Prep Before You Pour
A properly graded, compacted site means your court stays level, drains clean, and holds up season after season.
What Goes Wrong
The most expensive court repairs trace back to decisions made before the first shovel broke ground.
Grading by eye instead of a confirmed slope check leaves low spots where water collects at the center or baseline after rain.
The builder grades to a measured 1 percent cross-slope and confirms it with a level before compaction begins.
Placing base stone over loose or uneven subgrade causes differential settling, which pushes surface cracks open within two to three seasons.
A mechanical compactor passes over the subgrade in layers until the density required for base stone is reached and confirmed.
Charlotte’s Piedmont clay retains water and shifts under load when it isn’t excavated and replaced with stable fill before grading.
The builder removes clay-heavy material to the required depth and brings in clean fill or base stone that compacts and drains correctly.
Older residential lots often hide roots, rubble, or uneven fill that creates soft spots and voids beneath the finished base layer.
Vegetation, tree roots, and buried debris are cleared and removed before any grading or layout marking takes place.
Scope of Work
Each step in the sequence delivers a measurable result that the next step depends on.
The court footprint is measured and staked to confirm the full playing area fits the lot before any clearing begins.
Vegetation, tree roots, buried debris, and existing hardscape are removed to the depth the base design requires.
The subgrade is shaped to a verified cross-slope so water sheds away from the court surface in every direction.
A mechanical compactor densifies the subgrade in layers to the specified bearing capacity before base stone is placed.
Drainage paths are mapped and confirmed during grading so standing water has a clear route away from the court area.
Residential lot clearing, grading, and compaction.
Excavation and fill work to create a level footprint.
Slope check and drainage path confirmation on-site.
Larger footprints with multi-court layout planning.
Why Choose Us
Preparation work sets every condition the rest of the build depends on, here is how we keep that accountable.
The site visit checks slope, drainage, and obstructions before a single number is written down.
Every prep task, clearing, grading, compaction, drainage, appears as a separate line item so nothing is bundled or hidden.
The builders we arrange know Piedmont clay conditions and the grading challenges common on older Charlotte residential lots.
The compacted subgrade is confirmed ready before any base material is ordered or placed on the site.
Before the job is signed off, the builder walks the prepared site with you and answers questions about what was done.
The Process
01
Tell us the site address and intended sport, and we schedule a visit to assess slope, drainage, and layout options.
02
You receive an itemised estimate covering clearing, grading, compaction, and drainage before any work is scheduled or started.
03
The builder completes all prep work, confirms the compacted subgrade meets spec, and walks the site with you before signing off.
Pricing Estimates
| Job | Typical cost |
|---|---|
| Site visit and layout plan | $500-$2,000 |
| Grading and base preparation | $3,000-$12,000 |
| Full design and prep package | $5,000-$20,000 |
Tell us the site and the sport, and we’ll schedule an assessment of the ground, drainage, and layout. You’ll get a written estimate covering every prep step before anything is scheduled.