How This Whole Volleyball Flooring Project Started

So my kid’s been obsessed with volleyball lately. Practicing bumps and sets right there on the backyard patio concrete. Man, you could hear those thuds halfway down the street. Plus, she started complaining about her knees hurting. Knew we had to do something softer. Did some digging online, saw people talking about shock-absorbing wood flooring specially made for this stuff. Seemed perfect.

Getting Stuck In & Gathering the Goods

Settled on this soft maple stuff. Sounded fancy but the seller promised it was tough enough for sports and easier to install than regular hardwood. Ordered all the planks – man, that pile looked intimidating when it showed up. Got my gear ready too:

• A rubber mallet (like a giant squeaky hammer thing)
• Some measuring tape (borrowed the neighbor’s, mine’s always MIA)
• Levels… because nothing’s worse than a wobbly floor, right?
• Pencil stubs for marking stuff
• A circular saw borrowed from Uncle Sal (thanks, Sal!)
• And this special foam underlayment that came with it – supposed to be the secret sauce for absorbing shocks.

The Actual Putting-It-Together Part (Messy!)

Started by clearing off the patio space. Swept like crazy, got all the pebbles and leaves out of the way. Rolled out that foam underlayment first. Feels kind of like a giant yoga mat. Made sure it lay flat – no wrinkles! Then came the tricky bit with the planks. They click together side-by-side. Had to start in one corner, tapping gently with the mallet along the groove. Felt pretty good when that first row clicked in tight.

Second row… here’s where I kinda screwed up. Got excited, hammered too hard. One plank’s corner snapped! Tried to hide it in the middle, but it still looked wonky. Had to undo like three planks. Learned my lesson: gentle taps only, dummy! Measuring the gaps at the edges was a pain too. Forgot those expansion gaps they mention in the instructions. Had to shimmy a whole section over an inch. Sweaty work!

The angled cuts around the edges? Thank goodness for Uncle Sal’s saw. Measured twice (sometimes three times!), cut once. Mostly worked. Had one piece that needed a little sandpaper touch-up. Had to use this special plastic spacer tool to keep gaps even along the walls. Forgot it once, and the gap looked huge. More sweat!

The Good Stuff & The Final Touch

What surprised me was how solid it felt when the whole thing started coming together. Like, properly locked in and flat. That clicking sound when planks join is super satisfying. Near the end, I saw the instructions mentioned using this adhesive on the tongue-and-groove edges. Didn’t see that part earlier! Panicked a little. Grabbed the bottle it came with, lifted up the few planks I hadn’t fully clicked down yet, and squeezed some glue in there. Probably overdid it, little glue bubbles squished out. Wiped it quick.

Once all the planks were down, double-checked the shock pads under the foam through the seams. Made sure they hadn’t bunched up. Gave the whole thing a stomp. Felt springy! No more concrete thud. Left it alone overnight for the glue to set properly.

What Happened Next?

Next day, the kid came home from school. Told her to give it a test bounce. She dropped the ball… and it actually bounced properly! No ear-splitting noise. She did a pretend jump serve, landed fine. Grinning ear to ear. Knees seem happier too now when she practices. Is it pro-level? Nah. Does it have a couple of slightly uneven gaps where I messed up? Yeah, maybe. But it works. Ball bounces right, knees don’t ache, neighbors haven’t complained about the noise since. Good enough for me!