Got my rubber wood basketball tiles delivered last Monday, all hyped up to put this thing together. Let’s just say reality hit fast. Those boxes were way heavier than I thought – almost dropped one right on my foot trying to lug ’em inside my garage.

The Great Unpacking Disaster

Tore open the first box expecting neat stacks… yeah, no. Tiles were shoved in there like sardines. Took me a solid hour just to:

• Fish out all the pieces without scratching ’em
• Separate the tongue-and-groove planks from the foam pads
• Triple-check the “simple” instruction diagrams

Already sweating buckets and hadn’t even started laying anything down.

Floor War Begins

Cleared out my entire garage space first – swept twice so no pebbles would screw up the foam underlayment. Started clicking planks together corner-to-corner like they showed online. First two rows? Smooth as butter. Got cocky. Third row… bam, tiles wouldn’t lock. Had to smack ’em with this stupid rubber mallet until my arm felt like jelly.

Halfway through, realized the floor wasn’t perfectly flat like their ads promised. Saw tiny gaps near the wall where the planks lifted slightly. Cussed a bit, ripped up four rows, and shoved cardboard shims under the foam padding. Better? Yeah. Perfect? Hell no.

Beech Court Reveal

After two entire days of:

• Hammering tiles till midnight
• Fixing wonky alignment every 5 planks
• Almost cracking a tile when I stepped wrong

…finally stood back to look at it. I’ll admit – the beech wood pattern looked slick. Tried dribbling. Ball bounced true, no dead spots. But when I jumped for a fake layup? Feet almost slid out from under me. Rubber wood’s grip feels different – not bad, just takes getting used to.

Raw Thoughts After Bleeding For This

Pros? It’s gorgeous for pics and feels legit under sneakers once you stop sliding. Setup would be easier if your floor is dead-level.

Cons? You better believe you’ll fight the install. Instructions are trash. And bring backup aspirin – my back was sore as hell.

Final advice? Buy extra tiles for screw-ups. And seriously – break in your sneaks before playing hard on this surface. Almost ate floor testing a crossover.