My Crappy Backyard Sports Floor Journey

So my kid kept tripping over stupid uneven patio stones when we played badminton, right? Almost broke his ankle last summer. That’s when I started hunting for something temporary since we rent this place.

Step 1 was research hell. YouTube videos made interlocking floors look easy-peasy. But every damn review said something different about thickness, material, grip. Settled on recycled PVC tiles cause they’re lighter than rubber crap.

• Ordered 50 tiles online (took forever)
• Unboxed em – smelled like cheap plastic toys
• Laid them on my nasty garage floor first

First disaster: They didn’t snap together like the video showed. Had to hammer each connection with a freaking rubber mallet I borrowed from Bob next door. Sweat dripping everywhere, tiles sliding under my feet.

The real nightmare came when moving em outside. Thought I could drag the whole connected mat – nope! Sections kept splitting apart like broken Lego. Wound up carrying pieces like pizza boxes. Took three trips, scraped my knuckles bloody on the doorframe.

Got em laid over dead grass. Kid tested immediately – started doing cartwheels like an idiot. Held up pretty good actually. But rain came after two days. Water pooled between tiles, worms crawled up through gaps. Smelled like wet dog when I lifted sections to drain.

Biggest lesson? This ain’t no miracle solution. Heavy as hell to move daily, cheap plastic smell lingers. But hey – no more twisted ankles. Just stored em vertically behind the shed. Probably last one season before cracking.