Getting Started

So my living room carpet had these giant coffee stains that just wouldn’t come out no matter how much I scrubbed. Decided it was finally time to upgrade to wooden flooring. Ordered that dancing maple stuff after seeing it online – looked real nice in the pictures.

Tools & Materials Hunt

Dragged myself to the hardware store early Saturday morning. Grabbed:

• Wooden planks – said dancing maple on the box
• Foam underlay rolls
• Measuring tape
• Tapping block with matching hammer
• Pack of spacers

The store guy promised it was beginner friendly. Should’ve known better when he winked.

The Tear-Down Drama

Ripped out that nasty carpet first thing. Took forever pulling up staples and tack strips. Found a surprise underneath – uneven concrete patches and random wires sticking out. Had to spend hours scraping gunk off the floor with a putty knife. My knees were killing me by lunchtime.

Underlay Mess

Unrolled that foam underlay across the room. Looked simple enough till I realized I had to cut around door frames and corners. Ended up crawling everywhere trimming edges with kitchen scissors. Halfway through my cat decides it’s her new napping spot. Left little claw holes everywhere.

Plank Puzzle

Started laying the planks near the window wall like the instructions said. First row snapped together easy. Got cocky. Second row wouldn’t lock right – had to slam that tapping block so hard neighbors probably thought I was building furniture with a wrecking ball. Dropped my hammer right on a plank. Big fat dent. Hid it under the TV stand later.

Cutting Nightmares

When I hit the closet area, needed custom cuts. Measured three times, drew my line, clamped down the plank. Saw blade chewed through the wood like a hungry beaver. Ends came out all splintery and rough. After five messed up cuts, started shoving the ugly ends into corners. Good thing baseboards cover mistakes.

Finally Finished

Took three weekends and way too much coffee. Sweating buckets when I hammered in that last plank near the door. Installed the baseboards to hide my crappy edge cuts. Stepped back – holy moly it actually looked decent! Few gaps here and there, but I threw down a rug to hide the worst spots.

Moral of the Story

My back still hurts, but now I’ve got a floor that doesn’t smell like old coffee anymore. Next time maybe I’ll pay someone else to do it. Or get vinyl stickers that look like wood. Yeah, that sounds better.