Alright, let me walk you through how I got this basketball flooring put together. It was quite the project, let me tell ya.

Getting Started

First thing, the delivery truck dropped off a whole pile of boxes. Heavy stuff. Lots of pine planks and these black cushion pads. Felt like Christmas morning, but with more potential for splinters. I dragged everything inside, or rather, slid the heavier boxes across the garage floor.

Before anything else, I had to clear out the space completely. Moved all the junk out of the way, swept the concrete floor real good, then went over it with a damp mop. Wanted a clean slate, you know? You don’t want dust bunnies trapped under your brand-new floor forever.

Then, I opened up a few boxes of the pine flooring. Just wanted to let it sit in the room for a day or two. Heard somewhere that wood needs to get used to the room’s temperature and humidity. Don’t know if it’s true, but better safe than sorry, right? The pine smelled pretty nice, actually. Fresh cut wood.

Laying it Down

Next step was the cushion part. These were like thick rubbery pads. I started rolling them out, covering the whole floor area. Had to cut them to size around the edges with a utility knife. Took a bit of effort to get clean cuts, especially in the corners. Made sure they were lying flat, no bumps or overlaps. This part felt important, like the foundation for everything else.

Then came the wood. This was the main event. I picked a starting wall, the longest straight one, and laid down the first row of pine planks. These things had tongues and grooves, so they were meant to slot together. The first row is always tricky, gotta get it straight. I used some spacers against the wall to leave a little gap, apparently wood needs room to breathe or expand or something.

• Lined up the first plank.
• Slid the next one in, lining up the groove with the tongue.
• Gave it a few taps with a rubber mallet to make sure it was snug.
• Repeated all the way down the row.

Getting the planks to fit tight without damaging the edges took some practice. Sometimes I tapped too hard, sometimes too soft. Had to cut the last piece in each row to fit, measured twice (sometimes three times!) and cut once with my saw. Sawdust everywhere, of course.

Row by row, it started looking like an actual floor. Staggering the joints was key, so the seams didn’t all line up. Made it look better and probably stronger too. It was slow going at first, but I got into a rhythm. Lay a plank, tap it in, grab the next one. Knees started complaining after a while, wished I had kneepads earlier.

Finishing Up

The last row was another tricky bit, often needed to cut the planks lengthwise to fit the remaining gap. More careful measuring and cutting. Finally, all the main pieces were down. It felt good looking at it.

I removed the spacers from around the edges. Then installed the baseboards or trim around the perimeter to cover that gap and give it a finished look. That really tied it all together.

Gave the whole floor a good sweep and then a proper clean-up. Stepped back and just looked at it. From a pile of planks and pads to a solid wooden floor ready for some basketball action. Felt pretty accomplished, not gonna lie. It wasn’t perfect, maybe a few tiny gaps here and there if you look super close, but it felt solid underfoot with that cushioning. Ready to bounce a ball on it!