Choosing the Flooring

Needed new flooring for my garage gym space. Saw maple recommended online a bunch – supposed to be springy and durable. Thought “why not try it?” Went to the lumber store and asked for sports-grade maple planks.

Guy behind the counter looked confused. Said: “We got regular maple flooring.” Showed me sample boards. Knocked on one – sounded solid. Bought 20 planks to test.

Preparation Nightmare

My garage floor was concrete with weird bumps. Had to level it first.

Rented a concrete grinder. Thing vibrated like crazy – felt like holding a jackhammer for 3 hours straight. Dust everywhere even with masks. Couldn’t see two feet ahead.

Layed vapor barrier plastic. Sweated buckets taping seams. My kids ran across it leaving footprints before I could stop them. Had to redo half of it.

Installation Fights

Started laying planks at 7AM.

The Struggle

 

Maple ain’t lightweight. Hauling planks made my back ache. Cut first board crooked because saw blade snagged – wasted $45 piece.

Instructions said leave 1/4 inch gap at walls for expansion. Measured carefully. Halfway through, gaps vanished like magic. Humidity changed overnight and planks expanded. Had to pry up 8 boards with crowbar – two cracked edges.

Finish Line Mess

Applied sports sealant with roller.

Forgot to close garage door. Leaves blew in and stuck to wet sealant. Looked like autumn threw up on my floor.

Supposed to dry in 24 hours. Took three days cause damp weather. Kids put “do not cross” tape everywhere – wife still stepped on corner leaving sneaker tread marks forever baked into maple.

Final Verdict?

Tested it with jumping jacks. Feet didn’t hurt – springiness works great. Dropped 25lb dumbbell – no dent. Smelled like maple syrup for weeks though.

Would I install it again? Hell no. Pay someone else to suffer. But if you survive the process? Yeah, pretty awesome floor.