So I finally got around to assembling that rubber basketball pine flooring kit today – you know, the one I bought for the garage space. Honestly thought it’d be tricky, but turns out it’s pretty straightforward if you just follow along slowly. Grabbed my toolbox and spread everything out on the driveway first thing in the morning.
Getting Everything Ready
Dumped all the wooden planks from the box and sorted them by size while double-checking against the instruction sheet. Took forever to find that little bag of screws buried under all the packing peanuts!
My tools:
- Regular hammer (forgot my rubber mallet – oops)
- Power drill with two batteries (thank god I charged ’em)
- Tape measure that kept retracting too fast
- Carpenter pencil from my junk drawer
Actual Assembly Steps
Step 1: Laying the Underlayer
Started by rolling out that black rubber padding across the whole garage floor. Had to fight with it curling up at the edges – ended up putting some heavy books on the corners to keep it flat.
Step 2: First Planks Down
Placed two starter planks against the wall with about a finger’s width gap. Screwed ’em directly through the top since the hidden groove thing wasn’t lining up right. Pro tip: predrill holes unless you want split wood!
Step 3: Clicking System Hassle
This part sucked. Had to tilt each new plank at 45 degrees to hook the tongue-and-groove thing together. Bent three planks trying to force them before realizing you gotta lift AND push. Got a rhythm going after eight rows or so.
Step 4: Cutting End Pieces
Measured the last row’s gap wrong twice before remembering to account for the baseboards. Sawed planks outside to avoid dust everywhere – still got wood chips in my hair though.
Step 5: Trimming & Finishing
That squishy rubber border piece saved my ugly cuts along the wall. Hammered in the transition strip between flooring and concrete – turned out crooked but whatever.
Final Thoughts
Took me like five hours with coffee breaks and screw mishaps. Ball bounces way better than on concrete now! Still need to seal the edges better – maybe this weekend. Overall? Way easier than IKEA furniture. That click-lock system’s genius once you stop fighting it.
