Okay, here’s my attempt at a blog post, following your instructions and mimicking the example style:

Alright, so I decided to tackle this project: installing a batten basketball court in my garage. It sounded pretty straightforward – you know, slap some wood down, and boom, instant court. Yeah, well, it wasn’t quite that easy.

The Planning (Or Lack Thereof)

First, I measured the garage space. Seemed big enough. I did a quick online search for “batten basketball flooring” and found some stuff that looked good. I kinda skimmed through the instructions, figured it was basically like putting together IKEA furniture, and placed the order. Rookie mistake number one: not really, truly understanding the process.

The Arrival and the “Oh…” Moment

Boxes arrived. Lots of them. Heavy ones. I unpacked everything and just stared at the pile of wood and metal. This was way more involved than I thought. The instructions? Let’s just say they weren’t exactly “dummy-proof.”

The Batten Battle

The first step was laying down the battens. These are the metal support things. I started lining them up, trying to follow the (vague) diagrams. I realized quickly that my garage floor wasn’t perfectly level. Who knew? This meant I had to shim some areas to get the battens even. This involved a lot of crawling around, using a level, and muttering under my breath.

Used a Laser level.

The Wood Wrangling

Once the battens were (mostly) level, it was time for the wooden flooring panels. These things were big and awkward. I managed to get the first few down okay, but then I hit a snag. The panels weren’t quite clicking together properly. I pushed, I pulled, I even jumped on them a little (don’t recommend that). Finally, I figured out that I needed to adjust the spacing of the battens slightly. More crawling, more muttering.

The Assembly Agony

• Laid out the battens according to the (very rough) plan.
• Realized the floor was uneven. Cursed a bit.
• Shimming, shimming, and more shimming.
• Started laying the wooden panels.
• Fought with the panels to get them to click together.
• Adjusted, more shimming.

The (Almost) Finished Product

After a few days of sweat and frustration, I finally got most of the flooring down. It wasn’t perfect, but it was definitely a basketball court. Or, at least, a wooden surface I could dribble a ball on. There were a few gaps here and there, and a couple of spots that weren’t quite level, but hey, it was my imperfect court. And that I made all by myself!

Would I do it again? Maybe. But next time, I’d definitely read the instructions thoroughly and maybe even watch a few YouTube videos first. And probably invest in a better level. And maybe some knee pads.