Right, let’s get straight into how I fixed that old volleyball court beech timber. Saw it yesterday, the piece where the sideline is? Looked sad as hell, all splintered and cracked near the net post. Couldn’t just leave it like that.

First thing, I needed to see how bad it was. Got down on my knees – dirt and all, didn’t care – and poked at the broken bit near the base with my pocket knife. Yeah, chunk was loose, wobbling, pulling the whole line out of shape. Wood felt dry too. Probably years of getting soaked and baked out there.

Tools time. Rummaged around the shed. Needed to pull that broken piece out without tearing up more. Found my trusty old wood chisel and a joiner’s mallet – the rubber one, less likely to split things further. Some sandpaper, thick and coarse stuff. And my tub of exterior wood glue, thank goodness I had some left.

• Step one: Yank the bad bit. Carefully wedged the chisel into the biggest crack behind the loose chunk. Gave the mallet a few light taps tap tap tap on the chisel handle. The cracked wood piece popped right out. Wasn’t pretty. Left an ugly hole, ragged edges.
• Step two: Clean house. Dug in deep with the chisel blade to scrape out any rotten flaky bits inside the hole and off the edges. Sanded everything rough inside the gap and around the torn-up parts. Needed it clean and kinda fuzzy for the glue to grip. Got dust everywhere, sneezed like crazy.
• Step three: Glue it back together. Slathered the inside of that hole with glue. Thick globs. Then pressed the broken wood piece back in, lining it up best I could. Needed clamps! Grabbed two C-clamps from the workbench. Clamped it front and back, pressing the piece deep into the hole. Tightened them hard. Big squeeze. Glue oozed out the sides like white slime. Wiped it off quick with a rag.

Left the clamps on tight overnight. Let that glue cure solid. Checked it this morning. Feeling impatient, I tapped the clamp with my finger. Solid sound.

Took the clamps off. Stuck my fingers right where the crack used to be. Rock solid! Couldn’t even feel the seam anymore. Sanded the surface again lightly, just to smooth over any gluey bits or splinters sticking up. Ran my hand along the repaired section. Felt smooth as the rest of the timber.

Final look? Honestly? It ain’t gonna win a beauty contest. You can still see a faint line where the crack was if you look real close. But does it hold the sideline straight? Hell yeah. Does it feel strong enough to kick balls off it all season? For sure. Feels good man. Simple job, right tools, bit of grunt work, and one more old thing gets a second life. Felt pretty proud standing back, looking at that line all smooth and true again.