Alright, so I decided to tackle this project – laying down some new flooring in my living room. I’d been staring at the old, scuffed-up stuff for way too long and finally said, “Enough is enough!” I went with this “keel dancing lvl larch wooden flooring” I found. Sounded fancy, right?

First things first, I had to rip out the old flooring. This was a workout, let me tell you. Lots of prying and pulling and sweating. It felt like I created a few splinters. I am not a robot.

Getting the Room Ready

• Cleared everything out: Furniture, rugs, the dog’s bed – the whole shebang. It was like moving all over again, just into a different room.
• Cleaned up the mess: After pulling up the old flooring, there was dust and debris everywhere. I vacuumed and swept like crazy to get a clean surface to work with.

Laying the Foundation (Or, the Keel, I Guess)

This “keel” part was new to me. It’s a layer you put down before the actual flooring. I nailed some plywood strips, so I followed the instructions and laid those down, making sure they were all level and evenly spaced. That level tool got a good workout!

Next, I unrolled this underlayment stuff – it’s like a thin, foamy layer. I taped the seams together to keep everything snug.

The Main Event: The Larch Flooring

Now for the fun part! I started in one corner and began laying down the larch planks. They’re designed to click together, which is pretty cool. It’s like a giant puzzle.

I had to do some cutting to fit the planks around the edges of the room. I used a saw for that – carefully, of course. Safety first, people!

I kept going, row by row, making sure everything was tight and lined up. It took a while, and my knees definitely felt it, but slowly but surely, the floor started to take shape.

Finishing Touches

Once all the planks were down, I installed some baseboards around the edges to cover up the gaps. A little bit of caulking, a little bit of paint, and boom – it looked like a pro did it (almost!).

Finally, I cleaned up everything again, moved the furniture back in, and stood back to admire my handiwork. Not bad for a weekend project, if I do say so myself. I’m thinking of tackling the bathroom next. Maybe.