Okay, so I’ve been wanting to redo my living room floor for, like, forever. The old carpet was just gross, and I was dreaming of something… different. I saw this picture online of this amazing, springy dance floor, and I thought, “I want THAT!” Of course, mine wouldn’t be a real dance floor, but I wanted that feel. So, I started digging into how to make it happen. That’s where the whole “keel dancing rubber tree assembly wooden flooring” thing came into play.

The Plan (Such As It Was)

First, I spent hours looking at pictures and reading stuff online. Turns out, real dance floors have this whole complicated substructure. Lots of talk about “keels” and “resilient layers.” It seemed way over my head, honestly.

I figured the “rubber tree” part probably meant some kind of rubber underlayment. I’d seen that at the hardware store before, used for soundproofing and stuff. So that seemed doable.

The “assembly” part… well, that was just putting it all together, right? And “wooden flooring” – that was the easy bit! I could pick out pretty wood.

Gathering the Stuff

So, first, I ripped up that nasty old carpet. That was a workout! Underneath was just plain old plywood subfloor. Pretty standard.

Next, I went to the hardware store. I got a bunch of rolls of this thick, rubbery underlayment. It wasn’t exactly “rubber tree,” but it was close enough, I figured. It felt nice and bouncy.

Then came the “keel” part. I didn’t want to build anything super complicated, so I decided to just use some wooden strips. I got a pile of 1x2s – basically, just long, thin pieces of wood. My idea was to lay them out like a grid, to give the floor some extra support and that “springy” feel.

Finally, I picked out the actual flooring. I went with this pre-finished engineered wood. It looked nice, and it was supposed to be easy to install – click-together stuff. Thank goodness, because I am NOT a carpenter.

Putting It All Together (aka Controlled Chaos)

First, I laid down the rubber underlayment. I just rolled it out and cut it to fit the room. Easy peasy.

Then came the “keels.” I laid out the 1x2s in a grid pattern, spacing them about a foot apart. I used some construction adhesive to glue them down to the rubber. It was kind of messy, and I definitely got glue on myself. More than once.

• Tip: Wear gloves! And maybe old clothes.

Once the glue was (mostly) dry, it was time for the flooring. This was the scary part. But, it actually went pretty smoothly! The click-together stuff really was pretty easy. I just started in one corner and worked my way across the room. It took a while, but it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

The Result (and a Few Oopsies)

Okay, so… it’s not perfect. It’s definitely not a professional dance floor. But, it does have a nice, slightly bouncy feel to it! It’s way better than the old carpet, that’s for sure.

• There are a couple of spots where the floor feels a little… uneven. I think maybe I didn’t get the 1x2s perfectly level. Oops.
• The glue smell lingered for a while. I should have opened the windows more.

Overall, though, I’m pretty happy with it! It was a lot of work, but it was totally worth it. And I learned a lot! Next time (if there is a next time), I might try to be a little more precise with the “keel” part. But for now, I’m just going to enjoy my new, slightly-springy, definitely-not-a-carpet living room floor!