So my garage floor has been concrete for ten years. Always thought about putting down sports flooring but never did. Then one day my kid fell during playtime. Scraped knees, tears everywhere. That did it. Time to research arena sports flooring.
The Research Headache
Started Googling like crazy. Found three types:
- Foam tiles: cheap, easy to snap together
- Rubber rolls: felt heavy-duty but looked complicated
- Vinyl sheets: pricey but super smooth finish
Went to Home Depot, just stared at samples for forty minutes. Lady asked if I needed help five times. No ma’am, just mentally panicking about this ridiculous life decision.
Buying Disaster
Decided on rubber roll type. Ordered online. Box arrives. Opened it. Realized immediately: this thing weighs more than my car. Couldn’t budge it two inches. Called neighbor Dave. Dave grunted, said “no way”. Called cousin Mike. Mike laughed over phone. Finally paid two teens from next block twenty bucks each to drag that monster into my garage. Sweat dripping everywhere.
Garage War Zone
Cleared everything out. Swept concrete. Found three dead spiders, seven mystery screws. Spread glue all over the floor. Or tried to. Glue splattered on my shoes, jeans, garage wall. Dog stepped in glue bucket, dragged paw prints everywhere. Shut dog in house angrily.
Unrolled rubber flooring. Crooked immediately. Way too short for garage length. Cut end piece with box cutter crooked as hell. Edges look like angry bear gnawed it. Sweating buckets, three hours late for kid’s soccer game. Texts from wife: “where r u????”
Results? Mostly Functional
Week later, dried glue holding it down somehow. Kid slides on knees testing it. No scrapes. Shouts “best dad ever!” Floor’s got wrinkles, wonky cuts, glue smear near toolbox. But knees stay clean. Dog chewed corner piece already though.
Why did I torture myself? Because that concrete looked brutal every rainy Tuesday morning. Because YouTube videos make it look like putting on socks. Next time? Hiring someone. Definitely hiring someone.
