Getting Started

So I’ve been playing streetball every weekend near my garage, but damn that concrete kills my knees. Saw some fancy shock-absorbing courts downtown but they charge crazy money just to play. Figured I could make my own portable version using cheap stuff from hardware store.

Materials Hunting

Drove to Home Depot first thing Saturday morning. Grabbed those thick rubber stall mats meant for horse barns – real bouncy and only $40 each. Then found leftover oak flooring planks in clearance section. Sales guy looked at me funny when I told him I’m putting wood over rubber for basketball.

The Messy Part

Cutting the mats was nasty – rubber crumbs everywhere! Measured my garage space, marked lines with chalk. Used my rusty handsaw but that took forever. Switched to electric jigsaw and shredded the damn mat edge. Had to duct-tape the frayed bits. Sweating buckets in 90° heat.

Big Lessons Here:

• Rubber mats stink when cutting – neighbors complained about smell
• Wear gloves unless you want black hands for days
• Measure twice cause these mats weigh a ton to move around

Assembly Disaster

Tried gluing wood directly to rubber with construction adhesive. Woke up next morning – all planks popped off like popcorn! Realized rubber flexes too much for glue. Screwed corner brackets through rubber into wood instead. Over-tightened first screw, ripped right through the mat. Total facepalm moment.

Finally Working

Changed strategy: laid mats first, clicked wood planks together on top without attaching them. Threw down gorilla tape around edges to keep planks from sliding. Test jumped – knees didn’t jar! Dribbled ball, bounce felt decent. Surface isn’t NBA smooth but damn better than concrete.

Portable? Sorta

Rolled up the mats – works fine if you ignore the bulges. Wood planks fit in my pickup bed. Setup takes 20 minutes now that I’ve practiced. Kids in neighborhood keep asking to play on the “bouncy court”. Gotta replace torn mats soon though – dog chewed one corner.

Was It Worth It?

Cost me $200 total vs $3,000 for pro tiles. Knees don’t ache after games anymore. But my back hurts from hauling mats! Next time I’m buying lighter materials. Still beats paying court fees every weekend.