basketball courts

Question for you guys, just got hit with striping basketball courts for our local park dept. but never have done one before. Whats the best way to do them? layout and tape like tennis courts or do you think I could set the wheel and lock it to follow the radius of the courts or should I stencil them? Using a 5900 graco. Any ideas or ways your familiar with will be helpfull. Looking at the simplest way since we are donating a lot of our time for community improvements. Thanks!

KV, I always tape out the court and paint with a brush. I never use a roller because the pressure you apply to the roller squeezes the paint under the tape. I have used my graco and my Kelly to do courts, but that takes alot of practice. The way I practice is to find some one in your neighbor hood with a mobile basket ball pole on the street. Check with the father and tell him you want to warm up for a job and paint it black. The town will not care because it is black,but check with the town just incase. The kids get a court, and you get to practice.I have had people ask for black lines on the road for courts after that. I would take my time and do the best job possible since it is a town court,that is a nice advertisement spot. Check with the town and see if you can put in the corner with 1" stencil " COURT BY KV SEALCOATING". Since you are donating your time, why not. Good luck, Gary

I do my layout and paint the same as a parking lot without using tape, for the circles I spin the gun around beside the back wheel, I dont lock the front wheel. I use a new 217 tip with the gun lowered to produce a 2 inch line & I drop the pressure as low as I can without hourglassing, (full court 1.5 hr)

I have done a couple and they turned out great. I don't use any tape, I chalk line everything. I use a nail,string and chalk to do the circles, then I (like eric) swivel the gun around so it is inline with the rear axle. I then lock the front castor at a angle I think is close. Then do a test circle with no paint to see how close I am, I keep adjusting the front castor angle till it is very close (usually 3-4 practices circles), then I paint (215 or 217 tip also) and use a little body english to stay on my circle chalk line. Its fast and works great for me.

Are these courts new layout or restripes? If they are restripes and you don't feel comfortable with the circles and think you might not be able to stay on the lines that are already there you might just want to tape them until you get the hang of it. It will take more time but it's worth it if you want them to look good. Some here would say to not tape an asphalt court but I have never had a problem with the paint bleeding underneath the tape on asphalt. You might have a problem if you are using a roller or are spraying a very thin paint. Swinging the gun to the rear wheel is a must. Turn the gun to the rear, lift up the front wheel just so its off the ground, and let'er rip. Don't bother trying to shoot off the front whith the wheel locked. Chances are that when you complete the circle your lines will not match up.