Man, lemme tell ya how I finally got that volleyball court floor done with birch plywood. Took me days! Started with a huge mess – these giant plywood sheets showed up in my garage. Damn things were heavy! Almost killed my back dragging ’em out to the yard. Had to call my buddy Dave for backup.

The Measuring Disaster

Thought I had it all planned. Measured the patio area real careful, you know? Got the tape measure out, marked the spots. Then I fired up the circular saw. Whrrrr! Cut the first piece. Perfect! Cut the second one… annnnd it was too short. Like, way short. What? Checked the measurements again. Turns out, I forgot the space for the expansion gaps around the edges. Total rookie move. Felt like a dummy. Trashed a whole sheet right there. Costly mistake. Lesson learned: measure three times, cut once. Honestly, probably need to measure like, five times.

Locking It Down (Or Trying To)

Alright, got the corrected pieces laid out. Looked good! Time for the assembly. These boards have this click-lock edge system. Supposed to just click together easy-peasy. Ha! No way. Lined up the tongue and groove. Gave it a solid whack with the rubber mallet. Nothin’. Whacked it harder. Still nope. The groove just wouldn’t catch the tongue properly. Got sweaty and kinda pissed. Dave was ready to quit. Took a break, drank a cold one, scratched my head. That’s when I spotted it – super tiny little plastic nubs, leftovers from manufacturing, stuck inside some of the grooves. Brushed ’em out with a screwdriver. Magic! The next piece slammed in smooth with a satisfying smack from the mallet. Felt like a genius. Well, more like relief.

The Final Stretch & Testing Balls

After that, it went pretty quick. Got into a rhythm:

• Lay the plank.
• Angle it just right.
• Thump the mallet.
• Hear that sweet klack.

Used those spacers religiously this time around the edges. Last piece needed trimming again, but this time? Nailed it. Filled the gaps with matching wood filler. Not perfect, but hey, it’s sturdy.

The real test? Volley time! Grabbed the balls.
First bounce: Smacked a ball straight down. Hit the wood with a nice thud. Solid. No rattling. Good sign!
Second bounce: Tried an angled shot. See, you want it to bounce back predictably, not just randomly. It hit at an angle and bounced back exactly how I expected – not flying into the neighbor’s roses! Consistent bounce is key for gameplay. This felt good.

Done! Sweating buckets, maybe ruined one good t-shirt, and learned a bunch. Floor’s solid and the bounce sounds sweet. Ready for summer games!