Basketball court recommendations

[cckrobinson]

I'd like to install a basketball court in the backyard for the kids (and me). The problem is that I don't really want an ugly concrete slab sitting back there. The court would be located behind my garage adjacent to the house. The primary function for now would be for basketball, but I'll be using it occasionally to park a utility trailer. Would it be feasible to use driveway pavers instead of concrete? I live in Minnesota so freeze/thaw is an issue. My biggest concern is that the pavers won't provide a flat enough surface for basketball. I'd also consider adding a sport court on top later which would make for a much nicer playing surface.

I prepped the area last fall with 6-8 inches of 3/4" angular base material. I essentially have 3 options:

1. Pour a 4" slab to the exact dimensions that I want. The downside is that it doesn't look very nice and I'd probably never use it for anything else.
2. Lay driveway pavers. They look nicer, but the surface won't be ideal for basketball. It could also double as a patio down the road.
3. Pour the slab with the possibility of adding a workshop onto the garage later. I'm sure this would be the most expensive option.

I'm leaning toward #2 or #3. I'd being doing #2 myself and hire out the others. Any thoughts?

[mrusk]

Black top?

[carcrz]

I've got a chemical customer that just finished putting in a full size court & a sand volleyball pit in. The court is concrete but has 12" x 12" (whatever the standard size is) linked hard rubber/plastic pads on top. They have a sun in the middle of it & it turned out really really nice.

[forestfireguy]

Black top is uglier than concrete, at least if you ask me.........However it is likely the cheapest alternative and removed with relative ease if ever you wanted to build your workshop, a skidsteer will peel it up no problem and leave most of your base alone to have a slab poured on top of.

[senatorcongressman]

I've played basketball on pavers before. It's not ideal but it beats playing in the street or on dirt.

Anyway I like option 3 with a tiled surface like "sport court" "versacourt" "playmaker" or whatever on top of it. Those things are nice and tiles are around $2-3 /sf in bulk. (there is a 25x30 kit on ebay right now for $1300) That way when the kids are grown, or you move, you can pull the tiles and sell the court, and build your workshop or park an RV or boat on the pad. Maybe think ahead and set some conduit in the pad for wiring the future shop or court lights.

[cckrobinson]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm leaning toward option #3. I need to pay a visit to the city to find out exactly how large I can make this thing. The slab will be relatively close to the property line, and it's not clear to me what the setback requirements are for my neighborhood. Also, there's a city rule that limits your garage\storage structures to 1200sq/ft. The 1200sq/ft includes the existing garage which in my case is 34x24. That only leave me only 384sq/ft for the slab. I don't know yet if they if I can make the slab larger as long as the future shop fits under the 1200 requirement.

[neversatisfiedj]

http://www.lawnsite.com/showthread.php?t=150278&highlight=basketball+court