Just last weekend I was staring at this plain concrete patch in my backyard, right? The same spot where my volleyball kept rolling into the rose bushes. Every. Single. Time. Annoying as heck. I figured, enough is enough – time for some proper shock absorbing volleyball flooring.

The Mad Idea Strikes

Remembered seeing these interlocking wood floor tiles somewhere online. Beech wood. Supposed to be tough, good for impact. Sounded perfect. Went straight to the hardware store, grabbed several boxes of those beech wood interlocking tiles. Boxes felt heavier than I expected, almost dropped ’em right there in the parking lot! Got some thick, dense foam pads too – the shock absorbing part. Looked like giant spongy puzzle pieces.

Plot Twist: The Ground Wasn’t Flat

Got home all pumped up. Dragged everything out back. Started cleaning the concrete spot. Swept hard, even hosed it down. Let it dry. Laid out the foam pads first. That’s when I saw it. The concrete wasn’t level. Like, at all. One corner dipped down like it was avoiding sunlight. Crap. My fancy foam pads were rocking like a wobbly table leg. Huge pain.

Scratched my head, stared at the uneven mess. Thought about giving up. Nah. Back to the garage. Found these plastic shims left over from god-knows-what project. Thin plastic wedges. Jammed those bad boys under the low corner of the foam pads. Stomped on it a few times. Rocking stopped! Felt like a genius for about five minutes.

Slapping It All Together

Now, the fun part – the beech wood tiles. Took the first one out. Solid little plank, smooth surface, smelled nice and woody. The edges had these grooves and tongues. Slipped Tile A into Tile B. Easy click. Okay, this is kinda satisfying.

• • Laid the first row along the long edge of the foam pads. Click. Click. Click. Felt good.

Hit the edge: Needed to cut one tile. Panicked a little. Pulled out the hand saw. Measured roughly, marked a line with a pencil. Tried sawing straight. Spoiler: It wasn’t straight. Ended up with a slightly chewed-looking end. Hid that ugly side against the fence. Phew.

Second row: Started laying the next row, offsetting the joints like brickwork. Kept clicking them together, tapping gently with a rubber mallet. THONK. THONK. My dog started barking at the noise. Great.

Sudden rain! Of course! Threw a tarp over everything. Waited an hour.

Came back, tossed the tarp aside. Sawdust stuck to the damp tiles. Sighed. Gave ’em a wipe with an old t-shirt.

The Grand (Slightly Crooked) Finale

Kept clicking tiles. Rows three, four. Sweating buckets by now. Finally laid the last one. Stepped back to admire my work. Okay, so it wasn’t perfectly square. Maybe drifted a smidge to the left near the shed. Close enough!

The real test: Bounced my volleyball. Hard. THUMP Felt solid, good rebound, but… softer? Held the ball, dropped it straight down from shoulder height. It hit the wood, gave a little, and bounced back cleanly. No harsh SMACK sound like concrete. The foam underneath was working! Felt that slight give. Success!

Took one step onto the court, felt that tiny cushion under my heel. Smiled like an idiot. My slightly wonky, shock absorbing beech wood volleyball floor was done. Got dirt on my knees, a slightly crooked cut, and a dog who thinks the mallet is evil. But hey, the ball stays out of the roses now. Totally worth the hassle.