Upper Makefield Township
Upper Makefield’s engineer found that pickleball courts beside the tennis court at Brownsburg Park would need site work and a long, tall retaining wall. If you already have a court, that groundwork was done when it was built.
Local courts
The township engineer brought that news to the park board in May 2023, with an estimate significantly over budget. The board recommended flat ground on the other side of the pavilion instead, and that September, supervisors rejected every bid as over budget. Your court is past all that. What it needs over the years is the work we do: cracks filled, low spots leveled, color and texture rebuilt, lines repainted, and pickleball lines added if you want them. If grading or a wall is ever on your list, settle it before the color goes down.
Public water reaches just four of Upper Makefield’s developments, and public sewer only a few; everywhere else, owners keep up their own septic systems. The township calls itself a rural, residential community: about 21.8 square miles along the Delaware River, taking in Washington Crossing, joined by bridge to New Jersey, and villages with historic districts, such as Brownsburg, Buckmanville and Dolington. Ace Court Surfacing is based here in Bucks County, and Bill Ferguson takes Upper Makefield calls. On any court here, the base, drainage and edges come before color, texture and lines.
Local conditions
Jericho Mountain and Bowman’s Hill are among the township’s natural features, and a court set into sloping ground catches runoff on its uphill side. One coating maker warns that water flowing back onto a court, or under it, can cause problems, and says to clear anything blocking drains and swales. If the bank or wall above your court sends water across it, solve that before resurfacing.
By 1981–2010 averages for the township, July’s average high is 86.4°F, and July is the wettest month, at the yearly peak in thunderstorms. Both limit coating. The EPA says ordinary pavement can reach surface temperatures of 120 to 150°F in summer, and one coating maker allows no coats on a surface over 130°F. So midsummer coating belongs in the cool of the morning, with no rain on the way.
Township water reaches four developments; the township’s well rules count three gallons a minute as enough for a home. Court work uses water three ways: the wash, the flood test for low spots, and the coating mixes, which one maker says need fresh, potable water. On a well, plan that supply ahead. Mark the septic field, too: the EPA says not to park or drive on a drainfield.
Start here
Your tennis court is already graded and paved, so pickleball can go straight onto it: two courts in blended lines a shade lighter or darker than the court, or a dedicated layout fitted to the fenced space.
Cracks get cleaned, filled with acrylic crack filler and leveled flush before winter works on them. On a hillside court, also trace where the water runs, since water beneath the pavement can be what opened them.
When the color has gone chalky and the texture slick over a sound base, resurfacing rebuilds the top: resurfacer, textured color coats to the coating maker’s spec and new lines, timed for dry days that are warm enough and, in July, not too hot.
Start with the tennis court you have. New pavement on sloping ground needs grading and sometimes a wall, as the township found at Brownsburg Park, where that site work pushed its estimate significantly over budget. Your court’s pavement is already down. Blended lines fit two pickleball courts on it and keep the tennis lines, and a dedicated layout fits up to four on a 60 by 120 foot paved area. Any new net posts or wall should go in before the color.
On a court built into a slope, the cause can sit below the pavement. The American Sports Builders Association traces settlement cracks to paving laid over a poorly compacted or poorly drained subbase, and one coating maker lists ground movement and sinking among the causes of cracks. Filling seals and levels them. Still, the ASBA expects cracks to reappear in time, and for a long-term fix it points to reconstruction: rebuilding the pavement itself.
That’s the township’s call, so ask before anything new gets built. Resurfacing, crack repair and new lines all work on the court you already have. A new pad, a retaining wall, fencing or lights are construction, and Upper Makefield’s Planning and Zoning Department handles questions on permits, construction, additions and pools. Call Bill at 215-251-2984 to talk through the order of work on your Upper Makefield court.