Okay, here’s my blog post about my recent flooring project, written in a casual, first-person style:

Alright, so I decided to tackle laying down some new wooden flooring in my spare room. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for ages, and I finally bit the bullet. I went with this larch stuff – seemed like a good balance of cost and, you know, looking nice. The whole “batten dancing” thing in the title? Yeah, that’s about getting the support structure right.

Prepping the Space

First things first, I cleared out the entire room. Everything. Furniture, the old rug, the random junk that accumulates. This gave me a blank canvas to work with. Then, I gave the existing floor a good sweep and vacuum. Gotta get rid of all the dust and debris, or it’ll mess with the new flooring.

Batten Down the Hatches (Literally)

Next up were the battens. These are basically wooden strips that go on the floor to give the flooring something to attach to. I measured the room, and figured out how many battens and also cut them.
Used the saw I already had and, with some measuring tapes, I lay down the battens across the floor. Spacing is key here – too far apart, and the floor will feel bouncy; too close, and you’re wasting wood (and effort). I used a spirit level to make sure they were all, well, level. No one wants a wonky floor.

• Measure the space.
• Cut the battens.
• Postion and fix them.

Laying the Larch

With the battens secured, I started with the actual flooring. I unpacked the larch planks and let them sit in the room for a couple of days. I started laying the planks, slotting them together. Most of them have this tongue-and-groove system, so they click into place. It’s kinda satisfying, actually. Of course, I had to cut some planks to fit around the edges and the doorway. Back to the saw for that. I made sure to leave a small gap around the perimeter of the room – this is for expansion. Wood expands and contracts with temperature changes, so if you don’t leave a gap, you’ll end up with a buckled floor. Not a good look.

The Finishing Touches

Once all the planks were down, I nailed down any bits that felt a little loose.

Then, I installed some beading around the edges of the room to cover that expansion gap. I used the small nails and carefully hammered it in and try to matched the color of the beading to the flooring as best as I could. It’s a small detail, but it makes the whole thing look much more professional.

Finally,I took the time to clean up and put the room back and, I gotta say, I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out. It’s not perfect – there are a couple of spots where I messed up the cuts slightly – but overall, it’s a huge improvement. And hey, I did it myself! Saved a bunch of money, learned a few things, and got a new floor out of it. Win-win-win.