Okay, here’s my experience installing batten basketball maple assembled wooden flooring:

So, I decided to put in some new flooring in my basement rec room. I wanted something that looked good, was durable, and had a bit of a “wow” factor. After looking at a bunch of options, I landed on this assembled maple flooring designed for basketball courts. Figured it would hold up to anything my kids could throw at it, literally.

Getting Started

First things first, I cleared out the entire room. Everything. Furniture, rugs, the whole nine yards. This gave me a clean slate to work with and made sure I wouldn’t be tripping over stuff later.

Next, I checked the subfloor. It was concrete, and thankfully pretty level. I did have a few small cracks, so I grabbed some concrete patch and filled those in. Gotta make sure that base is solid, or the whole thing will be a mess.

The Batten System

This flooring uses a batten system, which is basically a grid of wooden supports. I laid out the battens according to the instructions that came with the flooring. It was like putting together a giant puzzle, but with way fewer pieces. I made sure they were spaced correctly and all running in the same direction.

Once the battens were in place, I secured them to the concrete. I used concrete screws for this, and a hammer drill to make the pilot holes. It took a little while, but it was pretty straightforward. It’s really important to get those battens nailed down tight so they don’t shift around later.

Laying the Flooring

Now for the fun part! The maple flooring came in pre-assembled sections, which made things way easier. I started laying the sections down, fitting them together along the edges. They had this tongue-and-groove system, so they clicked together pretty nicely.

• Start in a corner: This helped me keep everything square.
• Work in rows: I did one row at a time, making sure each section was snug against the others.
• Stagger the joints: Just like with regular hardwood, you don’t want all the end joints to line up. It looks better and makes the floor stronger.

I used a rubber mallet to gently tap the sections together, making sure they were fully seated. For the edges, I had to cut some of the sections to fit. I used a circular saw for that, and it worked like a charm. Slow and steady wins the race with those cuts.

Finishing Up

Once all the flooring was down, I installed the baseboards around the perimeter of the room. This covered up the edges of the flooring and gave it a nice, finished look.

Finally, I gave the whole floor a good cleaning. There was a bit of sawdust and debris from the cutting, so I vacuumed it all up and then wiped it down with a damp cloth.

And that’s it! It took a couple of weekends, but the finished product looks amazing. The maple is bright and clean, and the whole room feels bigger and more open. Plus, I know it’s tough enough to handle anything we throw at it. The kids are already loving their new play space, and I’m pretty happy with how it all turned out.