounts of money customizing their homes to their tastes and things that interest them and rarely do people get that investment back.

If you do decide to follow thru with it, it would be great if you update the thread with pics...


I agree with you, only doing this for us to use, if we get anything back whenever we sell our house, that's a bonus.

As far as updating, if we do end up doing this, I'll be sure to update with pics maybe even video, before/after. Right now I don't even know which way to place the court, since we have a rectangle shape to use. So either it'll be a narrow long court or a wide short court. Plan is to make it wide and level the ground with the rest of the yard so you can dribble the ball off the court too.

Maybe I'll post some pics of the area before deciding. Might even have to call City Hall about moving our fence a couple feet back, if that's allowed at all.


Backyard fences are typically built on or very close to the property line, therefore I doubt you'd be able to extend the fence back, as you'd basically be squatting on whoever's property was behind yours... what's beyond your backyard?
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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#17 » by carl_english » Fri May 3, 2013 2:59 am

Any suggestions on a cheap but nice basketball court alternative? Preferably under 500$ as opposed to the OPs initial quote.
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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#18 » by hyper316 » Fri May 3, 2013 3:18 am

carl_english wrote:Any suggestions on a cheap but nice basketball court alternative? Preferably under 500$ as opposed to the OPs initial quote.


Get a membership at hoopdome $360/year. Full court, all weather/season. No worries about drainage and sinkholes.
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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#19 » by Jai Monee » Fri May 3, 2013 3:20 am

supra2k8 wrote:
sanity wrote:If you have enough money (or free labor) to blow, dig ~1.5-2feet beneath for a foundation to ensure you wont get sink spots x years down the road


Don't have enough money to blow or free labor but we're hoping to set up a monthly plan with whoever installs the court. From what I have seen flexcourt does lay the concert, but probably not 1.5 to 2 feet, that's something to think about, thanks for the advice everyone.

Spacing wrote:The only issue I see with this is the snow/rain ruining the expensive court which is why I would say to pour concrete and simply paint it. This will be easier to maintain to.


Their courts are suppose to be all weather, how much do you think it would cost to level 30'x40' and pour concrete?

Image


Not sure if the photo is strictly for illustrative purposes but if it's not let me be the bearer of bad news and say its unrealistic to shoot hoops outdoors during Canadian winters. The cold temperature effects the air pressure within the basketball itself, making it a bounceless pumpkin. It's a noble attempt to launch long distance jumpers in the dead of winter, but you'd be better suited indoors.
"I'm a spot-up shooter" - Rasho Nesterovic.
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Re: OT- advice on backyard basketball court 

Post#20 » by T-D0G » Fri May 3, 2013 3:36 am

Your neighbours are going to love this :lol:
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