So, we decided to put down some new flooring, the hard maple kind, you know, the sort they use for sports courts, like volleyball. It’s tough stuff. The project involved getting these wooden assembly panels or planks laid out properly.

Getting Started – The Prep Work

First thing, we had to clear the whole room out. Everything. Then, the big job was checking the subfloor. Ours was concrete. We spent a good while making sure it was clean – swept it, vacuumed it, then checked for any major low or high spots. You really gotta have it flat, or the wood floor will squeak or feel weird later.

We also checked the moisture level. That’s super important with wood. Don’t want it warping on you down the line. Used a simple moisture meter thingy.

Then, there was this rubber underlayment layer we put down first. We rolled it out across the whole floor. This stuff helps with sound and gives it a bit of cushion, good for jumping around like in volleyball, I guess. Made sure the seams were taped up nicely so nothing could sneak through.

Letting the Wood Settle In

Before actually laying the maple, we brought all the boxes of wood into the room. Stacked ’em up carefully, leaving space between stacks. You have to let the wood just sit there for several days, maybe a week depending on your place. It needs to get used to the temperature and humidity inside your house. Skipping this step is asking for trouble, seriously. The wood can shrink or swell later if you don’t.

Laying Down the Floor

Okay, the real work. We figured out which way we wanted the planks to run – usually along the longest wall. Snapped a chalk line to keep the first row dead straight. This first row is critical, mess it up and the whole floor looks wonky.

Putting in the First Row:

• We faced the tongue side of the planks towards the wall.
• Used some spacers between the first row and the wall. Wood needs room to expand, remember?
• Carefully nailed this first row down by hand near the wall where the floor nailer wouldn’t fit.

After that, it got faster. We used a pneumatic flooring nailer. You position it over the tongue of the plank, give it a whack with the mallet it comes with, and BAM – nail goes in at the perfect angle. It’s loud but pretty satisfying.

We worked row by row. Staggering the end joints of the planks is key, so it doesn’t look like a grid. Makes it stronger too. Cut the planks when we got to the end of a row using a chop saw. Used the leftover piece from the cut (if it was long enough) to start the next row sometimes. Saves wood.

It’s a bit like putting together a giant, heavy puzzle. Slotting the tongue into the groove, tapping it snug with a rubber mallet and a tapping block (just a piece of scrap wood works), then nailing it down. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Finishing Up

Took us a couple of days, mainly because we took our time measuring and cutting around a doorway, which was a bit fiddly. The last row was tricky too, often needed to rip it down to size on a table saw and face-nail it carefully.

Once all the maple was down, we pulled out the spacers from around the edges. The whole thing looked pretty solid. The hard maple has a nice, clean look.

Finally, installed some baseboards around the room to cover the expansion gap we left. That really tidies it all up.

And that was basically it. Lots of measuring, cutting, and nailing. Hard work on the knees, but seeing that finished hard maple floor felt real good. Ready for some action, though maybe not full-on volleyball in my living room!