Alright folks, so today I finally tackled that wonky volleyball sleeper I’ve been tripping over in the garage for weeks. You know the one – looks solid but wobbles like crazy? Yeah, that one. Called it fixed, let’s see how that went down.
The Problem Emerged
First off, I pulled the thing out yesterday afternoon. Figured I’d use it for setting practice. Ha! Soon as I put it on the patio, it started doing this weird teeter-totter thing. Like one leg was shorter or something. Annoying, right? Gave it a solid shove with my foot. Didn’t help. Just made that cheap timber creak louder. Knew then it was surgery time.
Digging into the Guts
Flipped the sleeper over real rough. Scratched up the patio bricks, but whatever. Spotted the problem fast. See, there’s these four big bolts holding the timber frame together. Bottom plate? Totally cracked where two bolts went through. Just splintered wood hanging on. No wonder it wobbled.
Grabbed my toolbox:
- Rubber mallet (couldn’t find my good hammer)
- Cheap chisel
- Needle-nose pliers
- Old adjustable wrench
- Random wood block leftover from… something.
Getting Down & Dirty
Started trying to pry the busted chunk off with the chisel. Yeah, messy. Wood dust everywhere. Ended up basically hacking at it like a caveman. Needed to make enough space to get a fresh piece of wood in there. Got out the old bolt bits stuck in there. Took forever. Almost gave up.
Found a decent scrap piece of that treated deck wood behind the shed. Measured? Nah. Just held it up roughly. Way too thick. Spent ages hacking away at it with the chisel and mallet. Bashing that thing down like it owed me money. Got it sorta flat. Fit it roughly over the cracked hole. Needed to force it. Leaned my whole weight into it. Wood creaked like crazy, but it wedged in tight.
Had to drill new holes for the bolts – couldn’t reuse the old spots. Didn’t have the right drill bit. Used one a smidge bigger than the bolt shaft. Made it a pain later. Bolts went in crooked. Had to wrestle them with the pliers and wrench. Arms got sore! Finally cranked it down hard, really grunting. Wobbly timber block? Yeah. But it stayed put.
Moment of Truth
Flipped the sleeper back over, nearly tweaked my back doing it. Slammed it down on the patio. Pushed hard on the corners. Solid as a rock now! No wiggle! Jumped on the damn thing a couple times. Felt rock solid under my boots.
Lessons?
- Cheap timber sleepers crack easy around those bolts.
- A rubber mallet works in a pinch.
- Rough measurements get you close enough.
- Sometimes you just gotta smack stuff into place.
- Got it stable? It’s fixed. Doesn’t gotta be pretty.
Made my coffee break. That’s just good sense.
