So I finally got around to tackling that basketball floor project in my garage. Been dreaming about this for months because that concrete slab murders my knees after an hour of dribbling. Started with measuring the whole space – turned out it was exactly 20 by 30 feet. Went down to the hardware store and grabbed these shock-absorbing foam pads they said were good for sports floors. Big heavy rolls of black rubbery stuff that smelled like burnt tires.

Prepping The Base

Had to clean the garage floor super thorough first. Swept out all the leaves and pebbles, then mopped up old oil stains. Took me three passes with degreaser to get it looking decent. Unrolled those foam pads corner to corner, used duct tape to stick the seams together. Cut the edges with my box cutter where it overlapped the walls. Looked real messy at this point with all the wrinkles.

Laying The Wood

Bought these tongue-and-groove maple planks advertised as “sports parquet”. Each piece was like 3 feet long and stupidly heavy. Started in the far corner – slapped down the first row with spacers against the wall. The tricky part was getting those grooves to click together tight. Had to hammer them gently with a rubber mallet and wood block. Dropped the damn block on my toe twice – nearly cussed up a storm.

• First five rows went smooth
• Then hit a crooked piece that wouldn’t seat proper
• Splintered one plank trying to force it
• Had to run back to the store for replacements

By the time I hit the middle section, my back was screaming. Didn’t realize how much you gotta bend and crawl doing this crap. Almost quit when I saw I’d laid a whole row upside down – the grooves were facing wrong. Had to dismantle fifteen pieces. Sweat pouring down my forehead like a faucet.

Finishing Up

Last ten rows took forever cause I was moving like an old man. Trimmed the final pieces with my jigsaw – wood dust everywhere. Pulled out all the spacers and threw down these little metal transition strips at the edges. Stepped back looking at my lopsided masterpiece. Test bounced a basketball – that satisfying thump made all the suffering worth it. Knees ain’t complained once since I started playing on it!

Whole project chewed up two weekends plus fifty bucks extra for messed-up planks. Woke up sore for a week but man, seeing my kid drain jumpers without that nasty concrete echo? Priceless.