Okay, so I’ve been wanting to redo my floors for, like, forever. The old carpet was just gross, and I was dreaming of this beautiful, warm wood look. I finally decided to take the plunge and go with assembled wooden flooring. The “cushions dancing maple” part? That’s just the color and style I picked – it’s got this lovely, light maple tone, and the “dancing” refers to the slightly varied grain pattern. It’s supposed to have some extra cushioning underneath, too, for comfort.

Getting Started

First things first, I ripped out that nasty old carpet. This was probably the most satisfying part, honestly. It was dusty and messy, but SO worth it. Underneath, I found the subfloor, which thankfully was in pretty good shape. Just a few spots that needed a little patching with some leveling compound.

Prep Work is Key (Ugh)

Then came the less fun part: prep. I swept and vacuumed the subfloor like a maniac. Seriously, any little speck of dust can mess things up later. I also checked for any squeaks in the subfloor and screwed down any loose boards. My knees were definitely feeling it after this!

After that I made sure that my subfloor are leveled, I noticed that there were some differences between some areas, so I did leveling work. It’s very important!

Laying Down the Underlayment

Since this flooring has that “cushion” feature, it came with a special underlayment. I rolled it out across the entire floor, making sure to overlap the seams a bit and tape them down. This part was actually pretty easy, and it already felt so much better than the bare subfloor.

The Click-Lock Magic

Now for the actual flooring! This stuff is “assembled,” which means it comes in planks that click together. No glue, no nails (mostly). I started in one corner of the room, laying down the first row of planks. The instructions said to leave a small gap around the edges of the room for expansion, so I used some little spacers to make sure I got that right.

The clicking part was surprisingly easy. You just line up the planks, angle one into the other, and then push down until you hear that satisfying “click.” It’s kind of like a giant puzzle. I worked my way across the room, row by row, cutting planks to fit at the ends with a saw. That was a little tricky, but I got the hang of it after a few tries.

• My hands got a little sore from all the clicking, but it was totally worth it.
• There’s a tapping block I have been use to tight them together.

The Finishing Touches

Once all the planks were down, I removed the spacers and installed baseboards around the edges of the room to cover that expansion gap. This really finished off the look. I also had to trim the door casings a bit so the flooring would fit underneath. It’s little details like that that make a big difference.

And… that’s it! I’m seriously obsessed with how it turned out. It’s so much brighter and cleaner than the old carpet, and the “cushions dancing maple” color is just perfect. It feels great underfoot, too – that extra cushioning really makes a difference. My living room have a compeletely new look now!

It was a lot of work, sure, but totally doable for a DIY project. If I can do it, you can too! Just take your time, follow the instructions, and don’t be afraid to get a little dusty.