Deciding on the Floor

My dance mat kept sliding on the old carpet like a banana peel. Tried taping it down last week – total fail. The tape ripped off chunks of carpet instead. That’s when I figured I needed a solid wooden floor just for pad dancing. Went to the hardware store clueless about wood types. The guy pointed at maple planks saying “hardwood – tough as nails.” Sold!

Prep Work Mess

First, ripped up that nasty carpet. Found three layers underneath – foam, then some weird fiberboard, then concrete. Took me four hours just to scrape off adhesive globs with a putty knife. Sweat dripping everywhere. Finally vacuumed till no crumbs were left. Laid moisture barrier plastic like the YouTube video showed. Wrinkles drove me nuts trying to flatten them.

Plank Puzzle Time

Unboxed those maple tongue-and-groove boards. Smelled like fresh-cut trees. Started clicking them together left to right. First row went smooth. Second row? Not so much. Had to hammer the groove onto the tongue REAL hard. Nearly smashed my thumb twice. Got the hang of it by row five – just stomped on edges with sneakers instead. Cut boards around door frames with a hand saw. Sawdust covered everything like fake snow.

Disaster Strikes

When I hit the halfway mark, the pieces stopped lining up. One corner stuck up like a seesaw. Turns out the subfloor wasn’t level. Wanted to cry seeing gaps everywhere. Shoved wood shims under planks to level them. Used old textbooks too – that calculus book finally came in handy. Still had 1cm gaps near walls. Fixed it with quarter-round molding later. Looks intentional now.

First Dance Test

Swept all dust away, plugged in the dance pad. First song: “Butterfly” dance track. Feet didn’t slip ONCE. The maple surface grips like tires on asphalt. Even tried jumping around like an idiot – no board wobbles or squeaks. Downside? Now the rest of my room looks terrible next to this shiny floor. Guess I’ll do the whole house next month!