Alright, so today was all about finally tackling that removable volleyball court setup I’ve been staring at in the garage. Had this whole pile of beech wood flooring panels just sitting there, mocking me. Time to get it done.

Starting Simple – Just Unboxing Really

First thing, I hauled all the boxes out onto the driveway. Good workout, right? Opened ’em up carefully. Inside were these long, smooth beech planks – really nice looking wood, heavy but not too bad. Saw the connectors bundled separately in plastic bags. Looked straightforward at first glance. Laid out a couple pieces on the grass near the patio, end-to-end, just to check.

Getting Down and Dirty with Assembly

Figured I’d start small with a 2×2 panel section. Slid the first two planks together along the long side – that tongue-and-groove thing clicked pretty nice. Then came the tricky bit: connecting them end-to-end. These special metal connectors – kinda like little clips with teeth – needed to go into a groove on each plank end. You gotta angle them just right and whack them with a rubber mallet. First few, easy. Then I hit one crooked. Took me ages with a flathead screwdriver to pry that stubborn clip back out without gouging the wood. Sweatin’ already.

• Measuring Mix-up: Thought I was being smart pre-marking the perimeter with string. After assembling the first big 8×4 section, checked the corners… diagonals were uneven. Ugh. Had to loosen the clips on one whole side, shift everything half an inch, and re-whack. My back felt that.
• Ground Check Fail: Didn’t bother leveling the ground properly underneath at first. “It’s grass, how bad?” Terrible idea. Stood on one section, felt a huge wobble. Had to disassemble part of it, scrape the grass flat underneath with a shovel handle (real professional), and pack some dirt into the low spots. Much better after that.

Making it Actually Removable

The whole “removable” bit meant I couldn’t just nail it down. Brainwave: I grabbed some big, heavy-duty anchor pegs meant for tents. Hammered those deep into the ground at the corners and halfway along the sides. Then looped thick zip-ties through holes I drilled near the edges of the outer planks and around the anchors. Sounds janky, works perfect. Holds it solid even when I ran at it, and I just snip the zip-ties when we need to pack it away. Boom.

Finished Product? Worth the Hassle

Took pretty much the whole afternoon. Got dirt under my nails, probably strained my wrist whacking those clips, and lost two zip-ties to clumsy snipping. But man, seeing it all down – that smooth beech surface looking sharp, solid underfoot – totally worth it. Even managed a quick bump-pass with my kid on it before dinner. No fancy tools, no contractors, just me figuring it out one whack and one zip-tie at a time. Might not win any awards, but it’s solid, it’s removable, and it’s finally done.