Okay, let me walk you through this flooring project I just wrapped up. The idea was to get something down that felt good underfoot, especially for moving around, almost like a dance floor vibe but, you know, in the living room. So, parquet wood it was, but with a twist – a rubber underlay.

Getting Started – The Prep Work

First thing, gotta get the old flooring out. That was a bit of a pain, pulling up old carpet and those nasty staples. Then, the subfloor. It wasn’t terrible, but definitely needed some attention. I spent a good chunk of time just cleaning it up, getting rid of dust and little bits of debris. You really want a clean slate for this stuff.

Then I checked how level it was. Used a long level, found a few low spots. Didn’t go crazy with self-leveling compound, just used a bit of patch filler here and there to smooth things out. You don’t want the wood rocking later, right?

Rolling Out the Rubber

Now for the interesting bit: the rubber underlay. I picked this specifically because I heard it gives a bit of bounce and helps with sound. Felt right for that ‘dancing parquet’ idea I had in my head. This stuff came in rolls. I just rolled it out across the room, making sure the edges butted up nicely against each other. I used some special tape, the kind they recommend for underlay, to join the seams. Pretty straightforward, just roll, cut to size at the walls, and tape.

• Clean subfloor thoroughly.
• Check for levelness, patch if needed.
• Unroll rubber underlayment.
• Cut neatly along walls.
• Tape the seams properly.

Assembling the Parquet Wood

Alright, the main event: laying the wooden parquet. I went with an engineered wood, click-lock system. Supposedly easier for DIY folks like me. I let the wood boxes sit in the room for a couple of days first, letting them get used to the temperature and humidity. They say it stops them warping later. Sounds legit.

Starting was the trickiest part. You need to get that first row perfectly straight along the longest wall, leaving a little gap for expansion. Used spacers for that. Then it was just click and lock. Piece by piece. The parquet pattern meant I had smaller squares or rectangles to handle, not long planks, which was kinda nice actually. Easier to manage.

Cutting pieces for the edges and around corners? Okay, that took some patience. Measuring twice (sometimes three times!), cutting carefully with a jigsaw. Lots of back and forth. The last row was also a bit fiddly, needed to rip the pieces down to the right width. But you get into a rhythm. Click, tap, next piece. It started coming together pretty fast once I got the hang of it.

Finishing Touches

Once all the wood was down, I pulled out the spacers from the edges. Then came the skirting boards, or baseboards, whatever you call them. Measured, cut the angles, nailed them in place. This hides that expansion gap you left earlier and just makes everything look finished and tidy.

Gave the whole floor a good clean-up, vacuumed up all the sawdust. Stepped back and looked. Yeah, looked pretty sharp. The parquet pattern is classic, looks really smart.

And the feel? The rubber underlay definitely makes a difference. It’s solid, but has this slight give to it. Not bouncy like a trampoline, obviously, but just… softer? Quieter too. Makes walking around, or yeah, even doing a silly little dance move, feel pretty good. So, mission accomplished on the ‘rubber dancing parquet’. Took some elbow grease, but totally worth it.