Alright folks, today I gotta share this dumb project I finally got working – removable solid wood flooring for basketball practice in my driveway. Seriously, why buy those expensive rubber mats when you can do this?
The Dumb Idea Begins
So, I saw a post somewhere about someone using wood planks, and I thought, “Hey, my old half-court concrete is killing my knees.” Pulled out my dusty wallet and went straight to the leftover lumber pile in my garage. Found a bunch of those heavy solid wood boards, maybe oak? Didn’t check. Threw them down on the driveway rough side up so my sneakers wouldn’t slip, haha.
First Try = Epic Fail
Yeah, it worked… for like two minutes. Went up for a fake jump shot, landed, and WHOOSH! Boards slid everywhere like greased pigs. Almost ate concrete. Not fun.
The Fixing Part (Messy Like Always)
Fine. Needed to lock these suckers together. Grabbed my jigsaw (scary machine) and started cutting leftover wood pieces like crazy into strips. Needed connectors, right?
- Laid the planks side-by-side, pushed together tight.
- Placed a wood strip across the planks, like a little bridge near both ends of each plank.
- Grabbed the drill (love this thing) and drilled holes through the strip and into the edge of each plank below. Did I measure? Mostly eyeballed it. Lots of sawdust in my hair.
Now the fun part. Found some thick bolts, nuts, and massive washers in my junk box. Stuck bolts through the holes:
- Put a washer on the bolt first.
- Shoved it up through the hole in the strip and plank.
- Slapped another washer and a nut on the bottom and cranked it TIGHT with my wrench.
Think I did two bolts per connector on each end. Made a row of these connected planks. Solid now!
Making it “Removable” (Translation: Not Permanent)
Okay, so now I had a solid, non-slipping wood panel glued to my driveway by friction? Nah, needed to lift this thing off when my wife wanted to park her car. Idea time! Stole a roll of that black, gritty grip tape used on skateboards – sticky on one side. Cut pieces like strips and stuck the gritty side down onto the BOTTOM of my wood panel, near the corners and edges.
- Yeah, the sticky side down onto the wood.
- The super rough, sandpaper-y side facing the concrete driveway.
Threw the panel down. THAT GRIP TAPE LOCKED IT. Seriously. Tried to slide it? Barely budged. Hopped around dribbling my old Spalding… stable as my grandma’s rocking chair! But… leaned over hard for a layup and one corner still lifted a bit. Dumb.
Final “It’ll Do” Solution
Went full redneck. Found those heavy-duty rubber bungee cords with metal hooks. Drilled two holes like an idiot near the ends of my panel, hooked one end of the bungee there, stretched it tight, and hooked the other end under the lip of my garage door concrete base. Not pretty, but pulled the whole panel down FLAT. Added a couple more near the sides. Now it ain’t moving at all unless I unhook them. Finished? Close enough.
So yeah, is it perfect? Heck no. Takes me 10 minutes to unbolt panels, unhook bungees, stack them against the garage wall. Gets concrete dust under it. Boards get wet if it rains. Three got cracked when my neighbor backed his truck too close. BUT… I practice footwork every morning now without killing my joints. Saved a fortune. Totally worth the hassle. Maybe put polyurethane on top later? Eh, probably not. Good enough for now!
