Alright, folks, today’s project was a real doozy. I wanted this solid, good-feeling volleyball court in my backyard, but I also needed it gone sometimes, you know? For mowing, or maybe setting up tents when the kids want to camp. Permanent concrete slab? Nah, too permanent, too pricey. Those big temporary systems? Way outta my budget. So, removable wooden flooring was the plan.

Getting Stuck In

First things first, I had to figure out what wood to even use. Regular decking? Felt too thin, wouldn’t feel solid enough for volleyball. Treated lumber? Too heavy, a pain to move later. Then I remembered seeing these solid tongue-and-groove planks used for stages. Ding ding! Hardwood, super dense, designed to handle people jumping on it. Found a local guy selling a bunch of salvaged pieces – score!

But here’s where it got messy. The wood was rough. Like, really rough. Splinter city. Spent a whole weekend just sanding. Sanding until my arms felt like noodles. Dust everywhere. My garage looked like a sawdust bomb went off. Worth it, though, because finally, the wood felt smooth, ready for sealing.

The Building Bit

Okay, panels. Needed panels I could lug around. Sized them kinda small – 4 feet by 6 feet. Because seriously, any bigger and they’d be impossible to lift. Made little frames for each panel using sturdy 2x4s. Measured twice, cut once… mostly. Still messed up a few cuts, had to redo ’em.

• Assembled the frames on my driveway, used screws not nails – gotta hold together when moving.
• Laid the sanded hardwood planks down across the frame, snugging the tongue-and-groove tight.
• Banged them into place with a mallet and a scrap wood block – didn’t want to splinter my nice sanded wood!
• Screwed each plank down solid into the frame from underneath, heads sunk deep so they wouldn’t scrape later.

Sealed everything with a thick, weatherproof finish. Didn’t want the wood soaking up water and rotting. Took ages to dry.

The Real Test: Making it Work

Finally moved the panels onto the patch I cleared in the yard. Ground wasn’t perfectly flat – surprise, surprise. Had to wrestle with them, shifting dirt around under the frames to get rid of wobbles. Sweating buckets doing that.

Then came the big moment. Snapped the panels together using heavy-duty latch things I bolted to the sides. Clack, clack, clack. Felt good! Jumped on it myself. Solid! No bounce spots, no weird noises. Grabbed a volleyball and smacked it down. It sprung off the wood just right. Not like concrete harsh, not like grass dead. Just a nice, responsive smack.

After everyone played, unclipped the latches. Lifted one end of a panel… surprisingly not too heavy, even with the dense wood! Carried them one by one to the side of the garage where I stacked them flat on pallets. Ground underneath? Ready to mow. Perfect.

Honestly, more work than I planned? Yeah, definitely. Sanding alone nearly broke me. But seeing those panels click together into a proper court, then disappear when needed? That felt awesome. Kids were lining up to play this afternoon.