Okay, so the other day I decided to tackle this project: putting together some volleyball court flooring. It’s that interlocking wooden stuff, and I thought, “How hard could it be?” Famous last words, right?

Getting Started

First, I unpacked everything. I had these square wooden panels and a whole bunch of rubbery cushion things. The idea is, the cushions go underneath to give the floor some bounce, you know, for diving and stuff.

I laid out the cushions first. This part was easy enough, just kind of spaced them out evenly across the area where the flooring would go. I followed the extremely simple instructions, they seemed to be pretty foolproof.

The “Easy” Part

Next, I started putting the wooden panels on top. They’re supposed to just click together, like giant puzzle pieces. The first few? No problem. Snapped right in, I was feeling pretty good about myself, thinking I’d be done in no time.

Trouble in Paradise

But then… things got tricky. I hit a section where the panels just wouldn’t line up properly. I pushed, I wiggled, I even tried a rubber mallet (gently!), but nothing. They were just slightly off, and it was driving me nuts!

I stepped back, took a deep breath, and realized what was happening. The cushions underneath were shifting slightly as I added more panels, throwing everything off. Sneaky little devils!

The Solution(ugh)

So, I had to backtrack. I pulled up a few rows of the panels (which, let me tell you, was not as easy as clicking them in), re-adjusted the cushions, making sure they were perfectly aligned this time. I even used some tape in a few spots to keep them from moving around.

Then, I started laying the panels down again, slowly and carefully. This time, it worked! It still took some effort to get them to click, especially near the edges, but I finally managed to get the whole thing assembled.

Final Thoughts

It definitely took longer than I expected, and there were a few moments where I wanted to throw the whole thing out the window. But, seeing the finished product, a nice, bouncy volleyball court floor, made it all worthwhile. Would I do it again? Maybe. But next time, I’m definitely taping those cushions down first!