Okay, so I’ve been wanting to redo my floors for, like, forever. Finally got around to it this weekend. I went with this hard maple – super pretty, light color. But the real trick, I learned, is all in the prep work. My old floor was this gross, old carpet… so, yeah, first step: RIP that thing out!

Getting Started: Demo Day!

Pulled up the carpet, the padding underneath (which was, honestly, even nastier), and all those little tack strips around the edges. Used a pry bar and a hammer – pretty straightforward, just a bit of elbow grease. Made a HUGE mess, though. Definitely wear a mask for this part; dust and who-knows-what-else flying everywhere.

Next up, was cleaning the subfloor. My subfloor is concrete, so it involved scraping the old adhesive, sweeping multiple time, and I vacuumed like three times just to be sure. I even mopped it to have a clean canvas to start!

Cushion Time: The Underlayment

• I picked up this underlayment – it’s like a thin foam, almost like a yoga mat, but tougher.
• The guy at the store said it helps with sound dampening (major plus, since I live in an apartment) and also makes the floor feel a little… bouncier? Softer underfoot, I guess.
• Rolling it out was easy. Just butted the edges together and taped them down with this special underlayment tape.

Laying the Maple: Click-Lock Chaos

This maple flooring I got has this “click-lock” system. Supposed to be super easy. “Supposed to be” being the key words there. The first few rows were a battle. Getting those little tongues and grooves to line up perfectly… ugh. I used tapping block, and rubber mallet to protect those edges, took time to get them all lined up nice.

Once I got the hang of it, it went a little faster. But still, it’s like a giant, wooden jigsaw puzzle. And if one piece is slightly off, the whole row gets messed up. Lots of tapping, adjusting, and maybe a few curse words thrown in for good measure. I start from the longest wall, left some expansion gap.

Finishing Touches and Feeling Accomplished

After what felt like a million hours, I got all the planks down. Trim went on around the edges to cover up the expansion gaps (which you NEED, by the way – wood expands and contracts with temperature changes). A quick sweep and… done! Vacuumed a final time.

Honestly, it looks AMAZING. Way better than that old carpet. And it does feel surprisingly… cushiony? Like, it’s hard maple, but it’s not hard hard, you know? The underlayment really makes a difference. My feet are happy, my ears are happy (neighbors, too, probably), and I’m feeling pretty darn proud of myself for tackling this project.