Platform Tennis Court Construction in New Jersey

Platform tennis (often just called "paddle" in NJ and NY country clubs) is played on a much smaller, elevated deck — 60 ft by 30 ft — enclosed by wire mesh screens that are part of live play, similar in spirit to padel's glass walls but built from powder-coated aluminum and hex-mesh screen instead of glass and structural steel. The defining feature is that the deck sits above ground level with a heating system underneath it, which is what lets the sport be played outdoors through a New Jersey winter. Pickleball and standard tennis courts are built on grade and aren't designed for winter play at all.

There isn't a standard published number because so few get built each year, but the starting point is well above a standard backyard tennis court, which itself typically runs $40,000–$100,000 fully built. A platform tennis court costs more than that baseline because you're paying for an engineered elevated structure and a heating system on top of the surfacing, screens, and lighting a standard court already needs. The heating system you choose — propane versus electric radiant — and how much structural support the site needs both swing the number significantly, which is why we scope these individually after a site visit rather than quoting a range off a brochure.

The space underneath the aluminum deck is where the heating system lives. Platform tennis is a cold-weather sport by design — most club and backyard play happens from fall through spring — so the deck is raised specifically to create room for heaters that melt snow and ice off the underside of the panels, keeping the court playable in conditions that would shut down a standard court entirely.

The regulation deck is 60 ft long by 30 ft wide, built from interlocking aluminum panels with a textured anti-skid surface coating and neoprene gasketing at the panel seams to help retain heat and dampen sound. The enclosure uses powder-coated aluminum uprights and horizontal tension members with 16-gauge galvanized hex-mesh screen. The American Platform Tennis Association (APTA) sets the official dimension and construction specifications and must approve court surfaces and colors, so any build intended for sanctioned play needs to match APTA specs rather than general backyard-court guidelines.

Usually, yes. Because the deck is an elevated structure carrying player and snow load rather than a surface poured on grade, most New Jersey building departments treat it as a structural build — meaning stamped engineering plans for the support posts and footings, not just the zoning and setback review a standard slab-on-grade court goes through. We handle that process, but it's worth budgeting extra lead time compared with a standard pickleball or tennis court permit.