Okay, let me walk you through installing this shock-absorbing basketball floor in my garage. Grabbed some premium hard maple planks for durability – that stuff’s tough as nails but pricey. Had to measure the garage space twice ’cause ain’t nobody got cash for extra planks.
The Base Layer Blues
Cleared out all the junk first – bikes, tools, half-empty paint cans. Swept concrete like crazy until no dust bunnies left. Then rolled out those rubber shock pads everyone raves about for impact protection. Thing is, they kept wrinkling up like cheap wallpaper. Ended up taping the edges down with heavy-duty duct tape while muttering words my mom wouldn’t approve of.
Maple Wrestling Match
Started laying planks perpendicular to how I’d usually do floors – read online it helps with ball bounce. Each maple board felt like lifting bricks. My drill choked driving screws into that hardwood; burned through three bits. Had to swap to specialized wood screws halfway. My forearms were jelly after day one.
Major facepalm moment:
- Forgot expansion gaps along walls
- Panicked seeing planks jammed tight
- Ripped up 8 installed boards at 11pm
Finishing Touches Drama
Sanded everything down with 80-grit first – maple dust covered me head-to-toe like powdered sugar. Applied three coats of polyurethane finish for that glossy court look. Humidity spiked overnight and tacky finish trapped flies and cat hair. Waited 72 hours re-sanding between coats like patience was going outta style. Ball bounced test felt gloriously springy though – worth every cramp in my back.
Ended up patting that floor like a proud puppy when done. Kids still dragged dirt across it next day. Typical.
