Okay, let’s get started with my experience installing the LVL basketball engineer board assembled wooden flooring.

So, I decided to redo the flooring in my home gym, and I wanted something that could really take a beating. I’ve got kids, we play a lot of indoor sports, and the old floor was just… sad. After a lot of looking around, I landed on this LVL basketball engineered wood flooring. It seemed tough, and the assembled boards looked like they’d make the install easier.

Getting Started

First thing, I cleared out the entire room. Everything had to go. This was a full-on renovation, not just a little touch-up.

Then came the scary part: checking the subfloor. My house is a bit older, so I was worried. Luckily, it was mostly level. There were a couple of dips, so I used some self-leveling compound to smooth things out. That stuff is messy, but it does the trick. I let it dry completely, following the instructions on the bucket – super important!

Laying the Floor

Next up, I rolled out the underlayment. This is like a thin foam layer that goes between the subfloor and the new wood. It helps with sound and a bit of cushioning. I taped the seams together to keep it from shifting around.

Now for the main event: laying the boards. These things were big, but because they were pre-assembled, it went way faster than I expected. I started along the longest wall, leaving a little gap for expansion (the instructions mentioned this, and I didn’t want to mess that up!).

• Click and lock. The boards had this click-and-lock system, which was pretty satisfying. You just line them up, angle one into the other, and click – they’re connected.
• Stagger the seams. To make sure the floor looks good, you’ve gotta vary where the short ends of the boards meet, this way it looks much better.
• Keep it straight. I used a long level and some string to create the lines, to make sure my first row was perfectly straight. If that first row is off, the whole floor will be crooked.

The first row I spent a lot of time to make sure it is perfectly straight, it sets the tune for the rest.

I kept going, row by row, clicking and locking the boards together. For the edges, I had to cut some boards to fit. I used a circular saw for the long cuts and a jigsaw for any weird angles around doorways.

Finishing Up

Once all the boards were down, I installed the baseboards. These cover up that expansion gap and give the room a finished look. I nailed them to the wall, not the floor – another tip from the instructions!

Finally, I cleaned up everything. There was sawdust everywhere! I vacuumed and then wiped down the floor with a damp cloth.

It took me a couple of weekends, but the new floor looks amazing! It’s solid, it feels great underfoot, and I’m confident it can handle whatever my family throws at it. Plus, I did it myself, which is always a good feeling.