Payson, Utah
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Backyard pickleball courts, sport courts and putting greens for Payson families, built flat and drained on a base that holds up through Payson winters.
“They leveled our yard and placed a pickleball court, patio, fire pit, and artificial grass. It looks great.”
“I will definitely use you again for any future landscaping needs.”
Pickleball and Sports Courts in Payson
A backyard court is a big, flat slab, and Payson does not always hand you big, flat ground. On the east bench under Mount Nebo, getting a level pad usually means cutting into the hill on one side and filling on the other. Down on the Peteetneet flats the lot may already be level, but the clay under it moves with the seasons. Either way, the work that decides whether your court lasts happens before any surface goes down.
A pickleball court is 20 by 44 feet inside the lines, and you want room around it to chase a ball. That is a lot of square footage to keep from cracking or ponding. On clay we build a thicker base and plan the joints in the slab. On the bench we pull cobbles out of the pad and compact in layers. Every court also needs a slight slope so rain and snowmelt run off instead of sitting in one corner.
Courts in Payson also have to live with the water. Our very hard culinary water and the sediment in the secondary system both leave a mark when sprinklers overspray onto a court, and the surface gets dull and spotted fast. We set the heads around the court so they water the grass, not the baseline. Then we add the fence, the lights and maybe a putting green on the side, so that whole corner of the yard gets used.
Payson has two quirks an outside crew misses: very hard culinary water, around 11.7 grains a gallon, that scales up sprinkler heads, and a secondary system that carries canyon sediment, so filtration matters here.
Know your Payson ground
The Payson challenges
Leveling a court on a sloped east bench lot means moving a lot of dirt. The cut side can need a retaining wall, and the fill side has to be compacted hard or the slab sinks there first. Walls over 4 feet from the bottom of the footing need a permit in Payson, so the pad height matters.
A court on the flats covers a lot of Lake Bonneville clay. When that clay soaks up water in spring and dries out in July, it moves. A slab poured straight on top of it, with no real base and no control joints, will crack across the playing area, and a crack on a court is a place to roll an ankle.
Payson's water is very hard, and the secondary water carries fine sediment down from the canyon. Heads that throw onto the court leave spots and grit that make the surface slick and ugly, and they wear the coating faster. Most of this gets solved by how the sprinklers around the court are laid out.
Pickleball is loud, and lights let people play after dark. On closer-set lots in town, where the court sits and which way the lights point matters to the people next door. We check the city and any HOA rules on fences and lights before we start digging.
The J&H approach
We start by setting the court height and grading the pad. On the bench that means a cut, a compacted fill and a wall if the slope calls for one. On the flats it means digging out soft clay and building a thicker base. The concrete and the court surface come last.
Courts get a gentle slope in one direction, enough to move water and not enough to notice when you play. We send that water to a lawn edge, a rock bed or a drain, never toward the house or into the neighbor's yard.
We plan the fence, the net posts, the lighting and any putting green in one layout. Lights point down onto the court, the fence keeps balls in the yard, and the sprinklers around it are set back so the court stays dry and clean all summer.
What homeowners say
"We had a really big project (full lot project) and a crazy timeline, and Jackson and his team were awesome. They are very efficient, work hard to get things done quick, and the quality of their work is top-notch. Great company. Great guys. I would highly recommend them for any landscaping needs."
"Jackson and his crew did a phenomenal job on our back yard. I had a vision and they brought it to life. We had them do a retaining wall, grading, underground trampoline, sprinkler system, and sod. They met deadlines, communication was on point, and the whole crew was friendly.…"
"…The job was completed quickly without sacrificing quality, and the results exceeded our expectations. We would absolutely hire this team again and recommend them to anyone looking for landscaping help."
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