Alright folks, buckle up. Decided my backyard needed a legit volleyball court. Saw those fancy removable wood floors online, thought, “How hard could it be?” Turns out, kinda hard. Grabbed my tape measure first thing, paced out the whole space. Needed something like 20 feet by 40 feet. Big.

The Plywood Hunt & Dumb Assumptions

Went straight to the lumber yard. Planned for 4×8 feet plywood sheets. Figured “removable” meant just slapping sheets down. Easy peasy, right? Got me 15 sheets of that 3/4-inch stuff – felt sturdy. Also grabbed a heap of those plastic floor protectors you put under furniture legs. Figured they’d work as feet. Yeah, that was mistake number one. Loading that stuff into the truck was a workout already. Sweating like crazy just thinking about moving this twice.

First Crack at Assembly – Pure Chaos

Got the sheets home, all excited. Laid the first row flat on the grass. Felt okay, a little bumpy. Started laying down the second row beside it. Then the third. Went to step on it. Whole thing shifted underneath me. Like walking on a giant, wobbly puzzle piece. The edges weren’t locking, nothing was holding them together. Just massive slabs sliding apart! Nearly ate dirt trying to pivot. Had to jump off quick. Pure frustration mode activated.

Needed a way to connect these monsters. Fast.

Desperate Hardware Store Run & Duct Tape Dreams

Scratched my head, rummaged in the garage. Found heavy-duty strap hinges – the big ones for gates. Seemed promising? Also grabbed a box of thick wood screws, washers, and nuts. Oh, and a massive roll of that heavy-duty duct tape. You know, the silver kind? Threw that in the cart thinking “backup plan”. Drove back home feeling less confident.

Operation “Hinge Everything”

Laid two sheets side-by-side again. Positioned a hinge right along the seam edge. Marked the holes, busted out the power drill. Pre-drilled holes through the plywood edge – super important, this thick stuff splits easy. Screwed the hinge onto one sheet, then aligned it carefully and screwed it onto the neighboring sheet. Tightened everything down good. Tested it. Held! The hinge let the panels fold up, but held them together side-to-side when flat. Did this for every freaking seam line across every row. My drill was practically smoking. Wrists were toast.

• Connected panels in each row first.
• Then needed to connect the rows themselves. Panels are long, rows are wide. Needed connectors between rows.

Used more hinges along the end seams where the rows met. Same drill – mark, pre-drill, screw hinge to one row’s end panel, screw the other flap to the next row’s starting panel. Tedious? You betcha. Took basically the whole afternoon. Sunburn city.

The Feet Fiasco & Sweaty Victory

Now it wasn’t sliding apart, but man, sitting directly on grass? Uneven as heck. Remember those plastic protectors? Glued a bunch to the bottom of each panel with crazy strong construction adhesive. Let it cure overnight. Next day, flipped a panel. Those little feet sank right into the grass! Useless. Okay, back to garage. Found scrap pieces of that rubber-like flooring you get for garages. Cut small squares – maybe 4 inches by 4 inches. Glued THOSE to the bottom instead, right under where the hinges were to spread weight. Flipped it back. SUPPORT! Stable! Did this for every single panel. Arms were jelly lifting those sheets.

Final Stretch & Duct Tape Savior

Got the whole thing assembled. Felt solid! Mostly flat! Celebrated with cold tap water. Until… a few panels along one edge didn’t sit perfectly flush. Tiny lip. Tripping hazard. Not risking broken ankles. Whipped out the duct tape. That silver superhero. Taped over the slight lip between those panels real good. Not pretty, but safe. Made a mental note to maybe plane that edge later. Yeah, later.

Test drove it. Jumped, stomped, pretended to spike. The hinges held. The rubber feet didn’t sink much. Panels stayed put. Was it professional? Nope. Perfectly flat? Eh, close enough for backyard standards. Removable? Hell yeah, just unlatch the hinges at the ends and fold the rows up. Heavy? Unbelievably. Definitely a two-person lift per section.

Learned a ton. Assumptions = bad. Hinges = unexpectedly genius. Lumber is HEAVY. Duct tape fixes (almost) anything. Now, who’s up for a game?