Alright folks, got my hands dirty installing rubber basketball plywood flooring in the garage last weekend. Thought I’d walk you through exactly what went down.

Gathering Stuff & Prepping the Space

First off, unloaded all them plywood panels from the truck – man those suckers were heavy! Sweated buckets carrying each piece inside. Cleared out every single thing from the garage floor. Found like twenty dead spiders and an old bike pump behind the toolbox. Pro tip: Sweep twice then mop once, dust loves hiding in cracks.

Laying the Foam Underlayment

Unrolled that squishy foam layer across the whole concrete floor. Had to cut weird shapes around the water heater pipes with my box cutter. Taped the seams together like wrapping Christmas gifts, except way less fun. Nearly tripped twice on the wrinkled parts – don’t be lazy smoothing it out!

Connecting the Puzzle Pieces

Started clicking boards together near the garage door. Those tongue-and-groove edges? Total game changer:

• Angle panel down about 45 degrees
• Slide tongue into groove real slow
• SMACK it hard with rubber mallet – yeah, that satisfying “thunk” means it’s locked

My back started screaming after row five. Ended up crawling on knees with kneepads – saved my joints big time.

Fighting With Tricky Corners

Hit a nightmare section where the wall jutted out weird. Took three tries cutting panels with circular saw. Measure thrice, cut once ain’t just a meme! Got sawdust all over my hair like some kind of powdered wig. Finally got it snug with 1/4 inch gap for expansion – no more pinching fingers!

Finishing Touches & First Bounce Test

Installed transition strips at the threshold using basic wood glue and clamps. Let everything settle overnight before dragging the hoop in. Next morning? Grabbed the basketball and took that first jump shot off the new floor – ball bounced back clean to my hands. That rubbery “thump” sound? Pure bliss.

Whole thing took two weekends thanks to beer breaks. Now my daughter keeps demanding driveway turns into full court. Worth every second though!