Okay, so I’ve been wanting to redo the flooring in my little home gym for a while now. It’s in the basement, and the concrete was just… cold and uninviting. I was looking at all sorts of options, rubber tiles, those interlocking foam things, even carpet (briefly!). But then I stumbled upon this LVL basketball pine wooden flooring, and I was intrigued.

First, I measured the heck out of the room. Gotta know exactly how much material you’re working with, right? I even drew a little diagram, ’cause I’m visual like that. Then I started looking around online for suppliers. Found a few places that carried it, and I compared prices, shipping costs, the whole nine yards.

Once I settled on a supplier, I placed the order. The waiting was the hardest part! It took about a week for the flooring to arrive. When the delivery guy showed up, those boxes were HEAVY. I definitely needed a friend to help me lug them down to the basement.

Before I could even think about laying the flooring, I had to prep the concrete. I swept it, vacuumed it, and even mopped it with some concrete cleaner. I wanted to make sure it was super clean and level. There were a couple of small cracks, so I filled those in with concrete patch. Let that dry overnight.

Installation Time!

The next day, it was go time. I laid down a moisture barrier, just a big sheet of plastic, to protect the wood from any dampness from the concrete. Then, I started laying the LVL planks. It was surprisingly easy! They had this tongue-and-groove system, so they just clicked together.

• Start slow: I took my time with the first few rows, making sure everything was straight and square.
• Stagger the seams: You don’t want all the end joints to line up, it looks weird and isn’t as strong.
• Use a tapping block: To avoid damaging the edges, I used a scrap piece of wood and a rubber mallet to gently tap the planks together.
• Leave expansion gaps:Wood expands and contracts,so it should leaves a little space around the edges of the room.

The whole process took me a couple of days, working on it a few hours each evening. But honestly, it wasn’t that bad. And the result? Amazing! The basement gym looks so much better now. The pine is warm and inviting, and it feels great underfoot. Plus, I can totally pretend I’m practicing my jump shot on a real basketball court. Even if my jump shot is… well, let’s just say it needs work.

The flooring is done * feels pretty good!