Getting Started

Okay so my dance mat kept sliding crazy on that ugly old carpet. Decided to build a proper wooden floor section just for pad dancing in my basement corner. Went to the hardware store early morning and grabbed:

• 24 packs of larch tongue-and-groove boards
• Two big tubes of wood glue
• Rubber underlayment rolls
• Box of finishing nails

Dragged everything downstairs and cleared the space. Swept concrete floor super careful – found so many dust bunnies it looked like a petting zoo down there.

Floor Prep Nightmare

Taped moisture meter on the concrete – readings went nuts! Panicked thinking I couldn’t install till summer. Then realized my dumb ass left the sprinkler dripping upstairs. Fixed the leak, mopped twice with towels, waited half day.

Unrolled rubber underlayment foam pads. They kept curling like angry caterpillars! Stood on the corners with stacks of cookbooks for two hours while watching baking videos. Least productive work break ever.

Wood Plank Puzzle

Started slapping wood glue onto groove sides – got way too excited and squeezed half a tube onto first board. Glue oozed everywhere like snot! Scraped mess with putty knife while neighbors hammered mockingly through the walls.

Spent hours wrestling planks into place. Tapped gently with rubber mallet until a board cracked. Held funeral for board #7. Swapped to tapping blocks against tongues instead. Nail gun helped but fired sideways once – nearly took out Grandma’s ugly vase. Panic sweat real.

Leveling Madness

Stepped back feeling proud. Placed level on floor. Bubble floated left like it hated me. Realized basement slopes toward drain. Cursed previous homeowner’s laziness. Jacked up low side with cardboard shims till bubble sulked dead center.

Trimmed edges with jigsaw wearing mismatched safety goggles. Sawdust filled my mouth nostrils everything. Finished with hand sanding – arms still feel like overcooked noodles.

Dance Test Victory

Plugged Dance Dance Revolution mat on it last night. Felt rock solid! Jumped like maniac doing “Cha Cha Slide” – no creaks no slides. Almost cried happy when the combo meter didn’t break! Sweaty victory dance left perfect sneaker marks. Took video but phone storage died at final boss song. Typical.

Knees ache hardcore today but floor’s surviving. Might need knee pads now though. Worth every splinter and glue stain.