After Dave and Sarah installed their basement shuffleboard using Armstrong’s kit, I heard from Guy — whose time-capsule home has been featured on the blog — that he recently painted a shuffleboard on his concrete basement floor. I am so inspired! Read on to learn how he did it, step-by-step:
Guy writes:
Pam-
Below is the info and pics of my basement shuffleboard we talked about last month. My whole extended family has been bitten by the shuffleboard bug and we have even had a few tournaments! I am so glad you introduced me to the idea of basement shuffleboard!
-Guy
Instructions? With photos all signed sealed and delivered? You are on the blog, again, Guy! Here are his step by steps:
I went ahead and painted my basement shuffleboard court this weekend:
For anyone else who wants to try and make one this way, here is how I did it:
Step 1: I marked out a large rectangle on the floor with painters tape. I painted it with some regular paint I had leftover:Step 2: I marked out the scoring areas with tape. I used an image of a court as a guide. This was much easier than I thought it would be. I am sure the dimensions are not perfect, but this is for fun with friends – not the Olympics.
Because my basement is narrow on the one side (due to an office and the water heater & airconditioner unit) I only planned on putting a starting line on that side to shoot the shuffleboard pucks to the scoring area (on the more open area.)
However the first scoring zone was so easy to mark I thought I would make one on each side (even though we still only shoot from that side.)
I thought for decorative reasons it looked better to have both scoring triangles.
Step 3: I got some other leftover white paint and painted the triangles. The number and letter stencils were available at Home Depot.Step 4: THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP. I bought some concrete sealer at Home Depot and “painted the court with it.” Its a milky substance that dries clear. I got the “wet look” high gloss version. Without this stuff the paint would easily scratch off when you play shuffleboard.
I put down 3 coats of sealer and if I start to see any wear in it in the future I will re-apply.
I am SO INTO this idea. Our basement (which is basically the laundry room and storage place of doom) has a concrete floor. I am SO GOING TO DO THIS. I even have a vintage shuffleboard set with pusher-thingies and biscuits (yes, that’s what the puck is called) already. Picked it up at an estate sale gosh knows where. I am telling you, my treasure chest is full full full. Thank you, Guy! So, I also asked Guy how he got the measurements, and he says:
Wikipedia listed the standard size at 39′ x6′ and then they had all of the other measurements and a pretty good diagram. So what I did was figure out how much room I had and then I started trying to mathematically decide how long things should be based on the space I had.
I experimented with a chalk outline and it worked out nicely.
The whole thing was surprisingly simple. I really expected it to look crooked and silly and I was amazed at how “professional” it looked.
BTW, I really enjoy your blog. It is the very first site I check in the morning. You may remember that I found your blog when researching what to do with my 1964 home. I bought the house because it looked ‘dated’ (I like the time capsule feeling) and then I was really feeling pressure to “update” it from everyone I knew.
Now I show everyone that enters the post you wrote and then they all seem to “get” what I like about the house. I plan to frame that post and hang it in the hallway. I will send you a picture when I do.
Thanks,
Guy
You are the sweetest, Guy, and be sure to tell Rosanna I said that!
Links:
- Wikipedia on shuffleboard, including: “During World War II shuffleboard came into its own. The intrinsic appeal of the game – skill, diversity, competitiveness, availability to young and old, strong and disabled, the serious game, the fun game – offered the kind of release needed in those turbulent years. Hollywood climbed on the shuffleboard bandwagon and took it up, at first as a source of good publicity. Then when the pin-up girls and bandleaders and actors discovered they really liked the game, shuffleboards found their way into the studios and homes of the stars. People like Betty Grable, Harry James, Merv Griffin, Alan Ladd all had their own shuffleboards. The game grew to its greatest height in the 1950s. Most major shuffleboard manufactures sponsored nationwide shuffleboard tournaments. These were the biggest tournaments ever held: one had 576 teams participating.”