Okay, here’s my blog post about my “keel dancing sleeper wooden flooring” project:

So, I wanted to put down some nice wooden flooring in my spare room. I’d seen some cool designs, and I figured, “How hard could it be?” Turns out, harder than I thought, but still totally doable! I decided to go with this “keel dancing sleeper” method I’d read about. It sounded fancy, and like it would give a really solid, stable floor.

First, I cleared out the room completely. Everything had to go. Then, I checked the subfloor. It was pretty level, which was a good start, but I still used a self-leveling compound in a couple of low spots. Just poured it on and let it dry. Easy peasy.

Next up was the “keel” part. I got these wooden beams – I guess you’d call them sleepers? – and laid them out across the floor. The idea is that they create a framework for the actual floorboards to sit on. I spaced them out evenly, using some spacers I made from scrap wood. I was very serious about making the space the same.

Here’s where the “dancing” part comes in, I think. I had to make sure the sleepers were all perfectly level with each other. I used a long spirit level and tapped the sleepers with a rubber mallet, adding shims (little wedges of wood) underneath where needed. This took a while, to be honest. Lots of adjusting and checking and re-adjusting. But I got there eventually!

Once the sleepers were all sorted, I started laying the floorboards. I chose a nice, light-colored wood. Starting from one wall, I fitted the boards together, using the tongue-and-groove system. I was using the hammer to knocked them very tight.

• Cut the boards to size when I reached the end of a row.
• Staggered the joints in each row, to make the floor stronger and look better.
• Left a small gap around the edges of the room, for expansion.

After all the boards were down, I nailed them to the sleepers. Some people use screws, but I went with nails. I used a nail gun, which made things a lot quicker. And, I have to be honest it feels good to use it.

Finally, I filled any gaps, sanded the whole floor down to make it nice and smooth, and applied a few coats of varnish. That was it! Job done.

It took me a couple of weekends, and my knees were definitely complaining by the end, but I’m really happy with how it turned out. It feels solid underfoot, and it looks great. Plus, I did it myself, which is always satisfying. If you’re thinking of doing something similar, I’d say go for it! Just be prepared to put in the time and effort.