Okay, here’s my blog post about putting together some batten basketball plywood assembled wooden flooring:

Alright, so I decided to tackle this project in my basement – turning a cold, concrete space into a decent place to shoot some hoops. I went with this “batten basketball plywood assembled wooden flooring” thing because it sounded kinda cool and, frankly, I’m not made of money. Needed something I could kinda DIY.

Getting Started

First thing I did was clean the heck out of that basement floor. Swept, vacuumed, even mopped it a couple of times. You don’t want any dust or junk messing with your floor later on.

Then came the battens. These are basically just strips of wood that you lay down first. They create a bit of space between the concrete and the actual floor, which is good for, like, airflow and stuff. I just used some regular, cheap lumber, nothing fancy. Spaced them out evenly – made sure they were level, used some shims where the floor was a bit wonky.

Laying the Plywood

Next up, the plywood. This is the main part of the floor. I went with sheets of plywood, the kind you can get at any hardware store. I staggered the joints, like you’re supposed to, to make it stronger. Kind of like laying bricks, you know?

Screwed the plywood down to the battens. Lots and lots of screws. Used a power drill, because, obviously, doing that by hand would take forever. Make sure the screws are countersunk, meaning they’re a little bit below the surface of the plywood. You don’t want to be tripping over screw heads when you’re trying to play.

The Wooden Surface

After the plywood was down, it was time for the actual “wooden” part. This is a set of pre-assembled wooden components, that are designed to lock into each *’s like a giant, wooden jigsaw puzzle.

Started in one corner and worked my way *, click, click. This part was actually pretty satisfying.

Finishing Touches

Once the whole floor was assembled, I went around and checked for any loose spots or anything that didn’t feel quite right. Tightened a few screws here and there.

And that’s pretty much it! Took me a weekend, working on and off. Now I’ve got a reasonably decent surface to play on. It’s not exactly NBA-regulation, but it’s way better than playing on concrete. It’s got a bit of give to it, which is easier on the knees. Plus, it looks pretty good, if I do say so myself.