Alright so yesterday afternoon I decided to tackle putting together this new pad basketball hoop thing with the wooden floor bit. Kinda excited, kinda dreading the instructions, you know how it is. Box was huge and heavier than I expected, dragged it into the garage.

The Messy Start

Opened the box and parts were everywhere. Plastic bags, styrofoam peanuts, cardboard dividers – total chaos. Found the instructions folded up underneath a huge piece of wood, which turned out to be the backboard piece. Laid everything out on the concrete floor. Counted the bags of screws and bolts first – always do that! Felt like playing match-the-picture trying to identify each bit in the manual.

Building the Base

The base is this big rubber tank thing, gotta fill it later. Started with attaching the metal poles that hold everything up to the base plate. Screwing the first set of bolts was easy, felt good. Then came the wooden flooring panels. Had to lay them out flat next to each other. Annoyance level kicked in when the screw holes didn’t line up perfectly. Had to kinda wiggle the panels around, cursing quietly. Used the smaller screws here to attach the panels to the frame below. Took way longer than I thought, kneeling down and screwing everything tight. My back was complaining.

• Bolted the support poles upright to the base plate
• Wrestled with the interlocking wooden slats for the floor
• Screwed the slats down to the support frame (sore thumbs!)
• Realized I skipped a step halfway through and had to loosen everything

Getting the Hoop Up

Now for the fun part – the backboard and rim. The backboard was surprisingly sturdy wood, not flimsy plastic. Needed two people for this bit, convinced my neighbor to come help. Held the backboard against the top of the poles while he bolted it on through the marked holes. Felt much heavier than it looked. Then the rim itself clicked into place on the front pretty easily, tightened it with the wrench. Almost there! Attached the net to the hooks – fiddly but satisfying.

Finishing Touches and Filling Up

Just the pole extensions left now. Screwed the height adjustment mechanism onto the main pole. Slid the two extension poles in, making sure the holes lined up. Popped the pin through. Checked everything was tight again – gave all the bolts an extra turn. Finally, hauled the garden hose over and started filling the massive rubber base tank with water. Took ages, like seriously, watched paint dry type ages. Leaned on it a bit – solid as a rock now.

Tried a quick dunk. Holds up fine, ball bounces okay on the wood floor. Was a sweaty job, took a big chunk of my afternoon, but feels good now it’s done. Lesson? Always give more time than the manual says, and double-check the screws!