Why I even tried this rubber basketball floor thing

Last Tuesday I got pissed off again when I went to the public court after work. Some teenagers brought skateboards and were grinding on the hoops. Took forever for security to kick them out. That’s when I remembered seeing these portable wood floors online and thought, screw it, gotta try making my own setup in the driveway.

What I bought from the hardware store

Went straight to Home Depot with zero plan besides Google images on my phone. Grabbed:

• Four rubber basketball court tiles – each like giant puzzle pieces
• Two packs of those click-together wood laminate planks meant for living rooms
• Roll of double-sided carpet tape that promised “EXTREME HOLD”
• A crowbar because the packaging looked impossible to open

Spent way more than planned. The checkout guy asked if I was redoing my kitchen. Just grunted “sports project” while swiping my card.

The disaster first attempt

Tried laying the rubber tiles on my uneven driveway first. Big mistake. Stepped on one corner and the whole tile flipped up like a damn seesaw. Tried weighing it down with old encyclopedias from the garage. Wind blew pages everywhere and the tile still shifted. Had to chase a volleyball encyclopedia down the street.

Operation plan B

Tore up the rubber crap and started smacking the wood planks together. That part actually clicked nice. Felt proud until I walked across it. Sounded like stepping on a bag of chips with every move. Neighbor yelled out their window asking if I was building a treehouse. Embarrassing as hell.

The duct tape solution

Remembered the carpet tape and went nuts. Stuck strips under every plank joint like a spiderweb. Burned my fingertips peeling that crap. Sweat dripping everywhere. Finally got the rubber tiles back on top of the wood base – they weren’t sliding anymore but now looked warped as a potato chip.

Making the basket work

Dragged out my rusty hoop stand. Needed to weight it down so it wouldn’t tip when dunking. Used:

• Two buckets of driveway salt
• My broken microwave oven
• Cement blocks wrapped in trash bags

Sank a test shot – the floor creaked but held. Ball bounced normal! Jumped for a layup and heard this terrifying CRACK. Froze mid-air. Turned out just my neighbor stepping on a twig. Nearly had a heart attack.

Final verdict after playing all week

This Frankenstein court has been up 6 days now. Rain messed up two planks so I gorilla taped them. Surface is bumpier than real wood but the ball bounces true. Best part? Skateboard punks see my janky setup and think I’m crazy. They stay away now. Worth every damn penny.