Okay, here’s my attempt at a blog post, following your instructions and example style:

Alright, so I’ve been meaning to get a decent volleyball court set up in my backyard for ages. I finally took the plunge and decided to go with one of those batten-system, maple portable wooden floors. Let me tell you, it was a journey!

The Prep Work

First, I cleared out a big, flat-ish area in the yard. This involved a lot of raking, moving some rocks, and generally just making sure the ground was as level as possible. It wasn’t perfectly flat, but I figured the batten system would help with that.

Then came ordering. I spent a good chunk of time just comparing different options online, that makes me dizzy. Finally, I picked one that seemed like a good balance of price and quality (fingers crossed!).

Unboxing and… Confusion

When the stuff arrived, it was a MOUNTAIN of boxes. Seriously, I felt like I was building a small house. I opened everything up, laid out all the pieces, and… promptly got confused. There were so many wooden panels and these weird batten things. The instructions were okay, I spent some time to figure out.

Putting It Together

The basic idea is you lay down these plastic batten strips, and then the maple floor panels slot into them. It’s supposed to be “easy” and “tool-free.” Hah! It wasn’t hard, but it definitely took some elbow grease.

• • I started by laying out the batten strips in a grid pattern. This took some measuring and adjusting to get it right.
  • Then, I began snapping in the floor panels. This was the satisfying part, hearing that click as they locked into place.
  • Repeat, repeat, repeat. It was a lot of bending over and snapping things together. My back was NOT happy with me by the end of it.

I made error, the edge of panels were not aligned. I have to redo some of panels

The Finished Product (Finally!)

After a few hours of sweat and maybe a few curse words, it was DONE. And you know what? It actually looked pretty darn good! The maple surface was smooth and even, and the whole thing felt solid underfoot.

I grabbed my volleyball and tested it out. The bounce was great, and it felt like a real court. I’m definitely looking forward to getting some games going on this thing.

Was it worth the effort? Yeah, I think so. It’s a huge upgrade from playing on the grass. Would I do it again? Maybe. Ask me again after I’ve had to move it a few times!