Alright, let me walk you through my experience installing that shock-absorbing pine volleyball floor in my garage. Buckle up – it got messy.

The Big Setup Mess

First off, I cleared out all the junk from my garage. Took me three full weekends just to haul old paint cans and bike parts to the curb. Swept concrete dust everywhere – even found a dead mouse behind some boxes. Gross.

Pine Planks Drama

Ordered these raw pine planks online, right? Showed up looking like a lumberjack threw them down a mountain. Dents everywhere. Had to return two batches before getting decent ones. Sanded each plank by hand wearing this crappy dust mask that kept slipping off.

My tools for cutting:

• This wobbly circular saw that nearly took my thumb off twice
• A tape measure I’ve had since high school
• Half-dried wood glue that oozed like snot

Foam Layer Nightmare

Bought shock foam pads that were supposed to interlock. Did they? Hell no. Spent hours trimming edges with kitchen scissors when my utility knife snapped. Foam bits stuck to everything like glitter. Meanwhile my neighbor kept asking why my garage smelled like a rubber factory.

Sweating Over Assembly

Laid foam first – bounced around like an idiot testing it. Felt like walking on marshmallows. Started nailing planks sideways at 45-degree angles. Missed the nail heads so many times I put five extra holes in the first row. My drill battery died halfway through.

The Endless Finishing

Stained the whole thing walnut brown. Turned out blotchy because I wiped too fast in some spots. Sealed it with polyurethane that made me dizzy for two days – had to keep the garage door open during a rainstorm. Almost slipped face-first into wet varnish.

Final thoughts: Bounced a volleyball after it dried – thing flew three feet high on the first tap. Knees don’t hurt anymore when my kid spikes it wrong. Worth every splinter and chemical high? Yeah. Would I do it again? Only if someone pays me triple.