Okay, so the other day I decided to tackle this project – putting together a wooden floor using rubber, volleyballs, and plywood. Sounds crazy, I know, but I had this vision…

First, I gathered all my materials. I had a bunch of old volleyballs lying around that were pretty deflated, some sheets of plywood I got from the hardware store, and this heavy-duty rubber mat I found online. The idea was to create a kind of shock-absorbing, textured floor.

Getting Started

I started by cutting the plywood into smaller, manageable squares. I think they were about 2 feet by 2 feet, but I didn’t really measure, just eyeballed it. I used my old circular saw, it is old, but usefull. After cutting the pieces, some of the edges weren’t great at all, so it was a bit rough.

The Volleyball Layer

Next up, the volleyballs. I sliced them in half – this was actually the hardest part, trying to get a clean cut through the rubber. Some of them got pretty messed up, but it was okay because only one side needed to look decent. Once I had a pile of volleyball halves, I started gluing them, cut-side down, onto the plywood squares. I just used regular construction adhesive, the kind that comes in a big tube. I slathered it on pretty thick to make sure they’d really stick.

• Cut plywood into squares.
• Slice volleyballs in half.
• Glue volleyball halves to plywood.

Adding the Rubber

After the glue dried (I gave it a good 24 hours, just to be sure), I moved on to the rubber layer. I rolled out the rubber mat and cut it into squares the same size as the plywood. Then, I flipped the plywood pieces over so the volleyballs were facing down, and glued the rubber mat to the back of the plywood. Again, lots of adhesive!

Putting It All Together

Once everything was dry, I started laying out the squares on the floor. I didn’t glue them down or anything, just placed them next to each other. The rubber backing gave them a bit of grip, so they didn’t slide around too much. It was kind of like putting together a giant, weird puzzle.

Honestly, the finished product is… interesting. It’s definitely bouncy! Walking on it feels a little strange, like you’re on a mini-trampoline. My kids absolutely love it, though. They’ve been bouncing all over it since I finished. It’s not exactly what I pictured in my head, but it’s definitely unique, and it was a fun project to do. I might need to add some kind of trim around the edges to make it look a little neater, but for now, I’m calling it a success!