Court Drainage Discussion Preparation Checklist

Mark on a sketch of the court area every place water stands after heavy rain, describing positions against fixed features such as posts, corners or trees.

A marked sketch travels much better than a description, and fixed references let anybody find the same spot again later.

Note whether the same areas hold water after different spells of rain, or whether the wet patches shift about from one spell to the next.

Water returning to the same place points at the ground or the surface, while wandering water more often points at where it arrives from.

Record how long water stays in your own terms, such as gone by the same afternoon or still there the following morning, with the date beside it.

Relative persistence across the area is the useful comparison, and it means nothing at all without the date written next to it.

Describe depth against something already in the photograph, such as a post base, a kerb or the sole of a boot, rather than putting a figure to it.

A familiar object in shot lets a professional read the picture long afterwards without taking your word for anything.

Note whether the wet areas fall where play actually happens or out at the edges where nobody goes in the first place.

Where the water sits relative to how the court is used decides how much it matters, and only you can supply that part.

Note which parts of the area never hold water at all, since the dry ground helps explain the wet ground lying beside it.

The contrast across one site is what a professional reads, and it is lost in a general statement that the ground gets wet.

Walk the ground around the area and note which directions it falls from, described simply as which sides sit higher than the court.

Water arriving from higher ground is a different matter from water falling on the court, and walking the site settles which it is.

Note every roof, gutter and downpipe near the area and where each one discharges, watching during rain rather than guessing from the pipework.

Roof water is the largest single arrival on many sites, and its real destination is often nothing like what the pipework suggests.

Where roof water may be directed is for a qualified professional and the relevant authority to establish.

Note any drive, yard, path or paved area above the court, since water leaves hard surfaces quickly and arrives all at once.

A hard surface upslope changes both how much water arrives and how suddenly, which is exactly what a professional needs to be told.

Note whether water appears to arrive from land you do not control, and record what you observe without attributing responsibility to anybody.

A neutral factual record is what any later conversation about neighbouring land needs, and early conclusions spoil it completely.

Questions about water crossing a boundary belong with a suitably qualified adviser and the relevant authority.

Note any place that is wet even during dry spells, such as seepage at a bank, a permanently green patch or water appearing at a change of level.

Ground that is wet without rain suggests something a specialist will want investigated before any court is designed.

Note every ditch, channel, gully and grating around the area, photograph each one, and record whether water actually reaches it during rain.

Where an existing channel or drain leads, and what may be connected to it, is for a qualified professional and the relevant authority to confirm.

Mark where puddles form on the existing playing surface and whether they sit near the middle, at one end or along a particular edge.

The position of standing water on a made surface is where a specialist starts, and it is forgotten as soon as the court dries.

Photograph any silt, grit or fine material appearing on the surface after rain, before it is brushed, blown or washed away.

Material arriving on or through a surface is a significant observation and it disappears the moment somebody tidies the court.

Map where moss and green film establish first each cold spell, since growth follows the areas that stay wet longest.

Growth is a slow record of persistent damp that maps the wet areas without anybody standing outside in the rain to watch.

Note where water disappears into cracks, joints or edges of the existing surface, and mark those places on the same sketch.

What water entering a surface means for its construction is for a qualified professional to establish rather than something to conclude from above.

Note the condition of any channel, grating or edge detail around the court and whether it runs, stands full or stays dry during rain.

An opening that water never actually reaches is a common finding, and it can only be seen while the rain is still falling.

Note whether the ground around the court sits above or below the surface, since ground creeping up over an edge holds water on the court.

Surrounding levels change so gradually that almost nobody notices until water has stopped leaving the court at all.

Follow the water off each edge of the area during rain and note what it runs onto, whether grass, a border, a path or another hard surface.

Court water is frequently just moved a short distance, where it becomes a problem in the next part of the site instead.

Walk to where the water ends up and note whether the ground there is soft, scoured, permanently wet or apparently unaffected by it.

The receiving ground tells you whether water is being absorbed or simply passed along, which shapes what can be proposed.

Record clearly whether any water leaving the area heads towards a building, a store, a clubhouse or an outbuilding.

Water running towards any building must be described to a qualified professional rather than dealt with on your own judgement.

Note whether water from the area reaches a boundary, a road or a neighbouring garden, and record plainly what you have seen.

Whether water may be discharged towards any boundary, ditch or watercourse is for the relevant authority and a qualified professional to confirm.

Write down that you do not know where an existing drainage run goes rather than guessing, and ask how that would be established.

An honest gap in the record is more useful than an assumption that quietly ends up shaping a design.

Note what you can see of the ground below the site without entering land you do not control, keeping the record purely descriptive.

Descriptions of what is visible from your own land are useful; speculation about arrangements on land you cannot see is not.

Keep a simple record of every session lost to a wet court, with the date and a note of what the weather had been doing beforehand.

A dated list of lost sessions is the most concrete evidence an owner can bring, and it cannot be reconstructed from memory.

Note how soon the court is usable again after rain in your own terms, and whether one end comes back into use well before the other.

Uneven drying across a single court is a strong signal, and it is visible only to whoever is standing there at the time.

Note which parts of the court players avoid in wet weather and where they change how they move in order to stay off them.

Player behaviour maps the wet areas continuously, which beats occasional observation by anybody who does not play there.

Note whether the losses cluster in particular seasons, and whether the court has genuinely worsened or has simply been noticed more.

Distinguishing a change in the court from a change in attention is something only the people who use it can attempt.

Write down what is already done to keep the court usable, such as sweeping, squeegeeing or covering, and how much effort each takes.

Existing coping measures show both how bad the problem is and what has already been tried, which shortens the discussion.

Record that the court was wet and not used, rather than recording a judgement about its condition, and leave that judgement to somebody qualified.

Whether a court is fit to be played on in any condition is for a qualified professional and the relevant governing body to advise on.

Note where frost and ice sit longest on the area and add those positions to the same sketch that carries your standing water notes.

Ice returns to the areas that hold water, so cold weather maps the site for you without any rain having to fall.

Note which parts of the area sit in shade through the coldest part of the day, since those are the parts that thaw last.

Slow-thawing corners are usually the same corners that dry last after rain, and the two records confirm each other.

Note any lifting, cracking or movement in an existing surface that appears after cold spells, and photograph it with the date.

What movement after cold weather means for a court construction is for a qualified professional to establish.

Note where water goes during a thaw, since frozen ground can send water along routes it never takes in ordinary rain.

Thaw conditions produce runoff patterns nobody sees at any other time, and they are often the worst the site ever gets.

Note whether any existing grating or channel becomes blocked by ice or debris in cold weather, and whether anybody clears it.

An opening that only fails in cold weather is easy to overlook, because nobody looks at it in the season when it works.

Note whether the court is used in cold weather at all, since a court left unplayed through winter raises quite different questions.

Winter use decides which observations matter, and it is a decision the owner or club makes rather than the professional.

Assemble the wet areas, arrivals, openings and frost notes onto one plan of the court and its surroundings before the first conversation.

The relationship between where water arrives and where it stands only becomes obvious when both appear on the same drawing.

Keep a paired set of photographs of each marked position in wet and in dry conditions, each carrying the date it was taken.

A pair taken in both conditions explains itself, whereas an undated picture of a wet court proves very little to anybody.

Write down anything known about drainage, levelling or filling carried out on this ground before, and label recollection clearly as recollection.

Even a vague account of past work points a professional at what is worth investigating first.

Ask what investigation would be needed to establish what is happening below ground here, and who would carry it out.

Any explanation of what the ground is doing below the surface has to come from a qualified professional who has investigated it.

Ask whether the court contractor or a separate drainage professional should be dealing with each part of what you have recorded.

Court construction and site drainage are frequently different specialisms, and assuming one covers both wastes a visit.

Keep any explanation you have formed on a separate note, so that what you hand over is a record of observations rather than an argument.

A professional given conclusions tends to test them, while a professional given observations tends to look at the site.