Alright folks, today I wanna talk about putting together that wooden basketball floor thing I’ve been messing with. Pad basketball on plywood, ended up being a whole adventure. Started cause the concrete in my driveway is just murder on the knees and the ball bounces like a brick, you know?

Getting Fed Up and Buying Stuff

One day after another wonky bounce, I just thought, “Enough!” Went straight online hunting for answers. Stumbled on folks talking about plywood bases with wooden flooring on top. Sounded like a plan. Rushed over to the big hardware store downtown – you know the one.

  • Plywood Sheet: Grabbed a big, sturdy one, 3/4 inch thick. Figured it needed to be tough.
  • Poplar Boards: Chose poplar cause it seemed smooth enough for flooring and wasn’t crazy expensive. Got a bunch of 1x4s.
  • Glue, Screws, Tape: Threw a big bottle of wood glue in the cart, a box of decent wood screws, and heavy-duty duct tape into the mix. Always need tape.

Hauled it all home, feeling pretty determined.

Cutting, Swearing, Repeat

First job: making that plywood sheet basketball-pad-sized. Dragged out my old circular saw. Measured roughly where I wanted it, drew a wobbly line with a pencil. Held my breath and cut. Damn near took my finger off when the saw jumped – respect the tools, people! Edge ended up rough, splinters everywhere. Sanded it down like crazy afterwards, took forever. Shoulders were screaming.

Next up: the poplar boards. Needed them all the same length for the floor part. My miter saw ain’t fancy, no lasers or anything. Measured each board one by one, cut, measured the next… mind-numbing work. Plus, half the cuts weren’t perfectly straight. More sanding. So much dust. The garage looked like a blizzard hit it.

Glue, Screw, and Pray

Finally ready to build. Laid the giant plywood sheet flat on the garage floor. Started arranging those poplar boards tightly side-by-side on top. Took some fiddling to get them snug without gaps. Once I was kinda happy, time to glue them down. Poured that glue thick like syrup right onto the plywood, spread it messy with an old paint scraper. Plonked the boards back into place, pushing hard.

But glue ain’t enough! Needed to screw them down tight. Grabbed my drill driver. Aimed for the edges where the boards met the plywood underneath. Drilled pilot holes first – learned that the hard way after splitting one board early on. Screwed down each board… felt like a million screws. My drill arm got tired halfway through.

Checked the gaps – still some small ones between a few boards. Panicked a bit. Remembered the duct tape! Ripped off wide strips and slapped them across the top seams, pressing hard across the whole surface. Ugly? Oh yeah. But it felt tighter.

Does This Thing Even Work?

Let the whole sticky, screwed-down mess dry overnight. Next morning, peeled off the duct tape carefully. Stared at my creation. Didn’t look pro, that’s for sure, but it felt solid. Dragged it outside onto the driveway. Bit heavy, grunted getting it positioned. Grabbed the basketball.

First dribble… THUD. Smoother than concrete! Ball bounced back up higher than before, felt… right. Dribbled again and again, faster, harder. Didn’t feel like it was gonna crack. No crazy vibrations hurting my hand. Just a good, solid bounce. Finally took a shot at the hoop. Swish. The sound off the board was crisp.

Honestly? Far from perfect. A few seams you can feel under your shoe if you know where to look. Sanding job is rough in spots. But it works! Way better than pure concrete. Took time, effort, sweat, and a few near-misses with power tools, but now I got a portable-ish basketball pad that won’t kill my joints. Pretty damn satisfying.

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