Okay guys, figured I’d share how my weekend project went – putting together that rubber-backed basketball parquet flooring in the garage. Thought it’d be simpler than it turned out honestly.

Gathering Stuff & Prep Work

First thing was clearing my junk-filled garage space. Swept like crazy, pushed all the rusty tools and forgotten paint cans into one corner. Made sure the concrete wasn’t wet or bumpy using a straight level stick thing.

Laid out the rubber roll first – thick black stuff like tire material. Cut it roughly with my box cutter where the hoops would be. Had to tape sections together where pieces met, pressed hard so it wouldn’t peel later.

Fitting Those Wood Slats

Opened the wood parquet boxes, smelled that sawdust smell. Started clicking planks together at one corner, tongue-and-groove style. Thought I was smart doing long rows first – turns out that made aligning things way harder halfway through.

Mess Up Moment:

Hit a point where planks wouldn’t fit flush against the rubber edge. Realized I forgot the expansion gap thing – wood needs room to breathe apparently. Pulled up three rows with my crowbar, scratched two planks bad doing it. Felt really stupid right there.

• Measured gap space with cardboard pieces
• Used plastic spacers from the shed
• Started again from scratch section

Making It Stay Put

Followed instructions on the glue bucket – spread that sticky mess in small sections. Dropped a glob on my shoe that’ll never come off. Pressed each plank down hard with my knees like doing CPR on wood. The squeaking noise when kneeling on fresh ones stressed me out.

Around the hoop anchors was tricky. Cut wonky holes on first try with jigsaw, edges chipped bad. Second attempt traced exact shape using paper cutouts first, went slower with finer blade.

Finishing Touches & Test Run

Sweated buckets sanding the scratched parts with 120-grit. Wiped everything with damp rags before sealing. Applied three coats of finish while binge-watching old games, letting each dry overnight. That chemical smell lingered for days.

Tossed a ball yesterday – bounce feels solid, bit noisy when sliding but less knee pain than concrete. Worth the backache? Yeah, definitely. Next project’s gotta involve less glue.