Tag: artificial grass tennis court maintenance

artificial grass tennis court cleaning

Posted on by Sweepfast

In 10 Minutes

” Can I really clean the leaves, litter, other wind borne debris, bird poo!! from my tennis court in 10 minutes?”

Simply put the answer is certainly yes you can, and a 2 metre wide Cleansweep from Sweepfast is all you’ll need. These amazingly simple but effective tools have been around for years and still customers are finding out just how good they are. Initially they were intended to collect litter from asphalt tennis courts, which they do equally well, but it soon became apparent that they were perfect for sand filled artificial grass courts too, and now they’re finding a use on the old clay courts but also on the new generation of artificial clay courts to clean up the artificial clay and re-distribute it evenly.

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As with all Aerosweep products they work so simply, you provide the forward motion and everything on the surface of the tennis court is lifted up by the fingers and dropped onto the grid. From here the sand will fall through and be worked back into the court, whilst the larger debris is trapped on the top and stays there until emptied.

In fact because it’s 2 Metres wide it will only take 8 or 9 passes to cover the entire court once, and as it only weighs around 6kg, and you pull it not push it, it really is very easy to use.

The Cleansweep
The Cleansweep Artificial Grass Cleaning Tool

To empty you simply shake it off onto a sheet or in the gateway and 10 mins later when you’re completely finished, shovel it up into a wheelbarrow and that’s it done!!

All the teams at Sweepfast use these tools in the regular day to day maintenance of tennis courts, and always carry one in the van, but they also find them useful when putting new sand back in after a refurb.

But there is only one way to see just how good these tools are, and that is try it for yourself, visit www.sweepfast.com and type cleansweep in the search bar, or email us on sales@sweepfast.com, or if in doubt call 0121 747 9255 and a technician will talk through whether it’s suitable for you tennis court.

But hurry up, the leaves are starting to fall………………………

Artificial Grass Maintenance

Posted on by Sweepfast

With the huge amount of artificial grass surfaces now in use, and with more being installed every month an in house maintenance regime coupled with a professional contractor maintenance plan has never been so important. I know this works out as an unexpected expense but there really is no other option, and bad advice from poor quality contractors can be even worse. I’ll give you one recent example.

The recent spell of wet weather has brought home once again just how important maintaining artificial sports surfaces is. On a recent visit to a customer where the maintenance regime had simply been regular drag brushing. What is worrying is that more recently a “contractor” had advised that power brushing off the top surface and replacing a tiny amount of old sand with new would “revitalise” the pitch. But within one month the pitch had started to retain water once again, now rendering the facility totally unsuitable for use.

The only procedure to discover exactly what is going on beneath the surface is to take samples of the infill then return them to the warehouse and set about processing them. So after giving them this advice and at the request of the customer we took 9 samples from locations all over the surface, from high use areas to areas where there was very little foot fall. These have now been sampled and analysed and the results indicated that the contamination levels are way in excess of the standards for safe play, and the continuous free draining of the surface.

The conclusion of my report is going to indicate a spend in excess of £10,000.00 now to put things right, where if they had been given the correct information and acted on it the pitch would have still been playable now, with an annual spend of less than £2,000.00 and no loss of play and earnings.

It’s so frustrating in this industry that there are so much bad advice from convincing salesmen leading to spending money for the wrong reasons, with only one consequence, the customer has to eventually pay twice.

This is why at Sweepfast we pride ourselves in taking care to visit every site to assess its requirements whether it’s a small private tennis court or a university multi sports complex. We take every measure to ensure the advice we give is based on truth and not on assumptions, and we know then that we can rest easy.

For professional synthetic sports surface advise and service from the first site visit to completion of the works call 0121 747 9255 visit www.sweepfast.com or email sales@sweepfast.com

Extracting Sand From Astroturf

Posted on by Sweepfast

How do you extract the sand infill from an Astroturf pitch? The most successful way to extract contaminated sand and the associated contamination from a sand filled synthetic grass pitch, or tennis courts is using a high pressure injection system to displace it to the surface for collection. Sweepfast has developed the Hydrofast System which utilises high pressure water delivered at a precisely controlled height from the surface to lift out the material and also to wash the fibres of the synthetic grass clean as it goes. The system is built around an Avant telehandler which travels across the surface at around 0.5 km/hr lifting out the material as it goes and leaving it in a line to be collected by the following machinery.

The results can be very dramatic as demonstrated with the Sweepfast Infill Contamination Test Kit, with a total contamination ratio of around 70.49% on an extremely badly maintained pitch we have reduced that down to 1.38% in just 5 days, see the two images below for examples.

Before:-

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Pitch before refurb

And After:-

After Pitch Refurb
After Pitch Refurb

To see more of this impressive system visit www.sweepfast.com or call 0121 747 9255 for a free site visit, assessment and quote.

Tennis Court Maintenance

Posted on by Sweepfast

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How to maintain a tennis court?

As with all outdoor surfaces moss, algae, leaf litter and debris are the biggest enemy you will have to face to keep your tennis court in playable condition. If your tennis court was say a swimming pool you would have a cover over it, a filter system in place to keep the water clean, and you’d treat the water regularly to keep it in safe condition, then possibly once a year get the professionals in to do an annual maintenance on it. Well just carry that forward to your tennis court and you will quickly realise that the tennis court maintenance regime has to be pretty similar if you’re going to prevent it sliding into disrepair. So what should the routine be?

  1. Hygiene should be the first thing on the list, and that means keeping the surface free from organic debris that will decay into the infill and clog it up.
  2. Regular chemical treatment for moss and algae, with a chemical such as RBT247. This is essential because once either of these get a hold there’s only one way it’s going to go.
  3. Inspection of the seams, these must be re-stuck if they are lifting, before they become dangerous.
  4. Inspection of the sand levels, this must be at the recommended levels laid out in the data sheet from the installer, only kiln dried sand of the correct grade must be applied and brushed in.
  5. Finally at least once yearly the surface must be deep cleaned by a team of professionals such as Sweepfast, to lift out the sand infill clean it of fine debris, dead moss and algae etc etc. then brush the sand infill back in and treat the entire area for moss and algae control.

With this in place you should have a beautiful tennis court fit for play for many years to come.

Artificial Turf vs Natural Turf

Posted on by Sweepfast

From reading various posts on turf management message boards and hearing some groundsmen’s opinions, although not necessarily the opinions of the industry as a whole, it seems artificial sports surfaces have accrued an unpopular reputation.

These views, however, are usually from diehard “old school” groundsmen who see them as the arch nemesis of natural turf. A view borne from either the notion that such a surface will not require their services and, therefore, render them redundant; or the simple fact that they do not want to admit that they don’t know how to maintain them.

My own experience in sports turf stems from a golf course background, and I freely admit I didn’t know what was required to maintain an artificial surface. Like many others I thought they required minimal maintenance inputs.

Several years ago I found myself sharing a portakabin for three years at Cranfield University with Dr Andy McLeod, who was conducting research into the maintenance of artificial sports surfaces. It was from here, through various discussions, that I developed a greater appreciation for artificials and their nuances; either that or I was the innocent victim of an indoctrination process!!

Nevertheless, however it came about; I left the ranks of the non-believers and became completely open minded about artificial surfaces. I say “surfaces” plural, as there are a range of surfaces to meet the different needs of sport, with surfaces such as acrylic, tufted (both sand filled and rubber crumb filled), woven, asphalt, and water based. The one thing that they have in common with natural turf surfaces is that they require good and regular maintenance to maintain good playing characteristics.

Joining Sweepfast has given me the opportunity to learn the skill set required to produce a top quality playing surface, and has further opened my eyes to the different methods, machinery and techniques available for every situation.

Typical problems encountered are very similar to those experienced on natural turf areas, namely poor drainage, moss infestations, compaction (of the infill), surface debris – primarily leaf litter which leads to contamination of the infill – and sunken or raised areas due to tree roots crossing beneath the surface. Other problems include seam failure, worn areas, and capping of the surface where carpet fibres have bent over and, after a prolonged period, literally become welded together.

In general the company is called in for annual maintenance or where a surface has been poorly maintained and has got to the point where it requires specialist treatment.

Some surfaces encountered are so bad, due to neglect or ignorance, that you can’t actually see the playing surface. It never ceases to amaze me that what looks like a basket case, can be transformed into a first class playing surface, with playing characteristics as good as natural turf. As the nature of this kind of work is very specialist the company travels far and wide, up, down, and across the country, literally to all points of the compass, both in the UK and overseas.

I have also been surprised at the broad spectrum of the company’s client base, ranging from a privately owned tennis court in someone’s back garden, through to Premier League training facilities.

Artificial surfaces are usually constructed for year round play, and can be located in areas where they receive lots of wear, which a natural turf surface could not sustain, such as a local authority pitch in a built up area. And, when I say a built up area, they can be exactly that, built up, to the point where we have to employ a crane to be able to access the pitch with the machinery.

In cases like this, it is not viewed as a problem, but as a challenge. As with any playing surface, natural or artificial, the timing and speed at which the maintenance operations are carried out are very important, as the surfaces are usually fully booked up, whether they are a local authority pitch, private tennis club or school.

There are lots of pros and cons in the natural verses artificial debate, and that is a discussion that could go on and on. Which one provides the best playing surface, I could not say, as it depends on more than the skill of the groundsman. The finished surfaces are dependant on the initial performance characteristics specified for them, the design and build quality, the budget allocated for their maintenance, the environment in which they will be located, and how much wear they will be subjected to.

What is apparent is that no two surfaces are the same, and the nature of the problems encountered is dependant on the type of surface and the maintenance it has or hasn’t received. Research into the optimum construction method and the ideal maintenance regime is ongoing for both natural turf and artificial surfaces.

The development of new technologies for the maintenance of artificials is where I step in at Sweepfast but, due to commercial sensitivity, I can’t explain the new technology we are developing, but watch this space!

Written By Dr Colin Mumford

Tennis Court Cleaning

Posted on by Sweepfast

With the summer promising to arrive sometime soon, and thoughts of playing tennis again firmly set in your mind, you walk out into the garden with raquet in hand only to find your beautiful artificial grass tennis court covered in leaves, blossom etc etc. With the only tools at hand being a large brush you start the arduous task of brushing the court, some 550 sq m of it, to enable play to take place. The after effects of brushing artificial grass surfaces look ok, but close inspection will reveal a lot of broken up leaf litter and other debris pressed into the infill, which is less than desirable and will cause long term problems encouraging moss growth and eventually leading to drainage failure leading to a tennis court looking a little like this:

Artificial Grass Tennis Court Covered In Moss
Artificial Grass Tennis Court Covered In Moss

This court was particularly bad with moss up to 25mm deep over most of the surface, it certainly looked as though it needed mowing!!

A few days later it looked like this:

Artificial Grass Tennis Court With Moss Removed
Artificial Grass Tennis Court With Moss Removed

After play had resumed on it all it needed was a sand top up and it was back to as new condition, but the most important question from the customer was how do I prevent this from happening again? The answer to this in essence is quite simple but it does need pressing home, MAINTENANCE!! If the facility, which had cost a lot of money to install in the first place, had been maintained from the outset this situation would never have arisen, and the golden rule for maintaining all outdoor sports surfaces is Cleanliness. The first weapon for the groundsperson or owner is the Cleansweep cleaning mat, with this simple yet effective tool you will be able to clean and remove litter from an artificial grass tennis court in just a few minutes. The Cleansweep will sweep, remove leaf litter, twigs, blossom, seeds and other biological debris from the surface, then at  the same time it is working back in the sand that has been brought to the top of the surface leaving behind a clean even tennis court. All this in one simple machine makes regular maintenance of sand filled artificial grass tennis courts so easy it becomes a pleasurable regular task with satisfying end results.

The next procedure to put in place is to treat the surface regularly for moss control, with the restrictions now on most chemicals that were effective on moss and algae some of the surface cleaner chemicals are suitable to apply regularly without causing environmental issues. One such product is Algon, this product works on contact with the plant and the process starts rapidly with noticeable effects visible within a couple of days. Once the kill has been completed and the moss is brown it can be brushed from the surface, this can be done by hand but again it is an arduous task, and a solution is to use a powerbrush. The simplest and cheapest of these is the Texas Handysweep 600TG, this will rapidly powersweep dead moss from the surface leaving it clear for another application of moss killer.

With all this in place the last course of action is to book in a deep clean service once a year during the driest period to remove debris, dead moss and broken fibre from deep down in the carpet where brushing with the Cleansweep and the Handysweep can’t reach. This process is carried out with a Hoerger SKU machine either driven by a tractor or mounted on an Avant machine and driven hydraulically.

As long as these procedures are followed strictly and carried out under the right conditions the artificial grass tennis court should stay in pristine condition for many to come.