Plenty of Ladue estates have a tennis court on the side or back lot, and most of them carry a set of light poles, a chain link fence with vinyl windscreen, and a net post at each end. Those objects stand closer to the house than most people expect. When the roof crew stages bundles, runs a hoist and tosses debris, the court becomes part of the work area whether anyone planned it that way or not. This page is for the homeowner who has a court, is deciding what to do next about the roof, and needs one specific answer before signing a bid: what happens to the court while the roof is open.
Town roofing
In Ladue the court often sits between the house and a neighbor's property line, which leaves a narrow strip of ground along one eave. That strip is where a roof crew would normally stand a dumpster, a trailer or a material hoist. If the court occupies it, the bid has to say where those things will go instead. A lot that looks wide on a plat can have only a few feet of usable ground once the fence, the court apron and the light pole base are accounted for.
Light poles are the first thing to inventory. A court light pole usually sits in a concrete footing a short distance from the wall, and its fixtures reach out over the court. A bundle of shingles swung off a hoist, or a ladder set against a pole instead of the eave, can bend the pole or crack its base. The lights are on an electrical circuit, so that circuit should be shut off at the panel by a licensed electrician, not by the roofer. Ask each roofer who will shut the circuit off, who will restore it, and whether the fixtures come down for the work or stay on their poles.
Windscreens deserve their own look. Vinyl or fabric screens on a chain link fence act like a sail. On a windy day in St. Louis, a screen panel that is loose at the top rail can slap against a fence post, tear its ties or take a light fixture with it. Net posts at each end of the court are often set in sleeves that lift out, and if they stay in place during the tear-off, a dumpster or trailer turning at the court edge may strike them.
The court surface itself takes weight. Acrylic and asphalt courts scuff under boot traffic and mark under hard wheels. A loaded dump trailer or a sweeper pushed across the surface can leave tracks that stay visible for a season. Freeze and thaw cycles in the St. Louis area also widen any crack that a heavy load presses on. A roof bid that routes trucks across the court should say so in writing, along with the protection plan: plywood or rubber mats, or a route that stays off the surface entirely.
Ask about the calendar as well. Court work and roof work often compete for the same dry weeks in late spring and early fall. If you plan to resurface the court, repaint the fence or replace the light fixtures this year, set the roof date in the same conversation so the court is not finished while a dumpster sits on it.
What it costs
The roof bid is not the place to find the cost of moving a light pole. Most roof quotes cover the roof, its flashing, its underlayment and its cleanup. Court-related items usually fall outside that scope unless someone writes them in. The lines a homeowner should see, even if the number is zero, include light fixture removal and reinstallation, electrical disconnect and reconnect, windscreen removal, net post removal, court surface protection, and any repair to the court surface after the crew leaves.
Each of those lines needs one of three labels beside it: included, excluded, or allowance. Included means the roofer will do it at the stated price. Excluded means you will hire someone else and the roof bid does not cover it. An allowance means a dollar figure has been set aside but the final cost depends on what the crew finds. Allowance lines are normal on roof work, but a court allowance should name the item it covers, so a pole repair does not quietly share a figure with a fence panel.
Ask whether site protection is in the price or added later. Some quotes carry a separate line for protecting landscaping and hardscape, and others assume the crew will be careful. A careful crew still needs mats or board under the hoist outrigger, and those materials cost money. Ask how many days the protection stays down, and whether the roofer or the homeowner removes it at the end.
Keep your own record. Before the crew arrives, walk the court and fence with a phone and photograph the surface, the poles, the fixtures and the windscreen. Date each photo. If the court cracks in the spring after the roof is done, that set of pictures is what separates a real question about damage from an argument over what was already there. Keep the photo set with your copy of the signed scope.
What to ask
- Where will the crew stage bundles, the dumpster or trailer, and the hoist, and does that location cross the court or the fence line?
- Which light poles, fixtures and net posts will be moved, which will stay, and who disconnects and restores the lighting circuit?
- Will any truck, trailer, sweeper or wheelbarrow drive on the court surface, and if so, what protection goes down first?
- Who removes the windscreen panels, and do they go back up at the end of each day the crew is on site?
- Is court repair after the job included, excluded, or an allowance, and which item does the allowance name?
- If another contractor is scheduled on the court or fence in the same weeks, who coordinates the access?
- Will the court, fence and lighting go into the site photo log before the first nail, with a copy sent to you?
If you are weighing a bid from Keys Roofing, ask for these answers in writing on the scope before you sign. The office can be reached at (314) 220-2333 with questions about your particular lot, and the site walk is the right time to show the court, the poles and the fence line to whoever will run the job.