Alright so here’s how I got the volleyball court situation sorted. Took me months honestly, lot of trial and error, sweat and splinters – but finally nailed this portable wood floor thing.

The whole mess started

Was playing casual volleyball behind my uncle’s garage on packed dirt for ages. Worked okay until the dry season hit. Ground got super hard and uneven. Sprained an ankle jumping near the edge where the ground dipped. Total bummer. Went online, saw those fancy vinyl tile systems? Way too expensive for me. Decided to try making something myself.

First attempts were awful

Started simple. Bought a bunch of scrap pallet wood. Thought I’d just bolt ’em together. Rookie mistake. Took forever to pull out all the rusty nails. Finally got one panel assembled – felt like a tank trying to move it. And when we played? The ball bounced like it hit concrete, hurt your arms bad. Then it rained once… wood swelled, warped everywhere. Useless.

Switched gears to birch plywood

My neighbour’s a retired carpenter. Saw me wrestling with the pallet junk and laughed. Told me: “Kid, use birch plywood. Stronger, lighter, weathers better.” Borrowed his circular saw. Spent a Saturday measuring and cutting four-by-eight sheets into smaller squares – like two-foot by two-foot panels. Way more manageable size.

Flipped it over for legs

Here’s the tricky bit. Needed the panels to sit flat and lock together over bumpy ground. Brainstormed with my neighbour. Ended up buying cheap outdoor table leg fittings. Screwed one into each corner on the bottom side of the panels, pointing down. Each leg had adjustable heights using bolts. Genius! Now I could tweak each corner individually.

Making ’em stick together

Panels couldn’t just slide apart. Cut small metal U-brackets. Screwed one half to the side of one panel, the other half to the next panel. Kinda like puzzle pieces but chunkier. Slide ’em in, drop a locking pin? Solid connection. Took three tries to get the bracket positions perfect so there wasn’t a tripping hazard.

Making it playable & lasting

Raw birch plywood was rough and thirsty.

• Sanded everything smooth with my orbital sander. Clouds of dust everywhere.
• Wiped it all down with damp rags. Twice.
• Picked an outdoor spar urethane. Slapped on three coats, letting it dry fully each time. This stuff seals the wood good against rain and sun.

Finally tossed a ball on it. Sweet sound. Good bounce. Not too hard on the joints.

Final test & victory

Waited for a clear weekend. Called the team over. Hauled all the panels out. Took maybe 20 minutes to lock them all together and level the legs. Played for hours. Surface held firm, ball behaved great, no ankle disasters. Even spilled some soda – wiped right up. Packed it down after, stacked panels flat in the garage shed. Takes up space, but beats a busted ankle. Worth every splinter.