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ARMORTHANE PROTECTING YOUR WORLD

PROTECTING YOUR WORLD

ARMORTHANE PROTECTING YOUR WORLD

Basketball Court Paint:
Products, Dimensions
& Coverage

Which court coating goes on asphalt, concrete or an indoor slab, regulation dimensions, how many gallons you need, and when it is warm enough to paint.
Court Coating Quotes

Coating a court on concrete? Get it quoted right.

Tell us the court size, whether it is indoors or out, what the slab is like, and what else the floor is used for. We will connect you with a certified applicator near you.

  • Court size and layout
  • Indoor, covered or outdoor
  • Slab age and condition
  • Colors and line layout
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Step 1 of 3
95 sq ft
Coverage per gallon, per coat, of a ready-mix acrylic court color
SportMaster Ready-Mix data
28 days
Minimum cure for new concrete before court coating
SportMaster; California Sports Surfaces
50°F
Minimum air and surface temp, and rising, for 24 hours after
SportMaster application data
$1.50–$4
Per sq ft for professional acrylic court resurfacing
Angi, 2026 data

Basketball court paint is not regular porch paint in a sporty color. An outdoor court takes sun, standing water, freeze-thaw and a lot of rubber soles stopping hard, and the products that survive that are built differently from anything in the house-paint aisle. We make coatings for concrete, and we get asked about courts constantly, from backyard half courts to church gyms on a slab. This guide covers which court paint goes on which surface, real court dimensions, how much material a job takes, when it is warm enough to paint, and where our polyaspartic and polyurea products make sense and where they do not.

Quick answer

For an outdoor asphalt or concrete court, use a 100% acrylic sport-surface system: crack repair, a resurfacer if the surface is rough or porous, then two color coats at roughly 95 sq ft per gallon per coat, and 2 inch game lines. Paint only when air and surface are 50°F and rising, and keep players off for 48 hours. For an indoor concrete court, a two-part polyaspartic with a fine aggregate in the topcoat is tougher and easier to clean. Wood gym floors need finishes made for wood, not concrete coatings.

What's in this guide
  1. 1Types of basketball court paint
  2. 2Court dimensions and line layout
  3. 3Court paint calculator
  4. 4Can you paint today? Readiness checker
  5. 5How a court gets resurfaced
  6. 6What it costs
  7. 7FAQ
Products

Types of basketball court paint

The right product depends almost entirely on what the court is made of and whether it lives outside. Here is how we sort it out when someone calls.

Coating typeSurfaceIndoor / outdoorTractionOur take
Acrylic sport surface (resurfacer + color coats)Asphalt, concreteOutdoorBuilt-in silica textureIndustry standard for outdoor courts
Acrylic line paintOver acrylic color coatsBothSmooth; keep lines 2 inUse with the color system, same brand
Two-part polyaspartic with aggregateConcreteIndoor, coveredGood only with grit in topcoatBest for indoor slab courts and shop floors with a hoop
Two-part epoxyConcreteIndoor onlyNeeds gritWorks indoors; chalks and yellows in sun
Single-part porch and floor paintConcreteBothSlick when wet or dustyPeels under hard stops; not recommended
Wood floor finish (oil or water-based poly)Maple hardwoodIndoorSpec'd for playNot our product; follow the floor maker's finish list
Based on SportMaster and California Sports Surfaces product data and our field experience. Click headings to sort.

Why acrylic wins outdoors

Acrylic court systems breathe, take UV well, and are designed to go on thin in several layers mixed with silica sand, which gives the ball a predictable bounce and gives shoes grip. They are also easy to recoat: you clean, patch and add color coats every several years instead of grinding everything off. Angi puts the acrylic resurfacing cycle at 4 to 8 years.

Where our coatings fit

Our sweet spot is indoor and covered concrete: a court painted in a pole barn, a shop, a church fellowship hall, a basement rec room or a garage with a hoop. There, a two-part aliphatic polyaspartic such as ArmorFloor stands up to bouncing balls, rolling equipment and spilled drinks far better than acrylic does, and it cleans with a mop. The catch is traction. A glossy coating with no grit is slippery under dust, so we broadcast or mix a fine texturing aggregate into the topcoat on every court. If you want a full garage system with a court layout, start with our garage floor coating guide.

Do not do thisDo not put a two-part epoxy or polyaspartic over an outdoor slab that has no vapor barrier underneath and a wet subgrade. Moisture pushing up from below will blister a non-breathing coating. Outdoors, acrylic is the safer choice.
Layout

Basketball court dimensions for painting the lines

Lay the lines out before you buy paint, because the court size sets the paint quantity and the level of play sets the lane width and three-point distance. Game lines are 2 inches wide, and on a regulation court the boundary line counts as out of bounds.

LevelCourt (L x W)AreaLane width3-point distanceFree throw line
NBA94 x 50 ft4,700 sq ft16 ft23 ft 9 in (22 ft corners)15 ft from backboard
NCAA94 x 50 ft4,700 sq ft12 ft22 ft 1.75 in15 ft
FIBA28 x 15 m (91.9 x 49.2 ft)about 4,520 sq ft4.9 m (16.08 ft)6.75 m (6.60 m corners)15 ft equivalent
High school (NFHS)84 x 50 ft4,200 sq ft12 ft19 ft 9 in15 ft
Junior high74 x 42 ft3,108 sq ftvariesvaries15 ft
NBA half court47 x 50 ft2,350 sq ft16 ft23 ft 9 in15 ft
Backyard half court30 x 30 ft900 sq ft12 ft typicalhigh school arc fits15 ft
Sources: Wikipedia basketball court; CoverSports NFHS guide; Gamegistics; HomeGuide (half court sizes). Leave run-out room beyond the boundary when you size the slab. Click headings to sort.
Calculator

Basketball court paint calculator

Pick a court size or type your own, choose the coating, and the calculator works out the paint for the color coats, approximate game-line footage, line paint, and a pro versus DIY budget.

Paint quantity

How much court paint do I need?

Area = (length + 2 x run-out) x (width + 2 x run-out). Gallons = area x coats / coverage. Line footage adds boundary, midcourt, center circle, lanes, free-throw circles, restricted arcs and three-point arcs (arcs treated as semicircles, about plus or minus 5%).

Used when Custom is selected
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Area to coat
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Coating needed
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Game line footage
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Pro resurfacing budget

    Checker

    Can you paint the court today?

    Most court paint failures we hear about trace back to timing: fresh concrete, a cold night after a warm afternoon, or a pop-up storm. Run your conditions through this before you open a pail.

    Readiness

    Court coating readiness check

    Applies the published limits for acrylic court systems: 50°F and rising, held for 24 hours; 28-day cure for new concrete; 14 to 30 days for new asphalt; 48 hours before play.

    Use 99 if none
    Conditions
    —

      Process

      How a court gets resurfaced, step by step

      This is the sequence for an outdoor acrylic system, which is what most driveway, park and school courts need. Indoor polyaspartic work follows the same logic, with grinding in place of acid etching.

      1. Check drainage and flatness

        Flood the court with a hose and look for birdbaths. California Sports Surfaces calls for the surface to vary between 0.83% and 1% slope in one plane. Coatings do not fix low spots; patch them first or water will sit and lift the color.

      2. Clean and repair

        Pressure wash, remove dirt, mildew and loose coating, then fill cracks with a court crack filler and patch depressions. Angi puts professional crack filling and patching at $300 to $800 per visit.

      3. Prepare new concrete properly

        New concrete must cure at least 28 days, should have a medium broom finish and a vapor barrier under the slab, and must be acid etched and rinsed to remove laitance before an adhesion promoter. Skip any of these and the coating peels in sheets.

      4. Resurfacer coats (if needed)

        On asphalt or rough concrete, one or two coats of acrylic resurfacer mixed with silica sand fill the texture. SportMaster recommends two coats on new or uncoated asphalt.

      5. Two color coats

        Apply at least two color coats with a squeegee, each at roughly 95 sq ft per gallon for a ready-mix product. Under good drying conditions coats dry in 30 to 60 minutes.

      6. Tape and paint lines

        Snap the layout, mask 2 inch lines, seal the tape edge with a thin coat of the court color so lines do not bleed, then paint the lines.

      7. Let it cure

        Keep play off for 48 hours. Hard stops and pivots on soft coating leave permanent scuffs.

      Budget

      What basketball court paint costs in 2026

      Court pricing splits into three very different jobs: refreshing lines, resurfacing an existing court, and building a new one. Do not let a contractor sell you the third when you need the first.

      Lines only

      $200–$600

      Angi's range for repainting game lines. Custom striping, logos or color schemes run $500 to $2,500.

      Resurface

      $1.50–$4 per sq ft

      Angi's range for professional acrylic resurfacing. A 30 x 30 ft half court works out to roughly $1,350 to $3,600.

      New court

      $4–$16 per sq ft

      HomeGuide's installed range for a new basketball court; a 30 x 30 half court runs $3,600 to $14,400.

      Paint it yourself or hire it out?

      A backyard half court is a reasonable weekend project if the slab is sound, you have a long-handled squeegee, and you can work in steady weather. Hire it out when the slab has cracks wider than a credit card, when the court is asphalt that needs resurfacer, or when you want regulation lines on a full court. Layout errors on a three-point arc are hard to unsee.

      Indoor slab courtsFor a court inside a shop, barn or gym on concrete, a certified ArmorThane applicator can grind, coat and line the floor in a polyaspartic system, usually returning it to foot traffic much faster than a multi-coat acrylic. Ask for grit in the topcoat and a sample board so you can feel the traction before they start.
      Indoor courts and slabs

      Painting a court on concrete inside a building?

      Tell us the slab size, what else the floor gets used for, and whether it is heated. A certified ArmorThane applicator can quote a slip-resistant polyaspartic court floor with lines built in.

      Get a free quoteFind an applicator

      Contractors: become an applicator →

      FAQ

      Basketball court paint questions

      What kind of paint do you use on an outdoor basketball court?

      A 100% acrylic sport-surface system made for courts, applied over a clean, repaired surface, usually with silica sand in the resurfacer or color coats for traction. Regular house or porch paint is too thin and too slick and peels under hard stops.

      How much paint does a half court take?

      A 30 x 30 ft backyard half court with 3 ft of run-out on each side is 1,296 sq ft. At about 95 sq ft per gallon per coat, two coats need roughly 27 gallons of ready-mix color, plus a gallon or two of line paint. Use the calculator above for your exact size.

      How long before you can play on a newly painted court?

      SportMaster's guidance is 48 hours before foot traffic or play for its acrylic color. Cooler or humid weather can stretch that, so press a thumbnail into an out-of-the-way edge before you let anyone pivot on it.

      Can I paint a basketball court on new concrete?

      Wait at least 28 days for the concrete to cure, then acid etch and rinse it and apply an adhesion promoter before the court coats. The slab should also have a vapor barrier underneath.

      How wide are basketball court lines?

      Two inches. Under NFHS rules the boundary line is part of the out-of-bounds area, so measure the court from the inside edge of the boundary lines.

      Is epoxy good for a basketball court?

      Indoors on a dry slab, a two-part coating can work well if the topcoat has aggregate for grip. Outdoors, we do not recommend epoxy: it is non-breathing, and sun yellows and chalks most epoxies. An aliphatic polyaspartic holds color better, but outdoors acrylic is still the safer system.

      How often does a court need to be resurfaced?

      Angi puts acrylic resurfacing at every 4 to 8 years, depending on climate, use and how well the court drains. Cleaning, crack filling and repainting lines in between stretch that cycle.

      What temperature do you need to paint a court?

      For acrylic court coatings, both air and surface should be at least 50°F and rising before you start, and stay above 50°F for at least 24 hours after. Do not coat a damp surface or one with dew on it.

      AT
      Written by the ArmorThane technical team. We have manufactured polyurea, polyurethane and polyaspartic coatings in Springfield, Missouri since 1989. Product data quoted here comes from the manufacturers named in the sources; always follow the data sheet for the product you buy. Updated October 2026.

      Sources

      1. SportMaster, Ready-Mix acrylic court color (coverage, temperature, cure): sportmaster.net/readymix
      2. SportMaster, Acrylic Resurfacer: sportmaster.net/acrylicresurfacer
      3. SportMaster, concrete court surfaces: sportmaster.net/colorconc
      4. California Sports Surfaces, preparing concrete for athletic surfaces: californiasportssurfaces.com/properly-preparing-concrete…
      5. Angi, tennis and sport court resurfacing cost (2026): angi.com/articles/cost-to-resurface-a-tennis-court.htm
      6. HomeGuide, sport court cost (2026): homeguide.com/costs/sport-court-cost
      7. Wikipedia, basketball court: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basketball_court
      8. CoverSports, high school basketball court dimensions: coversports.com/resources/gym-guides/high-school…
      9. Gamegistics, basketball court dimensions by level: gamegistics.com/basketball-court-dimensions
      10. Simiron Polyaspartic HS sell sheet (coverage): simiron.com/…/SIM_POLYASPARTIC-HS_SELLSHEET…pdf

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