SQUASH   COURT   MAINTENANCE

Court Plaster:
The plaster used to repair or re-plaster squash courts should be some product like Armourcoat or Proderite that is specially made for squash courts. I think it is rubber-based and one of the few suppliers in Ireland is Classic Walls from Derry see www.classicwalls.com for more information. This firm will do the job or supply the plaster for the job. Certainly you should NOT use regular plaster.

Painting the Walls:
I have spoken with people who painted their courts rather than re-plastering them and their experience has been mixed. For a good job you need the proper paint and one that is definitely successful is a product supplied by Pat McDonnell Paints - Squash Court Paint by Centurion at a cost of no more than €75 per 5 litre tin plus VAT. Two tins will do a single coat but you should give it a second coat for a proper job. Maybe you can do 2 courts with 6 or 7 tins rather than 8 tins. You can apply with brush or roller and if some of your members are 'handy' and cover the floor properly you should be able to do the painting yourself. Of course a painter will do a better job!
A tech data sheet from this firm is attached and you can contact Donal O'Halloran by e-mail at the following address: dohalloran@mcdonnellpaints.ie or phone 021 4275781 and retail outlets are listed at www.mcdonnellpaints.ie/location.html

Floor Sanding:
Most floors will take a sanding a few times before it becomes problematic to do so. However, you should use a professional (carpenter?) who will use a belt sander lengthways and not across the grain. The carpenter should be asked to make good any ‘dodgy’ floorboards as part of the job. You should be able to get this done for anything around €250 / €300 per court (?). It takes a day to do a court (?). You will need a lot of voluntary work from your members to vacuum the courts and surrounding area once the sanding is done. Remember to wipe down the walls and light fittings before you start vacuuming! It will have to be done many times before using the courts again as it takes days for the dust to settle. You should then clean off the courts with something like white spirits.
You are better off not to apply any floor varnish when the sanding is done but club members have to be told to use court shoes in future and not simply non-marking shoes. The difference is that you want them going on court only with shoes used exclusively for squash! If you are lax in this area it will result in marked courts and a recurrence of the problem.

The court markings should be renewed using some strong and quick drying paint.

Cleaning the squash courts:
The first point to stress is that brushing squash courts is not a good idea. It causes the dust and dirt to be moved about thereby smearing the surface and dust will lodge between the floorboards only to rise again once the players run about the court. It also causes a greasy film to be formed on the surface and, over time, the courts become slippery.
Ideally the courts should be vacuumed a couple of times per week and a damp cloth wrapped around the brush head should be applied to the courts maybe weekly to remove any dirt.

Squash Shoes:
Players should be required to use non-marking squash shoes that are not worn anywhere else. (Merely requesting non-marking shoes will not keep your courts clean if the players use them for other sports or indeed use them outside the squash courts. The shoes become dirty and then mark the courts)

Other information:
England Squash do a very comprehensive manual for care of squash courts and it costs about £40. They also have a number of technical information sheets on the site www.englandsquash.com and information can also be found at www.geocities.com/squashcourts/floors.htm