Alright, let’s talk about my little project of putting down some batten basketball parquet timber flooring. It wasn’t some huge stadium job, just a small area I wanted to set up for some practice.

Getting Started

First things first, I had to figure out where this was all going to go. I measured the space a bunch of times – measure twice, cut once, you know? Then, I cleared everything out. Gotta have a clean slate to work with.

Prepping the Subfloor

My existing floor was concrete, pretty standard. I made sure it was super clean – swept it, vacuumed it, the whole deal. Any little bumps or debris could mess things up later, so I was pretty meticulous about this part.

Laying Down the Battens

Next up, the battens. These are basically just strips of wood that the parquet will sit on, giving it some bounce and airflow. I chose some sturdy-looking timber, made sure they were all straight and even. I started laying them out, spacing them according to the instructions I found, making sure they were all parallel. I used some heavy-duty adhesive to stick them down, and also used concrete screws.

Parquet Time

With the battens in place, it was finally time for the parquet. I started in one corner, carefully placing each piece, making sure they were all nice and snug together. This part was a little like putting together a giant puzzle. Some pieces needed a little trimming to fit, so I used a saw. It generated a lot of dust, and I was covered by that.

The Finishing Touches

• Once all the parquet was down, there were some gaps around the edges. To fix this, I used some filler pieces, cutting them to size and fitting them in.
• I did a final clean-up, sweeping away all the dust and scraps.

And there you have it! My own little basketball practice area. It wasn’t perfect, but I’m pretty proud of how it turned out. Learned a lot along the way, too. Might even tackle a bigger project next time!