Alright, let me tell you about this dang basketball floor I tackled. Woke up bright and way-too-early, the neighbor’s kid bouncing his ball against our shared wall again. Coffee brewing, idea forming. Gotta do something about that noise downstairs.

Starting Simple: Thinking About the Bounce

Right. Regular wood floor? Forget it. You drop a ball on laminate and it sounds like a gunshot, echoes all through the house. Wife was gonna kill me. Needed something softer.

• Step 1: Hunt Down the Lumber Scoured the local timber yard, looking for decent stuff that wouldn’t break the bank. Settled on some basic larch wood planks. Had that pale colour and felt kinda springy compared to oak or whatever. Cheaper too. Loaded up the van.
• Step 2: Measuring is Key (I Knew This… Mostly) Got the trusty tape measure. Measured the basement rec room space three times. Because measuring twice, cutting once? Yeah. That old chestnut. Still messed up the first couple of cuts later though.

Putting Down the Base (The Hard Part)

Had to level the stupid concrete slab first. Found some spots with my giant spirit level. Mixed up concrete patches – messy business – and slapped it into the dips. Let that cure overnight. Smelled funky.

• Step 3: Foam Time for the Shock This is the magic bit. Got this heavy-duty thick foam stuff, shock absorption pads they call it. Rolled it out like giant yoga mats, cutting them to fit with this stupid little box cutter that kept snapping. Sweaty work crawling around.
• Step 4: The Larch Assembles Started laying the wood planks right on top of the foam. Tongue-and-groove joints. First row? Easy peasy. Felt smug. Hit the middle of the room? Absolute nightmare. Had to whack the hell outta some boards with a rubber mallet to get ’em to lock tight. Spent hours doing this one-board-at-a-time tap-dance. Arms were jelly.

Cross Fingers & The First Bounce

Finally got the last plank clicked into place. Sweat dripping off my nose. Felt good, man. Took out my old, kinda deflated basketball. Held my breath. Dropped it.

Whoosh-thump.

Not the loud CRACK from before. A much quieter, lower thump. Like something actually caught the bounce instead of just being hard. Gave it a harder dribble – definitely more give, more cushion underfoot. Neighbor-kid-level noise downstairs? Probably way less. Need thicker socks for playing on it barefoot, mind you – hardwood is still hardwood!

Mission mostly accomplished. Looks decent enough. Time for more coffee, definitely beer.