Okay, so I’ve been meaning to redo the flooring in my spare room for, like, forever. It was this old, nasty carpet that just collected dust and looked terrible. I finally decided to take the plunge and go with this “keel dancing pine” assembled wooden flooring I saw online. Sounded fancy, right?

First things first, I ripped out that old carpet. Man, that was satisfying! Underneath was just plain old plywood, which was in decent shape, thankfully. I made sure to sweep and vacuum the heck out of it, getting rid of all the dust and little bits of carpet fuzz.

Next up, I laid down some underlayment. This is like a thin, foamy layer that goes between the subfloor and the new flooring. It helps with soundproofing and makes the floor feel a bit softer underfoot. I just rolled it out, cut it to size with a utility knife, and taped the seams together.

Now for the fun part – the actual flooring! This stuff is “assembled,” meaning it comes in planks that click together. No glue or nails needed, which is awesome for a DIYer like me. I started in one corner of the room, laying down the first plank. Then, I took the next plank, angled it into the groove of the first one, and clicked it down. It’s kind of like a puzzle.

• Measure and cut the last plank in each row to fit. I used a jigsaw for this, but a circular saw would work too.
• Keep going, row by row, clicking the planks together. It actually went pretty fast once I got the hang of it.
• Make sure to stagger the joints between rows. It looks better and makes the floor stronger. Don’t line it up perfectly, make some differences.

The trickiest part was going around the door frame. I had to make some weird cuts to get the planks to fit just right. But with a little patience (and a few mistakes, I admit), I managed to get it done.

Finishing Up

Once all the flooring was down, I installed some baseboards around the edges of the room. This covers up the gap between the flooring and the wall and gives it a nice, finished look. I just measured, cut, and nailed the baseboards to the wall.

And that’s it! My new “keel dancing pine” assembled wooden floor is done. It looks so much better than the old carpet, and it was actually a pretty easy project to do myself. My little girl loves to dance on it, which is what the floor is all about.