Okay guys, let me tell you about this removable basketball court idea I got stuck in my head. Thought it would be awesome – practice free throws indoors without wrecking the actual floor, right? Figured beech wood would be tough enough, kinda like those fancy gym floors.

The Idea Hits (Probably Like a Brick)

So there I was, staring at my garage space. Wanted a surface I could actually dribble on, but not something permanent. Needed to roll it up or break it down when the car needed to come back in. Beech wood kept popping into my head – tough stuff, good for wear. Removable was the whole point.

First step? Panic buying stuff. Seriously. Headed down to the lumber yard:

• Grabbed a bunch of beech wood planks – not the pre-finished stuff, raw and heavy.
• Snagged a big roll of that thick, rubbery underlayment foam, the kind that clicks together.
• Tossed in heavy-duty industrial velcro. Tons of it. Had visions of the whole thing peeling apart.
• Regular wood glue? Nah. Got the strongest waterproof adhesive I could find, feeling optimistic.
• Rounding out the cart: sandpaper sheets (lots), a cheap electric sander I regretted later, wood stain, polyurethane varnish, a decent saw.

Building This Beast (The Hard Way)

Brought everything home. Reality started biting. Beech wood is heavy. Really heavy. Hauling those planks around was workout number one.

Measured my garage floor space – twice, even! Cut all the planks down to the same size using the saw. Had sawdust everywhere. I mean covering me, the tools, the dog… it was a mess. Used the sander to smooth all the cut edges and the plank surfaces. Took ages, and that cheap sander nearly rattled my arms off my shoulders. Hands were buzzing for hours afterwards.

Stained all the planks a nice warm colour. Let ’em dry overnight. Next day, slapped on two coats of that polyurethane varnish. Waited impatiently again for it to cure. Smelled strong.

While the planks were drying, I laid out the foam underlayment tiles, clicking them together on the garage floor. Covered the whole area I wanted. Felt good underfoot.

Here came the big moment – attaching the planks to each other in a way that would stay together for bouncing a ball but could still come apart. My “brilliant” idea? Industrial velcro. Glued a ton of the velcro hooks onto the edges of each plank, long strips down each side. Tried sticking two planks together… they kinda stayed? Then tried gluing the fuzzy velcro loops onto the foam base in long rows, spaced perfectly for the planks.

Let all that adhesive dry forever. Sweating bullets hoping it would hold.

The (Kind Of) Grand Reveal

Day finally came. Laid the first plank down onto the velcro strips on the foam. Pressed down hard. It sorta stuck. Added the next plank beside it, pressing the velcro edges together as I lowered it onto its own velcro base. Surprisingly, clicked together okay! Kept going, plank by heavy plank.

Eventually, covered the foam area. Had this patchwork of beech wood tiles sitting on foam, held together mostly by the edge velcro and stuck down by the base velcro.

Grabbed my basketball. Took a tentative dribble. Thump, thump, thump. It sounded… decent! The ball bounced back okay. The wood didn’t immediately buckle. Walked on it – felt a little squishy underneath because of the foam, but solid enough on top.

Making It Actually “Removable”

Test time. Went to the edge and just yanked up one plank. It came up off the foam base with a big RRRIIIPP noise. The velcro on the bottom separated. The velcro connecting it to the neighboring plank? Didn’t completely let go, just stretched awkwardly. Took some serious wiggling and pulling to get the edge connection unstuck.

It worked… sorta. Definitely removable, but more of a grunting, sweaty chore than a smooth operation. Getting that first plank up was a fight, and the connections between planks were stubborn.

Plus, hauling those heavy velcro’d planks to stack them somewhere? Total pain. And the velcro edges collected every stray bit of sawdust, fluff, hair… everything. Looked messy fast.

So yeah. Built it. It kinda sorta worked. Got my dribbling surface, removable in theory. Learned the hard way why you don’t see velcro basketball courts everywhere. Heavy wood + strong adhesive + tons of velcro = a solution that’s rough around the edges, literally. Functional? Barely. Easy to manage? Not at all. Interesting challenge? Absolutely. Would I do it exactly like this again? Oh hell no.