Right then, let me tell you about trying to make a decent basketball court base using some hard maple and rubber. Bit of a journey, this one.

Started off dead keen. Got this idea stuck in my head, see? Wanted something tough as nails but decent for bouncing a ball, more like a proper court than just pavement. Read all sorts online about materials – folks talking about concrete, asphalt, poured rubber floors… sounded complex and pricey. Then I stumbled on folks mentioning hard maple timber for indoor courts. That got me thinking. Could I use that? Maybe layer it with some rubber sheeting? Cheap-ish DIY? Had to try.

First thing was finding the wood. Hard maple ain’t the stuff you find at your local DIY shed corner. Took some tracking down, rang a few timber yards, explained what I was after. They looked at me funny. “For outdoors? Basketball?” Kept hearing maple needed shelter, rots easy if wet. Got stubborn though. Figured I could treat it, seal it up good. Ended up buying a load of planks – decent thickness, felt heavy, solid. Stuff is hard as heck. Tried cutting a scrap piece with my old saw… barely made a dent.

Next, needed the rubber. Found some thick recycled rubber matting sold by the metre – intended for stables or gym floors. Smelled a bit strong, kinda rubbery-obvious, but felt springy underfoot. Perfect bounce potential, I thought. Got it home, unrolled it in the garage. Big, heavy thing it was.

Now, the plan. Simple, right? Prep a flat bit of ground in the back garden. Didn’t want to build a frame or nothing complicated, just wanted to test the idea. Leveled a patch best I could – harder than it looked, ground’s never flat. Then laid down a weed barrier cloth thing.

Got stuck into the maple first. Big mistake number one. Cutting that timber took forever. Had to borrow a mate’s electric saw in the end, my hands were shaking. Measured it all out for my test patch. Cutting straight lines? Challenging. Ended up with slightly wonky rectangles. Sanded the faces smooth-ish with power sander – loads of dust everywhere. Sealed each piece proper with a wood preservative that promised waterproofing. Did three coats, left it drying for ages.

Thought I was clever then. Laid the treated maple planks down on my level-ish patch, tight as I could get them. Still little gaps, mind you. Looked pretty neat for a minute. Then unrolled the big rubber mat over the top. Fit wasn’t great. Maple edges caught on the rubber, bunching it up. Tried wrestling it flat… no luck.

Plan B. Scrapped the idea of laying rubber on the maple right there. Decided to glue the rubber directly onto the maple planks before laying them down. Seemed smarter. Got this heavy-duty outdoor adhesive meant for rubber-to-anything. Messy stuff. Slapped it onto the wood planks, waited the recommended minutes for it to go tacky. Then tried pressing the cut-to-size rubber sheet down. Had to work fast! Pressed and rolled it like my life depended on it. Still, edges kept curling up. Weighed the whole thing down with every heavy object from the garage – bricks, toolboxes, buckets of screws. Left it overnight, hoping.

Came back next morning, lifted the weights off. Held! Mostly. Coupla corners still lifted slightly. Pushed them down again, weighted just those bits longer.

Finally managed to get my glued wood-and-ruby slabs onto the flat patch, shoving them together tightly. Not perfect. Few gaps, few slight bumps. Dragged the old hoop over. Took the basketball… bounced it.

• BOUNCE: Holy cow! It felt different! Solid like the wood underneath, sure, but the rubber layer made it way kinder than concrete. Decent grip for shoes too.
• THE SOUND: Quiet! None of that harsh smack you get on pavement. More like a solid thump.

Played a bit. Dribbling felt pretty good. Could definitely feel the wood base – it’s solid, no flex – but the thick rubber took the harshness right out. How long will it last outside? Who knows. Will rain eventually wreck the maple glue joints or the wood sealant? Probably. Was it loads of hassle? Oh yeah. Messy, heavy work. But seeing that ball bounce nicely on something I cobbled together? Pretty chuffed with that. Feels like it could work well if built properly indoors, maybe on a plywood base instead of dirt. Got a proper court vibe going on. Worth the sweat and the sawdust?

Yeah. Think so.