Why I Decided to Tackle This Project

Alright, so here’s the deal – my garage basketball court was wrecking my knees. Every time I landed after a dunk attempt (okay fine, more like a layup), I’d feel this nasty jolt shooting up my legs. Got tired of icing my knees after every game night with the crew.

Gathering the Goods

First things first, I hauled butt to the hardware store. Grabbed:

• Those fancy shock-absorbing engineer boards (thick rubbery things)
• Solid oak planks for the top layer
• A metric ton of wood glue
• Industrial-grade staples for my staple gun
• Measuring tape that actually retracts properly (shocking, right?)

Clearing the Battlefield

Dragged all the junk outta my garage – bikes, toolboxes, that broken lawnmower I keep meaning to fix. Swept concrete dust like my life depended on it. Found three dead spiders and a dried-up lizard. RIP little dudes.

The Actual Grind Begins

Unrolled those black engineer boards on the floor. Took forever trying to get ’em perfectly aligned because they kept curling up like party streamers. Had to weigh corners down with cinder blocks while cutting around support poles. Sweat was dripping into my eyes while wrestling with those slabs – felt like fighting giant rubber bands.

Pro tip:

Wear gloves unless you want fingertip blisters. Learned that the painful way three cuts in.

Wood Plank Tetris

Squirted wood glue along the rubber boards, smeared it with an old credit card like icing. Laid the first oak plank down and whoops – realized it was crooked. Had to peel it up fast before the glue set. Wasted like 20 minutes cleaning sticky gunk off both pieces with a putty knife. Measured five times after that mess.

Stapling went smoother once I got my rhythm. Thwack-thwack-thwack with the staple gun – sounded like machine gun fire. My arms were jelly halfway through from pressing so hard. Sawdust piled up in my eyebrows and I smelled like a lumberyard.

Last Stretch & Victory Dance

Staggered into the home stretch around midnight. Cut the final plank to fit by the garage door with a jigsaw – wobblier cut than my grandma’s handwriting but it covered the gap. Dropped the basketball immediately. That sweet thump-thump sound? Like angels singing. Took the first jump – knees didn’t scream! Did my worst impersonation of LeBron’s chalk toss celebration.

Final thoughts:

Took two weekends and I definitely need Advil tomorrow. Worth every second when Jeff from next door tried a crossover and yelled “Damn! This feels like the actual courts downtown!” Wouldn’t call it pretty craftsmanship if you peek close, but man does it get the job done. Might actually survive pickup games past 40 now.