Okay, so I’ve been wanting to get some new flooring for my basketball area for a while. I’d seen some cool stuff online about LVL and Hevea wood, so I figured I’d give it a shot. It’s supposed to be pretty tough and good for sports, you know?

First thing I did was measure the whole space. It’s a pretty good-sized area, so I needed to make sure I got enough material. Better to have too much than not enough, right? Made a quick, rough sketch and wrote down all the measurements.

Then came the fun part – ordering the wood! Found a supplier online, nothing fancy, just the basic stuff. I got the LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) for the base, and the Hevea for the top layer, the part you actually play on. It felt like forever waiting for it to arrive, but it finally showed up.

Prepping the Area

Before laying anything down, I had to get the existing floor ready. It was just concrete before, so I made sure it was super clean. Swept it, vacuumed it, even mopped it a couple of times. Any little bumps or debris would mess things up later, so I was pretty obsessive about it.

Laying the LVL Base

• I started with the LVL. These were big sheets, so it took a little wrangling to get them into place.
• Got the first one down, made sure it was lined up right.
• Then, I used construction adhesive – that stuff is STRONG – and glued it to the concrete.
• Laid down the next sheet, making sure it was butted up tight against the first one. No gaps!
• Kept going like that, gluing and laying, gluing and laying. Took a while, but it started to look like a real floor!

Letting it Set

After the LVL was all down, I had to let the adhesive cure. I think I waited a full 24 hours, just to be extra sure. Walked around on it gingerly to make sure everything felt solid.

Putting Down the Hevea

The Hevea was a bit trickier. These were smaller pieces, like tongue-and-groove. So, I applied more adhesive to the LVL, then started fitting the Hevea pieces together. Click, click, click. It was actually kind of satisfying.

• Used a rubber mallet to tap them into place, making sure everything was nice and snug.
• Had to cut some pieces to fit around the edges. Used a saw for that, nothing fancy, just a regular hand saw.

Finishing Touches

Once all the Hevea was down, I let that adhesive set too. Another 24 hours. Then, I went over the whole thing, checking for any loose spots or unevenness. Found a couple of spots that needed a little extra tapping, but overall it looked pretty good!

And that was it! My own basketball flooring, built from scratch. It’s not perfect, I’m no professional, but it feels pretty darn good to play on. And the best part is, I did it myself!