Basketball

About 3.8 m is the lowest ceiling that will take a hoop at all. The rim sits at 3.05 m, the backboard stands above it, and we allow 30 cm of clearance over the top of the board. At that height you get ball-handling, footwork, layups and close-range shooting off the backboard, but not a normal jump shot. We recommend 6.1 m for basketball you would call unrestricted, and FIBA requires 7 m of clear height for official competition. Every indoor court in this range states the ceiling it needs, from the indoor garage court up to the sports hall half-court.

Only if the ceiling is high enough, and a standard domestic garage is not. Most are around 2.4 m, which is below the 3.05 m rim, so no hoop will fit at regulation height whatever else you do. Converted garages, workshops and outbuildings with a raised or open roof often clear 3.8 m, and that is what our smallest indoor court is built for. Measure the height before you measure the floor.

Yes, and it is one of the things the configurator exists for. Draw the room as it actually is, including pillars, a chimney breast or an L-shaped return, and the court is tiled and quoted to that outline. Every tile the wall line passes through is charged as a whole tile, because that is how it is bought and then cut on site, and tiles falling outside the room are not charged at all. You pay for the floor you have rather than the rectangle around it. The L-shaped room court is a worked example.

Almost never. The tiles float on whatever is already there, and a power-floated concrete warehouse or garage slab is the best base this tile ever gets. Lay straight onto it with no preparation. That is most of why indoor builds are faster than outdoor ones: nothing to pour, nothing to cure, and nothing that cares what the weather is doing. The floor does need to be flat and sound; a badly cracked or uneven slab still wants attention first. Our guide to resurfacing an existing court covers how to judge the floor you have.

There is no single answer, but most land between 6 × 6.7 m and 9 × 11 m. About 9 × 9 m is the most common, the size of our garden half-court. It is the smallest court that carries the key, the free-throw line and the full arc at their real distances. Smaller courts still work well for free throws, finishing and one-on-one.

4.60 m from the face of the backboard, which is 15 feet, on every court we sell that marks one. The same as a regulation gym. If a court is too shallow to hold it we leave the free-throw line off rather than move it closer. Every regulation distance is set out in our basketball court dimensions guide.

No. A three-point line at 4 m is a different shot, and it teaches a distance that exists nowhere else. Courts from about 9.1 m deep, such as the long garden court, carry the regulation 6.75 m arc. Below that we mark the key and the free-throw line and leave the arc off, as on the garden key court.

Less than most people expect. A MegaSlam carries its backboard forward on an arm, so with the board at the regulation 1.2 m the post stands at the baseline, not behind the court. On a MegaSlam 72 the post’s back face is about 0.25 m behind the baseline and the height crank reaches about 0.6 m, so allow 0.7 m of firm ground behind it for the post, its 500 mm square footing and room to turn the crank. A MegaSlam 60’s arm is 30 cm shorter, so with its board in the same place its post stands about 0.3 m inside the baseline and needs less room behind it.

The tiles need a firm, flat, free-draining base: new concrete or tarmac, or an existing slab in good condition. They float on top of it, so nothing is glued down and the court can be lifted and relaid if you move. If you already have a slab, measure it and build the court to fit rather than the other way round. Our guide on how to build a basketball court takes the base step by step.

Yes. Every court here is a modular tile pad, so a second sport can be marked on the same surface in a different line colour. Pickleball, badminton, netball and five-a-side are the usual pairings. Add the extra sport in the 3D configurator and you will see how the two sets of lines sit together before you buy.

The colour runs through the tile rather than sitting on top of it, so it cannot peel or wear off the way a painted court does. The surface drains straight through, so there is no standing water and nothing to wait for after rain. Individual tiles can be swapped out without touching the rest of the court, and replacing a court tile is a job you can do yourself. Our guide to how long a modular court lasts covers what decides it.