Alright folks, buckle up because fixing that volleyball court floor was a whole journey. Got myself some hevea wood boards to assemble – supposed to be good for sports floors. Here’s how it went down, bumps and all.

Unpacking the Mess

First things first, had to unload all the wood planks and framing stuff. Man, those boxes were heavier than they looked! Started checking if all the pieces were there. Didn’t have some fancy list, just eyeballed it against the pile. Looked mostly okay. Whew.

Groundwork Blues

This was the absolute worst part, gotta be honest. My old concrete slab wasn’t level – not even close. Spent like two whole days just scraping, grinding, and patching concrete.So much dust! Made a right mess of everything. Finally got it kinda flat. ‘Kinda’ being the key word.

Putting Down the Underlay

Rolled out this foam stuff first. Supposed to cushion the blows and stop squeaks. Measured it rough against the slab, then grabbed the ol’ box cutter. Sliced it kinda messy but got it covered. Taped the seams together with this wide plastic tape. Felt a bit janky, but stuck it down.

Frame Frustrations

Time for the wood frame that holds the floor boards. Had these long timber beams.Measuring sucked. Cut a few too short at first because apparently I can’t read a tape measure properly before coffee. Ugh.Big mistake: forgetting the expansion gap! Screwed the beams down onto the concrete after figuring out where they actually needed to go. Left some space at the edges like the forums said.

• Measure like six times, cut once. Or maybe seven times.
• Expansion gaps aren’t optional. Learned that the annoying way.

Boarding the Battleground

Finally got to the hevea planks. They felt nice and solid. Started laying them across the frame.System sucked. Tongue-and-groove system sounded easy… it wasn’t. Had to wrestle each plank down, hammering this rubber mallet so the tongues and grooves clicked tight. My back was screaming by the end. Board after board, sweating like crazy.Real low point: hitting my thumb hard enough to make me see stars. Needed more bandaids than I had.

Getting the last rows in was pure agony. Couldn’t fit the mallet, had to use this crowbar lever thingy. Thought I was gonna snap the plank a few times. Managed to force them in, feeling pretty rough.

Nailed It? Hopefully…

Once all boards were kinda in place, had to nail them to the frame. Used this air nailer thingy I borrowed.Scary machine! Sounded like a gunshot every time. Focused like crazy trying to hit the frames hidden under the planks.Pretty sure I missed at least a dozen. Hope it holds!

Sandpaper Torture

Thought assembling was hard? Sanding was misery. Rented this big floor sander. That beast tried to run away with me twice! Dust mask couldn’t stop it all – cough cough.Whole place looked like a sawdust blizzard. Sanded rough, then a bit finer. Felt like forever. Arms were jelly.

Making it Look Human

Applied this stain. Supposed to protect it.Went on patchy. Panicked a bit. Did a second coat much slower. Looked better. Then slathered on two coats of finish.Waiting for that stuff to dry was painful. No walking on it, nothing. Took days. Just stared at it.

Is it Fixed?

Well, it’s done. Floor looks… okay. Not perfectly flat everywhere, but way better than before. Played a few test volleys with the kids.Seems solid. No weird bounces yet. Time will tell if it lasts. Definitely looks like a proper volleyball court now. Back hurts, thumbs sore, wallet lighter… but hey, it exists! Would I do it again? Ask me after a long nap.