Okay, here’s my blog post about putting in some batten dancing oak wooden flooring:

Alright, so I decided to tackle a flooring project in my spare room. I’ve always liked the look of that “dancing oak” – you know, the kind with the varied grain and color. And I figured, “How hard could it be to lay down some battens and get it all sorted?” Famous last words, maybe, but here’s how it went down.

Prepping the Space

First things first, I cleared out the entire room. Everything. Furniture, rugs, the random junk that accumulates in corners… all of it had to go. Then came the not-so-fun part: checking the subfloor. It was mostly level, thankfully, but I did find a few dips. Nothing major, so I grabbed some self-leveling compound and filled those in. Waited for that to dry… which felt like forever.

Getting the Battens Down

Next up, the battens. I used simple pine ones, nothing fancy. The key here, I learned, is to make sure they’re spaced correctly. I measured and marked everything out on the subfloor, then used a nail gun to secure the battens. I will admit that my lines were not perfect, the nail gun help me a lot.

Laying the Flooring

With the battens in place, it was time for the actual flooring. I started in one corner, carefully placing the first board. One thing, each board has a groove, so each board can lock together tightly.

The first few rows were a bit slow, as I was getting the hang of it. But once I got into a rhythm, it went pretty smoothly. I just kept clicking the boards together, making sure each one was snug against the last. Of course, I hit a few snags. The edges of the room, where I had to cut the boards to fit – that was tricky. I messed up a few cuts, but hey, that’s part of the learning process, right?

The Finishing Touches

After all the flooring was down, I installed some baseboards to cover the gaps around the edges. Chose a simple white trim, to match the walls. A little bit of caulk to fill in any cracks, and… done!

Then, put all my furniture, rugs, the random junk back.

Honestly, it took longer than I expected. And my back definitely felt it the next day. But standing back and looking at the finished floor? Totally worth it. It looks great, and I did it myself. Can’t beat that feeling.