Alright folks, buckle up. Gonna tell ya how I tackled this whole fixed volleyball court oak assembled wooden flooring thing. Started simple: wanted a decent spot for pickup games without breaking the bank. Figured, “How hard can it be?” Spoiler: Way harder than I thought.

Found a Bargain (Big Mistake?)

First step: hunting down the wood. Scoured online forever, found this local dude selling reclaimed oak planks. Pictures looked okay, price was stupid cheap. Pulled the trigger. Got home, unloaded the truck – man, some of those boards looked like they’d seen better days. Lotsa chips, deep scratches everywhere. Thought I’d bitten off more than I could chew.

The Grind Started

Figured I couldn’t just slap ’em down. Spent a whole sweaty weekend in the garage just fixing ’em up:

• Sanding madness: Went through a ton of sandpaper. Grit 60 to tear out the deep crap, then 120, finally 220 to kinda smooth things out. Dust everywhere.
• Filling holes & cracks: Dug into my old wood filler stash. Slapped that goop into every little defect. Wasn’t a beauty contest winner, but hoped it’d hold.
• Basic stain & seal: Just gave ’em one solid coat of waterproof sealant. Didn’t need fancy colours, just protection. Let ’em bake outside for a couple days.

Setting the Stage (Measuring Mess)

Now for the real headache – the ground. Had a flat-ish patch in the backyard.

• Clearing crap: Weeds, rocks, random bits of concrete – the whole yard junk pile. Took a shovel and brute force.
• “Leveling”: Used a long 2×4 and a damn level. Shaved down high spots, dumped sand in the low bits. Tamped it down hard. Called it “good enough.”
• Laying sleepers: Found some treated wood 2x4s for runners underneath everything. Measured, cut, placed ’em about 16 inches apart. Secured ’em into the dirt with long-ass metal stakes. Screwed ’em together at the ends. This part actually felt kinda satisfying.

Assembly Chaos

Finally time to lay the oak.

• Dry fitting first: Smart move! Started laying the planks on the sleepers without fixing anything. Saw how the gaps would look. Had to trim a few wonky edges.
• Tongue & Groove Fun: The oak had the classic tongue-and-groove sides. Fit them together one by one. Hammer and a block of wood – tap, tap, tap. Gotta be gentle or you split the tongue right off. Found that out the hard way on one plank.
• Screwing it down (Fixed!): This is the “fixed” part of the title. Didn’t want floating nonsense. Used decking screws – strong, weatherproof. Drilled pilot holes first right through the plank tongues into the sleepers below, then sunk the screw heads slightly below the surface. Slow work, making sure everything was pulling tight together.
• Gaps at the edges: Left a small finger-width gap all the way around the edge. Wood swells and shrinks, ya know? Don’t want it busting out later.

Final Stretch (Almost Broke Me)

Once every screw was in, did a walk test. Felt solid! But needed protection.

• Deep clean: Swept every single speck of dirt and dust off that court. Twice.
• Protective coating: Slapped on two thick coats of polyurethane designed for outdoor sports floors. Used a lambswool roller. Let it dry solid between coats. Stunk to high heaven.
• Boundary tape: Messy but simple – stuck down white athletic tape for lines. Spray-painted outside the tape for the court boundaries.

The Smug Moment

Threw a ball on it. Bounced nice and true. Got the neighbors over for a test game. Sweaty, knees creaking, but that oak flooring took every spike and dive without a whimper. Worth all the sanding dust, the sore back, the split plank curse-fest. Thing’s built like a tank. Cheap reclaimed oak? Forged into a warrior court. Booyah.