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Building a Basketball Court Michael Strahan helps a family of basketball fanatics build the backyard court of their dreams. From "Backyard Stadiums" episode DBYS-102

(Continued from page 2)

Building a Basketball Rack

Often it's hard to keep track of all your basketballs when you love the game as much as the Schwartz family does. That's why Backyard Stadiums decided to build a ball rack so that the family can keep track of the balls, as well as take several shots at once without having to run and collect them all the time.

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The family will be able to enjoy a 3-point contest without having to track down the balls.

Materials:

four 6' 1-1/2" PVC pipes
sixteen 3-way PVC T-connectors
8 elbows
four 1-1/2' PVC caps
4 wheels
PVC glue
six 42" 1' x 2's

Tools:

chop saw
drill and drill bites
tape Measure
hammer

Cut List:

6 pieces to 44"
8 pieces to 12"
4 pieces to 4"
8 pieces to 3"

Note: Make all cuts on the list before assembling your rack. Since PVC glue dries very quickly, it's a good idea to loosely place all pieces together before you add the glue to make sure everything is straight, and fits the way it is suppose.

	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C

1. Start out by building the ends of the ball rack. You'll need four 12" pieces for each end. Take three 1-1/2" T-connectors and joint two 12" pieces in the middle and place a tee at each end. You'll need four sets, two per side. Secure with PVC glue.

Note: Make sure all the center openings of the tee connectors are all facing the same way (figure A).

2. Once the 12" pieces are connected, add two 4" pieces on the top and two 3" pieces to the bottom of each assembly. Secure with PVC cement.

3. Take two of the assemblies and connect them together with two 1-1/2" elbows and one 4" piece of pipe. Make sure the openings of the T's all face the same direction and secure with PVC glue. Repeat to create a second end piece (figure B).

4. At the opposite end of the assembly, attach two additional 3-way T-connectors to the bottom 3" pieces. Make sure they're perpendicular to the T-connectors that are already in place. Secure with PVC glue.

5. Connect the bottom together from T to T with one 4" piece of pipe and secure with PVC glue.

6. To make the wheel supports, add a 3" piece of pipe to the opposite side of each T-connector on the bottom of the side assembly. Glue as above.

7. Attach elbows facing down to both 3" pieces. Next drill 1/2" holes in four end caps and attach the wheels with the nuts provided. Add the 1-1/2" caps and wheels to the elbows and secure with glue (figure C).

8. It's time to connect the two ends. Lay one side of the ball rack on the work surface. Take the six 44" pieces and glue them into the 3-way connectors. The 44" pieces should be vertical in the air. Have someone tilt down the rack while inserting six 42" 1 x 2's into the pipes. These are used to give the rack some extra support.

9. Attach the other side of the rack and you're done. Now all you have to do is stack the rack with basketballs and you're good to go!

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