Starting this whole volleyball floor project

So yeah, I love volleyball and playing outdoors. My backyard gets muddy sometimes, and hauling those heavy regular gym floors? Forget about it. Needs to be portable. Saw some fancy stuff online but wow, pricey! Figured, let’s try making our own removable birch thing. Heard birch is light and kinda tough. Bought some birch plywood sheets. Bought way too much initially.

Figuring out the pieces

Measured the space first. Roughly big enough for some fun, small-scale play. Grabbed my measuring tape and pencil, marked lines on the plywood. Tried using my circular saw – kinda tricky cutting straight. Messed up one panel right away. Got smarter, used a guide board clamped down. That worked better. Ended up with a bunch of smaller, square panels. Sanded all the edges like crazy with my orbital sander. Birch splinters? Nasty.

Putting it together… and taking it apart

Big idea: It needs legs that come off, so you can stack the panels flat for carrying. Thought about fancy hinges, nah. Kept it simple. Bought these heavy-duty plastic legs you screw in. Attached them to the bottom corners of each panel. Then came the trick – how to link the panels side-by-side? Used metal joining plates. Screwed half the plate onto one panel’s edge, the other half onto the next one. Lets them slot together pretty tight. Still lets you lift them apart to disconnect.

Problem: Legs wobbled. My first test, one leg just buckled. Not good. Needed support. Added simple wooden braces underneath, screwed across between the legs on the same panel. Much sturdier.

Testing the darn thing

Slapped all the panels together on my patio. Took maybe 15 minutes. Jumped on it. Solid! Got some friends over, played volleyball on it. Surface felt great – birch is smooth. Balls bounced nicely. Best part? Finished playing. Unscrewed all the legs. They just pack in a bag. Unlocked the joining plates and slid the panels apart. Stacked them like big, heavy pancakes. Took the whole setup apart and put it in my car trunk. Actually portable!

What worked (and what kinda didn’t)

• Birch: Light enough to lift when split into panels, feels good underfoot. Scratches kinda easy though. Need to be careful.
• Plastic legs: Cheap, easy to screw in and out. Strong enough with the braces.
• Joining plates: Simple, locks the panels together. Lets you separate them fast.
• Big pain: Splinters. Sanding is crucial. Must wear gloves handling the cut pieces.
• Weight: Plywood panels are still heavy. This isn’t feather-light camping gear. Need two people for bigger setups.

Took work, but having a decent, packable volleyball floor for backyard games is pretty awesome. Wood glue holding the braces? Still good. Legs screw off fine. It’s survived a few weekends now. Not perfect, but good enough!