So yesterday I got real annoyed with the cheap rubber tiles in my backyard basketball court. Those things kept buckling after rain, tripped my kid twice already. Decided to rip ’em out and try something wild – raw hevea wood blocks. Never seen anyone do this, but hey. Grabbed my truck keys.

The Wood Hunt Disaster

Searched three lumber yards downtown. First place quoted fancy teak at $800, laughed my way out. Second spot had warped pine. Third warehouse? Jackpot. Stack of hevea scraps near the dumpster – construction leftovers. Supervisor shrugged: “Take ’em, saves disposal fee.” Tossed 40 blocks in my truck bed while dodging forklifts. Felt like stealing candy.

Backyard Chaos

Ripped up the old rubber pads – smelled like rotten tires. Found six inches of mud underneath. First screwup: Shoulda leveled the ground first. Hauled bags of gravel, poured like baking flour, stomped flat in work boots. Dropped a level tool – cracked it. Eyeballed flatness. Close enough.

Laid bricks in this pattern:

• Positioned corner blocks using rope lines
• Hammered wooden shims between gaps
• Poured cheap waterproof glue (too much oozed out)
• Got carpenter ants crawling over wet glue trails

Shrinkage Crisis

Checked at noon today. Sun baked the blocks – gaps between planks big as my fingers. Cursing time. Drove to hardware store sweating through shirt.

Solutions brainstormed:

• Rubber filler strips (rejected – same buckling problem)
• Marble dust paste (expensive crap)
• Sawdust mixed with epoxy (bingo)

Mixed sawdust from yesterday’s cuts with quick-dry epoxy. Smeared it like peanut butter with a putty knife. Fingers got glued together twice.

Test Run Surprise

Waited three hours. Tossed basketball on court. Ball bounced weirdly high – like concrete but quieter. Kid dribbled, ball caught in fresh filler. Scraped it smooth with sandpaper block. Round two: perfect bounce. Wood blocks barely moved when jumping on them.

Rainstorm hit tonight. Peeked outside – water running between blocks, not pooling. Mud underneath stayed dry. Didn’t even finish my beer before the grin spread.