Why bother with fancy volleyball floors?

Was watching my neighbor’s kid limping after practice last week. Hard concrete court wrecking their knees. Figured I’d slap together something shock-absorbing using hevea wood scraps leftover from my shed project.

Grabbing junk from the garage

Dug out these warped hevea planks collecting dust behind my lawnmower. Cut ’em with my rusty circular saw – took forever cause the blade kept binding. Measured court dimensions wrong twice before finally marking lines with neon chalk.

The sloppy assembly line

Step 1: Threw foam padding strips between joists like stuffing Thanksgiving turkey. Half the adhesive tubes were dried up so I nailed corners down like Frankenstein stitches.

Step 2: Laid planks diagonally cause “why not”. Sanded uneven spots with 60-grit paper – damn near started a sawdust blizzard in my backyard.

Testing phase disaster

Made my kid jump on it while filming with my shaky phone. First bounce sent splinters flying – had to pull one outta his calf with tweezers. Replaced three planks after finding termite holes. Slapped wood filler like spreading peanut butter.

Sweaty finale

Finished coating it with bargain-bin polyurethane. Brush hairs kept sticking in the finish but whatever. When the team tested it? Ball didn’t bounce right for first 20 minutes till the poly cured sticky. Now? That thud sound when players land? Like pillows fighting. Knees ain’t screaming no more.

Lesson learned

• Measure ten times cut once
• Warped wood needs industrial planer
• Never trust dried adhesive tubes

Whole project cost less than dinner buffet. Still got glue fingerprints on my jeans. Worth it.