Okay, here’s my blog post about putting in some new wooden flooring:

So, the wife wanted new flooring in the spare bedroom. You know, the one that’s basically a storage room/dumping ground? Yeah, that one. She’d picked out this nice-looking engineered wood, and I figured, “How hard could it be?” Famous last words, right?

First things first, I cleared out the room. That was a workout in itself! Boxes of old photos, forgotten exercise equipment, you name it. It all got piled up in the hallway, making the house look like a hoarder’s paradise.

Next up, I dealt with the old flooring. It took a good hour and prying up. I managed to rip a hole in my jeans, so that was fun.

Then came the underlayment. I’d opted for these cushioned, rubbery mats that looked a lot like gymnastics stuff, meant to keep the floor from squeaking, or “dancing” as the wife calls it, when you walk on it, and to provide a little extra padding underfoot. Rolling that out was pretty straightforward. I just unrolled it, cut it to size with a utility knife, and taped the seams together. Easy peasy.

The Real Work Begins

Now for the actual wooden flooring. I started by laying out a few rows without any glue or nails, just to get a feel for the pattern and make sure I wasn’t going to end up with tiny, awkward pieces at the edges of the room. This is where that “measure twice, cut once” saying really comes into play.

I used a chalk line to mark a straight starting point, then I got to work. Each plank had this tongue-and-groove system, so they were supposed to just click together. “Supposed to” being the key phrase here.

• I applied a thin line of wood glue to the groove of each plank.
• Then, I slotted it into the tongue of the previous plank.
• Sounds easy, right?

It wasn’t always easy. Some of those planks were stubborn. I ended up using a tapping block and a rubber mallet to “persuade” them into place. Let’s just say there was some colorful language involved.

Row by row, I worked my way across the room. Cutting the planks to fit around the door frame and the closet was a bit tricky. I used a jigsaw for those cuts, and thankfully, I didn’t mess up too badly. Measure twice, cut once really is good suggestion.

Finally, after a few hours of sweat and maybe a few tears (just kidding…mostly), I got the last plank in place. I stood back to admire my handiwork, and you know what? It actually looked pretty good! Not perfect, mind you, but definitely good enough for a spare bedroom.

I added some quarter-round trim around the edges to cover the expansion gap, and that really finished it off nicely. The wife was happy, which is the main thing. And hey, I learned a new skill. Plus, I got to use power tools. Always a win.