Man, what a project I got myself into last weekend. So this all started because my neighbor Tom called me up, yelling about how the community center basketball court got wrecked after some flood damage. Said they couldn’t afford pros to fix it, so I volunteered like an idiot.
Figuring Out This Mess
First thing Saturday morning, I’m staring at this disaster area. Half the old wooden planks looked like soggy cereal boxes, nails sticking out everywhere. Dug through my shed and found:
- Four half-deflated rubber basketballs from last season
- My grandpa’s rusty toolbox
- Some warped plywood sheets I’d been saving for no reason
Looked at those basketballs and had my first dumb idea – why not cut ’em up for anti-slip padding?
Let’s Get Stupid
Started by hacking those basketballs apart with kitchen scissors. Took forever, rubber kept snapping back like elastic bands. Got purple rubber shavings all over my garage. Wrapped those pieces around the bottom edges of my plywood like some kinda redneck shock absorbers.
Then came the big mistake – used leftover deck screws instead of proper flooring nails. Halfway through, the wood started cracking. Had to stop, smash the screws deeper with a hammer like a caveman. Sweat dripping into my eyes, splinters in places splinters shouldn’t be.
Test Run Disaster
Finally got a 6×6 section done around noon Sunday. Called my nephew Dave over to test it. Kid takes two steps onto the court, goes flying like he hit banana peel. Turns out those rubber strips didn’t stick right. Whole section buckled up like a angry cat’s back.
Dave’s laughing his head off pointing at me: “Uncle Jerry’s court got more curves than my ex!” Little punk.
Emergency Fix Mode
Stayed up till 2am redoing everything:
- Ripped off all the basketball rubber
- Hammered every single board properly this time
- Stole my wife’s yoga mat to cut into grip strips
Finished looking like Frankenstein’s basketball court – half wood planks, half purple foam pieces, all ugly as sin. But you know what? Damn thing actually works now. Saw kids playing yesterday without breaking any ankles. Would I do it again? Hell no. But hey, at least those ruined basketballs were good for something.
