So last Tuesday I went down to the community volleyball court, like I do every week, just to check things over. Holy smokes, the engineer board under the net looked like it got smacked by a truck! Cracked all to hell, chunks missing near the edge. Totally unsafe, you know? Kids play here sometimes. Knew I had to fix it pronto.

Getting Started

First thing Wednesday morning, I hauled my sorry self to the big hardware store across town. Grabbed a few pieces of that thick outdoor pressure-treated wood planks – those are tough as nails. Picked up some heavy-duty screws too, the long kind, and a new box of wood glue since my old bottle was crustier than week-old bread. Spent maybe an hour just staring at the busted old board, measuring the bad spots with my rusty tape measure, trying to figure out how much new wood to cut. Messed up the first cut, naturally. Too short. Darn thing. Had to go back to the garage and start over. Used my jigsaw, dust went everywhere, sneezed like crazy. Threw on my dusty mask that was hanging on a nail. Better.

Out With the Old, In With the New

Got back to the court lugging my tools and wood. Started yanking out the busted bits of the old engineer board. Those screws did NOT wanna come out. Fought with ’em for ages, scraped my knuckles good trying to get the stripped screw heads loose with my pliers. Eventually just ripped the rotten chunks out with way too much force. Not proud of that part. Sweating buckets in the sun already. Laid down the new wood pieces into the hole I’d made in the court flooring. Needed some shims underneath one corner ‘cause the ground wasn’t perfectly flat – used some scrap plastic pieces I found in the garage trash bin. Hey, free is good. Slathered wood glue around the edges where the new pieces met the good old flooring, shoved ’em tight together.

Locking It All Down

Time to screw everything down solid. Pre-drilled some holes so the wood wouldn’t split – learned THAT lesson the hard way before. Then drove those long screws in deep, nice and evenly spaced. Put my whole weight behind the drill. Felt solid! Double-checked every single screw head was flush with the wood, smooth enough nobody would trip. Kicked it a few times, real gentle at first, then harder. Didn’t budge. Sweet relief! Swept away all the wood chips and old junk bits into a pile. Left the court way cleaner than I found it.

Stood back, wiped the sweat off my forehead. Not perfect, maybe, but hey, that engineer board ain’t going anywhere now. Solid as a rock. Feels good fixing something with your own hands. Whole thing took most of the afternoon. Need to get better at measuring that first cut next time though. Arms are still sore!