Okay, let’s talk about this paddle basketball court floor thing I just built. Got the idea stuck in my head, figured why not, let’s see if I can actually do it.

Starting Out: Stuff & Plan

First off, needed wood. Drove down to the big hardware store. Wandered around the lumber section, staring at different boards. Saw a bunch labeled “tongue and groove pine”. Felt kinda stiff, but everyone online said it was good for flooring. Grabbed like 10 bundles. Also picked up a huge roll of that squishy black foam pad stuff – figured it would soften the ball bounce and protect the concrete underneath.

Dragged it all home. Cleared out a big space in the garage – moved bikes and boxes, swept the floor real good. Measured the area I wanted for the paddle court, roughly 8 by 12 feet. Used a chalk line to snap some guide marks on the concrete floor. That helped me see the shape.

Laying the Base & First Boards

Unrolled the black foam pad inside the chalk lines. Tried to keep it flat, but the darn thing kept curling up at the edges. Ended up taping it down with heavy-duty duct tape around the perimeter. Felt kinda janky, but it worked.

Time for wood. Opened a bundle. These boards have a tongue on one side and a groove on the other. Laid the first board along my chalk line, making sure the grooved side faced the middle of where the court would be. Had to check like five times it was straight!

Grabbed the drill and some wood screws meant for flooring. Didn’t want them going right through the wood. Screwed that first board down into the concrete slab, right through the foam pad.

The Grind: Row After Row

Alright, next board. Slide the tongue of the new board into the groove of the first one. Had to tap it gently with a rubber mallet – whack, whack, whack – to get it snug. Then check for gaps. Sometimes it was perfect, other times needed another tap. Then drill, screw, repeat.

Felt like it took forever. Row after row. Crawling on my knees a lot. Sweating buckets. Filled the whole area inside the chalk lines. Needed to cut some boards for the last row. Measured, marked with a pencil, used a circular saw. Loud and dusty! Made sure to wear safety glasses. Cut boards fit okay, not perfect, but okay.

Fitting Around Stuff & Finishing Up

Hit a snag near the garage door track. Had to measure and cut a funky shape around the metal piece. Took some trial and error, a few bad cuts, wasted some wood. Finally got a piece that sorta fit, left a little gap, but it works.

Got to the last board. Had to squeeze it in. Used a pry bar to lever the last board tight against the previous one – careful not to bust the groove! Felt super smart when that worked. Screwed it down.

Finally stood up and looked at it. Whole floor covered in pine boards, screwed down onto that black foam. Looks… rustic? Definitely rough-looking. The gaps ain’t perfectly even everywhere, and it’s not super polished. But hey, it’s flat(ish), it’s together, and it covers the foam.

Smacked a rubber ball on it. Sound is good, solid “thwack”. The foam underneath gives it a nice bounce back, not too hard, not too soft. Perfect for whacking that ball back and forth with a paddle.

Mission accomplished. Learned a lot, made a mess, got a paddle ball floor. Good day’s work.