Alright, let’s talk about this flooring project I tackled. Called it my ‘rubber dancing lvl larch assembly’ thing, mostly because the subfloor was all over the place and needed some serious leveling – felt like I was dancing around trying to get it right. And yeah, decided on larch wood for the top layer.

Getting Started – The Prep Work

First things first, had to clear out the room completely. Man, you forget how much stuff you have until you move it all. Once empty, I got a good look at the subfloor. It was concrete, but definitely not flat. Had high spots, low spots… a real mess. That’s where the ‘dancing level’ part came in. Spent a good while sorting that out, trying to get it reasonably even. Didn’t want the new floor bouncing, you know?

Then, the ‘rubber’ part. I decided to put down a rubber underlayment. Heard it was good for sound, felt a bit softer underfoot, and helped smooth out tiny imperfections I might have missed. Picked up a few rolls of that, along with the larch planks. Let the wood sit in the room for a few days, piled up neat. They say you gotta let it get used to the house temperature and humidity. Seemed sensible.

Laying it Down – Rubber and Wood

Rolling out the rubber underlayment was pretty straightforward. Started at one end, rolled it across, cut it with a utility knife. Made sure the edges butted up nice and tight against each other, used some special tape to seal the seams. Took an afternoon but wasn’t too bad.

Next day, started on the larch. This was the main event. Carefully laid the first row along the longest wall. Used spacers against the wall – gotta leave a little gap for the wood to expand and shrink, learned that the hard way on a previous job. These planks had a tongue and groove system. So, it was angle the next plank in, tap it down, move to the next one. Repetitive work, but kind of satisfying seeing the floor grow across the room.

• Measured and cut the last plank for each row using a basic hand saw. Took my time with the cuts.
• Made sure to stagger the joints between rows. Didn’t want all the ends lining up, looks weird and isn’t as strong.
• Some planks were a bit stubborn, needed a bit more persuasion to lock together tight.
• Got into a rhythm: lay a few planks, measure, cut, repeat.

Had a tricky bit around the door frame. Needed some careful cutting there, kind of notched it out. Took a couple tries to get it right, but managed it in the end. The last row was also a bit fiddly, had to trim the planks lengthwise to fit, leaving that same expansion gap.

Finishing Up

Once all the larch was down, I pulled out the spacers. Then, installed new baseboards all around the room. This hides that expansion gap neatly and gives it a finished look. Nailed those into the wall, not the floor obviously.

Finally, gave the whole floor a good sweep and then a proper clean. Stood back and looked. Yeah, pretty happy with how it turned out. The larch has a nice warm feel, and the floor feels solid underfoot, no creaks or bounces. That ‘rubber dancing level’ prep paid off, I guess. Took a weekend and a bit, lot of kneeling, but worth it to do it myself.