Getting Started

Alright, so I finally got this rubber birch wood basketball court kit delivered. Boxes took up half the garage – huge pain moving them. Dumped everything out and just stared for a minute. Looked complicated as heck. Label said “easy assembly” – yeah right.

The Messy Unpacking

First job: sort all the parts. Found:

• Weird-shaped planks (lots!)
• Bags of squishy rubber stuff
• Ugly black padding sheets
• Metal connector pieces
• Screws, weird plastic clips, tools

Took forever just to separate them. Instruction booklet had tiny pictures. Not helpful. Ended up laying everything on the garage floor like a giant puzzle.

Sweaty Work Putting It Down

Cleaned the garage floor super good first – didn’t want dust messing things up. Laid out the black padding sheets. Felt kinda like wrestling a giant sleeping bag. Those things kept curling up! Got them flat eventually, taped the seams.

Plank Puzzle Time

Started clicking the wood planks together. Those tongue-and-groove things were super tight. Had to whack ’em with a rubber mallet. My shoulder hated me halfway through. Misaligned one piece early on – had to backtrack. I cussed at least twice.

Learned fast:

• Connect short sides BEFORE the long sides
• Hammer gently or the wood dents
• Triple-check alignment

Got a rhythm going. Felt like a pro by row five. Still took most of the afternoon.

The Final Touches & Testing

Got all the planks snapped in place. Felt solid! Installed the metal edge trim. That was easier. Just screwed it right into the wood frame. Hid all the ugly edges. Nice.

Rubber Bits & Bounce Test

Opened the bags of rubber granules. Spread ’em over the whole surface. Brushed ’em deep into the tiny cracks between planks. Took some muscle. Then grabbed my old sneakers.

Test drive time! Jumped. Pivoted. Ran hard stops. Floor felt amazing – springy but not bouncy castle. Foot grip was perfect. Dropped a basketball. Felt that satisfying bounce-back. Heck yeah!

Final Thoughts

Took me and some stubbornness basically the whole Saturday. Was it “easy assembly”? Nope. Worth the sweat? Absolutely. Kids played on it Sunday morning. Squeaky shoes, bouncing balls – music to my ears. Floor handled their jumping like maniacs like a champ. No dents. Looks pro. If my lazy self can slam this together, you probably can too. Just budget way more time than the box says.