Alright, folks, time to share my latest weekend warrior project – putting in a wood floor for my backyard pad volleyball court. No fancy teams or pros, just me figuring it out.

Deciding What Went Down

Got tired of playing on patchy grass and uneven dirt. Concrete seemed too hard on the knees, and those fancy modular plastic tiles cost an arm and a leg. Settled on wood planks – heard it played nicer than concrete but wasn’t as costly as the plastic stuff.

Digging In and Getting Level

First thing, marked out the space right where the old dirt pit was. Started digging out all the grass and topsoil down about six inches. That took ages and my back knew it! Used a long level and a straight board constantly to check the ground was flat. Felt like I was doing it forever, shoveling dirt here, pushing it back there. Finally got it reasonably flat and packed it down real hard.

Setting the Frame

Laid down the heavy plastic sheeting as a weed blocker – really didn’t want anything growing through. Then came the tricky part: building the frame that’d hold the actual floor boards. Used treated wood beams for this because they handle moisture better.

• Put the long beams around the outside edges first.
• Measured and cut shorter beams to act like ribs across the middle every couple of feet – that needed a lot of measuring.
• Staked each beam down firmly into the dug-out pit.
• Re-leveled the entire frame frame again – that made me sweat. Level, level, level!

Rolling Out the Padding

Wanted a bit of spring under the feet. Laid out big rolls of black rubber pad across the whole area inside the frame. Cut it with heavy shears to fit the shape. Overlapped the edges a bit and taped them down so nothing shifted underneath. Made sure it was smooth with no bumps.

The Fun Part – Planking!

Finally, time for the wood! Used treated decking boards. Started along one long edge, screwing each board straight into the frame beams.

• Used a gap tool after every board – just a little piece of wood – to make sure the gaps between each plank were even for drainage.
• Checked constantly that each board was straight relative to the frame. Had to pry a few back out when things started looking crooked.
• Cutting the end boards to fit the width felt satisfying – sawdust everywhere.
• Screw after screw after screw… felt endless by the end. Hands were definitely tired.

Final Touches

After the last board went in, swept up all the dust and sawdust. Hosed it down gently to see how the water drained through the gaps – thankfully it worked! Super pumped to get my net back up. Tested it out with a few jumps and dives – wood feels way nicer than concrete, less jarring. Got that natural wood court look happening.

Lessons Learned

Phew. Biggest takeaway? Getting the foundation perfectly flat and level is like 80% of the work and makes everything else way easier (or less hard). Paying for those treated woods upfront felt rough but knowing they won’t rot easily next season makes it better. Using screws meant being able to fix mistakes, unlike nails. Definitely saved a bundle doing it myself, even if my muscles complained for days. Can’t wait for the next game!