Starting This Messy Project
Had this stupid idea last weekend watching the neighborhood kids try to play volleyball on lumpy grass. Thought, “Heck, why not make a portable court section?” So I hauled my lazy self to the shed, stared at the pile of random wood planks left over from that failed bookshelf thing last fall. Looked rough. Real rough. Figured they’d work anyway.
Gathering Crap & Messing Up Measurements
Grabbed my rusty tape measure first. Mistake number one. Measured the area I wanted for the court section way too big. Like, WAY too big. Needed to fit in my pickup truck bed later? Totally forgot that part. Wrote down numbers, crossed them out, scribbled new ones. Got sawdust in my coffee. Great start.
Dug through the junk pile:
- Those warped planks (seriously, why did I keep these?)
- Nails… mostly bent
- Some weird flat metal strips I found under the workbench
- A hook-and-eye latch thing from an old gate
- A bag of mismatched screws – half stripped
Cutting Wood & Swearing at Splinters
Fired up the circular saw. Sounded angry. Cut the first plank… crooked. Cut the second one… also crooked. Third one snapped halfway through. Threw that piece across the shed. Yelled a bit. Measured again, marked lines slower this time. Cut more carefully. Mostly straight. Good enough. Sanded the edges quick with rough sandpaper – mostly to avoid splinters stabbing kids later, not for looks. Who cares about looks?
Figuring Out the Removable Part (The Hard Way)
This was the head-scratcher. Wanted the whole thing to come apart easy for storage. Those metal strips? Decided they’d be the “engineer board” or whatever. Basically the frame the wood sits on. Tried just nailing the planks directly to the strips. Big mistake. First jump test? Boom. Plank flew off, smacked the trash can. Neighbor dog barked. Swapped nails for some of the screws. Held better. Added extra strips running sideways underneath like a grid for support. Looked messy as heck.
The hook-and-eye thing? Total afterthought. Screwed the hook part to one end piece of the grid. Eye part to another. Slapped them together. Held surprisingly well! Could actually lift that corner without the whole thing collapsing. Small win.
The Moment of Truth (AKA Almost Faceplanting)
Dragged the monstrosity onto the grass. Assembled the wooden top onto the metal grid mess. Clicked the hook and eye shut. Took a deep breath. Stepped on it… wobbled like crazy. Crouched low, bounced a little… held! Tried a proper jump. Solid! Well, solid-ish. No collapse! Kicked one corner with my foot. Hook popped open! Easy to take apart. Packed it flat in the truck bed. Not pretty. Definitely not pro. But hey, removable volleyball court section? Mission barely accomplished. Kids played on it for an hour before it got muddy. Called that a success. Back hurts. Need coffee.
