So I’ve been wanting to build proper basketball court flooring in my garage for months now. My kids kept complaining about concrete hurting their knees during practice, and I finally decided enough is enough.

The Planning Mess

First I Googled shock absorbing floors like crazy. Found basketball maple wood keeps popping up everywhere. Ordered these thick interlocking maple planks online – showed up in fifteen different boxes! Spent hours counting all pieces on my driveway.

Materials Hunt:

• Two hundred maple wood panels (supplier short-shipped me twelve!)
• Rubber underlay rolls for shock absorption
• Special flooring adhesive that smelled like rotten eggs
• A laser level my neighbor lent me

Garage Floor Nightmare

My garage floor looked flat until I poured water on it. Water ran straight to the left corner! Had to chip away bumpy concrete patches with a hammer for two weekends straight. Sweat dripped into my eyes while cursing at previous homeowners.

Laid the rubber padding first – unrolled it like red carpet. Thought “this looks easy” until the padding kept sliding around. Ended up taping it down with heavy-duty duct tape like a madman.

The Clicking Disaster

The maple panels are supposed to click together smoothly. First ten rows went fine. Then BAM – row eleven refused to lock! Had to pry up two rows using crowbars and screwdrivers. Wood cracked when I shoved too hard. Almost cried when I realized the clicking grooves had tiny factory defects.

How I Fixed The Mess:

• Sanded down every groove with handheld sander
• Rubbed soap on joints to make pieces slide easier
• Used heavy books as weights overnight

Ending Drama

Final step was cutting edge pieces with circular saw. Sawdust sprayed everywhere! Looked like snowstorm in garage. Then discovered I cut four pieces backward. Had to beg supplier send replacements.

After three weeks of struggling, finally dribbled basketball on it yesterday. Floor feels bouncy! Kids actually hugged me instead of complaining. Still got glue stuck in my hair though – probably permanent garage court souvenir now.