Okay, let’s get started with my wooden flooring project.

I’ve always wanted to try my hand at installing hardwood flooring, so I finally took the plunge. The project? My small home office. The material? Hard maple. The style? Keel dancing… sounds fancy, right? It just means it’s got that nice, varied look.

First, I cleared out the room completely. Everything had to go. Then came the prep work. I checked the subfloor, which thankfully was in decent shape. Just a few spots needed a little leveling compound. I let that dry overnight.

Next day, I got to work laying down the underlayment. This is key for moisture protection and sound dampening. I rolled it out, overlapping the edges and taping them securely. Made sure it was nice and smooth.

Now for the fun part – the wood! I started by laying out a few rows without any glue or nails, just to get a feel for the pattern and make sure I liked the mix of the boards. Hard maple has some nice variation in color, so I wanted to make sure it was all looking good. I played around with the arrangement a bit, swapping boards here and there until I was happy.

Then, it was time to get serious. I used a special adhesive designed for wooden floors, applied it to the subfloor with a notched trowel. Only did a small section at a time, so the glue wouldn’t dry out.

I carefully placed each board, making sure they were snug against each other. Used a tapping block and a mallet to get them nice and tight,but be careful to not hit that too hard.

For the edges, I had to cut some boards to fit. Used a miter saw for the straight cuts, and a jigsaw for the tricky bits around door frames. Measure twice, cut once, as they say!

  • Cleared the room.
  • Prepped the subfloor.
  • Laid the underlayment.
  • Arranged the boards.
  • Glued and placed the boards.
  • Cut and fitted edge pieces.

I continued this process, row by row, across the entire room. It took some time, a lot of checking and a few “measure twice cut once” situations. It was slow going, but seeing the floor come together was super satisfying. The keel dancing pattern started to emerge, and the hard maple looked amazing.

Once the glue was completely dried (I waited a full 24 hours), I added the finishing touches. I installed baseboards around the perimeter to cover the expansion gap, and used some color-matched putty to fill in any tiny gaps or nail holes.

Finally,I standed back and be proud of it! My own, hand-installed hard maple floor. It wasn’t perfect, but it was mine, and I learned a ton in the process. I’d definitely do it again, maybe in a bigger room next time!

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