Okay, let me tell you about this basketball court flooring job I got involved with. We were putting in that maple stuff, the kind with the cushions underneath. Sounds fancy, but let me walk you through how it actually went down.

Getting Started – The Subfloor Mess

First thing, we had to deal with the concrete slab underneath. You’d think it’d be flat, right? Nope. Spent a good chunk of time grinding down high spots and filling in low spots. Used some self-leveling stuff, which worked okay, but it’s messy work. Lots of dust. Had to make sure it was bone dry too. We used meters and waited, which always feels like forever when you just want to get going.

Laying Down the Cushions

Next up were the cushion pads. These were like these thick rubber pucks, basically. We had a specific pattern from the manufacturer we had to follow. Had to lay them out precisely across the whole floor. It wasn’t hard, just tedious. Making sure the spacing was right everywhere took ages. Double-checking, triple-checking. You mess this up, the whole floor feels weird later.

Then came the plywood subfloor layer that sits on top of these pads. More heavy lifting. We laid down sheets of thick plywood, screwing them down into the pads according to another specific pattern. You gotta leave small gaps between the plywood sheets for expansion, learned that the hard way on a previous job years ago. Everything creaks and buckles if you don’t.

The Maple Wood – Finally!

Alright, the main event: the maple flooring. We got bundles and bundles of this beautiful northern hard maple. Smells great when you unpack it. We let it sit in the gym for a few days to get used to the room’s temperature and humidity. Very important step, skipped it once, big mistake.

Then we started laying the strips. Tongue and groove, standard stuff. Started along the longest wall, making absolutely sure that first row was dead straight. Used a laser line. After that, it’s just nailing it down. We used pneumatic floor nailers – makes the job way faster, but still noisy as heck. You get into a rhythm: lay a strip, tap it tight, nail it, grab the next one. Row after row.

• Checking alignment constantly.
• Making sure joints were staggered nicely.
• Cutting pieces for the ends of rows.

It’s physical work, lots of kneeling and bending. My knees were barking by the end of each day.

Finishing Touches

Once all the maple was down, the whole thing looked pretty good. But it wasn’t done. We had to sand it. Even pre-finished stuff sometimes needs a light screening, but this was unfinished maple. Big drum sanders, lots more dust (even with vacuums), going over it multiple times with finer and finer grit sandpaper. Takes patience to get it perfectly smooth.

Then sealing and finishing. We used a specific basketball court finish. Smelly stuff, gotta have good ventilation. Applied a few coats, letting each one dry properly. Takes time. Finally, painting the game lines – free throw lanes, three-point arcs, center circle. That requires careful measurement and taping.

The Result?

End of the day, the floor looked amazing. That maple glow is something else. And walking on it? You can feel that slight give from the cushions underneath. It really does make a difference, supposed to be better for the players’ joints. It was a tough process, took longer than we first thought, mainly because of getting that concrete base perfect. But seeing it finished, ready for games, felt pretty darn good. Definitely a job where taking your time pays off.