Alright, here’s how my hardwood court project actually went down. Been planning this backyard basketball court forever, figured hardwood was the classic way to go.
Getting Stuff Together
First thing, I needed wood. Drove down to the big lumber place, stared at all the planks for ages. Ended up grabbing a whole bunch of solid maple strips, looked tough enough for some serious ballin’. Also snagged underlayment rolls that promised to stop moisture – didn’t want soggy wood later.
- Wood glue: Like, gallons of the stuff.
- Nails: A massive box, way more than I thought.
- Sanding pads: Bought every grit they had.
- Finishing stuff: Needed that extra shine and protection.
Prepping the Floor Mess
My garage space was basically a mess. Had to haul everything out, sweep years of dust and junk. Used the level like crazy, found bumps everywhere. Spent a whole day just scraping old concrete drips and knocking down high spots. Sweat like crazy. Laid down the underlayment rolls after that, overlapping them like the bag said.
Actually Putting the Wood Down
This part dragged on forever. Started along the longest wall, trying to keep it dead straight. Smearing that glue everywhere, getting it all sticky and gross. Slapped the tongue side into the groove, hammered in the first nail with the nail gun… it kicked like a mule! After burning through two batteries and realizing the planks weren’t always perfectly straight, had to force some nasty gaps closed with clamps and crowbars.
Reached the middle, realized I needed to cut weird angles around the edges. The power saw screamed like crazy, smelled like burning wood. Mistakes? Oh yeah, messed up the length on more than one plank, ruined a few.
Sanding – The Arm Killer
Once the wood was finally all down, thought I was done. Oh boy, was I wrong. Sanding. Just… sanding. Big drum sander was scary heavy, felt like wrestling a bull. Kept trying to drag it, it wanted to jump forward. Sanded the whole thing rough, then switched to a smaller edge sander. That thing vibrated my hands numb. Dust everywhere, face mask clogged, eyes stinging. Did it multiple times, working my way down to smooth, kept forgetting spots.
Finishing Looks Easy. It Ain’t.
Vacuumed a million times to get every speck of dust – seriously, every speck. Started applying the finish stuff with a roller. Looked great… at first. Then the bubbles showed up. Panicked, tried smoothing them out. Left roller marks. Waited for it to dry forever, did another coat. Saw streaks again. Did a third coat, thinner this time. Still stressed about it looking perfect.
Hoop Time!
After ages drying, felt nervous. Dropped my old basketball on it… and man, that bounce! Thump, thump, thump – sounded like the real deal. My kids ran out and started dribbling immediately, slipping a bit on the shine but laughing. Seeing them play on this thing I basically built with glue and cuss words? Totally worth the ripped shirt and sore back.
Final thought? It looks pro from a distance. Close up? You can find my little mistakes. But it works. And yeah, maybe renting the equipment next time.
