How to Remove Snow from Court Tiles

With sports court tiles, you can create an ideal multipurpose athletic space suitable for basketball, tennis, and more. But creating your new sports court is just the first step in the process. While these tiles are durable, proper maintenance is essential, and that means you’ll need a plan in place during the winter weather. Understanding how to remove snow from court tiles can help you preserve your sports courts and protect the tiles from the winter elements.

How to Remove Snow from Court Tiles

Sport court tiles are weather-resistant, but frequently cleaning them is important for protection from potential damage. These tips can help you properly care for your court in the fall and winter.

Clean Up After Fall

To make it easier to remove snow from your court surface, start by cleaning up the tiles in the fall. Remove any debris, including fallen leaves and sticks, from your outdoor court. Sweep the court weekly, or use a leaf blower to keep the debris off the surface.

The fall is also the time to trim back any vegetation that surrounds your court. Trimming back plants can minimize the leaf fall on your court, plus it will help keep the surface easily accessible in the winter.

As you do your fall cleanup, look for any damage to the court floor. Taking the time to repair issues like cracks or holes can help prevent future damage, plus it will make it easier to clear snow from the surface.

Protect Your Court

Look for ways to protect your court from heavy snow and ice. If the court is close to other structures, like parking lots, a driveway, or a road, you may need to take additional steps to prevent snow from being plowed or snowblown onto the court surface. You can set up a snow fence around the court to keep excess snow from being blown onto the court.

You may also want to consider covering your court before the first snow of the year. Using a heavy-duty sports court cover can help keep any snow and ice away from the court surface, which may help prevent wear and tear or potential damage to the tiles.

Promptly Remove Snow

After a storm, promptly remove snow from your court. You can use a plastic snow shovel to remove the snow. By quickly addressing the snow after a storm, you can prevent it from compacting and icing over, making the removal process easier and helping to prevent damage to your court tiles.

Make sure that you don’t let anyone walk on the court after a storm, since doing so can compact the snow and can be hazardous, too.

As you remove snow, try to position it so that it’s far away from your court. If you shovel snow into piles close to the court, it may melt and refreeze, causing ice to form.

Carefully Choose De-Icing Products

Even if you quickly remove snow after a storm, you may still be dealing with ice on your court caused by melting snow or an ice storm. If you see ice, resist the temptation to try to break it up with a tool like a metal shovel, since doing so can cause holes and gouges in your tile surfaces. If you create holes in the tiles, water can get into the holes, where it freezes, causing additional damage.

In these situations, using a non-corrosive ice melt intended for sports courts can help remove residual snow and ice. Be sure to avoid using salt or traditional ice melt, since the products can potentially damage the surface of your tiles, altering their finishes and their appearances.

What to Avoid When Removing Snow

Using the wrong tools when removing snow can cause irreparable damage, and you may ultimately need to replace the damaged tiles in your courts. Keep metal tools, like metal snow shovels, away from the courts, and make sure that anyone maintaining the courts understands which tools can and can’t be used. The same is true of your de-icing products; stock up on a suitable non-corrosive ice melt and keep other products away from your courts.

If you have multiple courts in one area, make sure that your maintenance team understands the importance of removing snow from the area entirely. If they pile snow in spaces in between the courts, that snow can melt and then form ice that spreads over the courts.

Contact Greatmats for Your Sport Court Tile Needs

At Greatmats, we carry an excellent selection of sport court tiles to help you build your backyard or commercial court. We can also help you order replacement tiles if your court ever becomes damaged or worn. Contact us today; our customer service team would be happy to help you choose the best court tiles for your project.