The whole mess started
Right, so I got this grand idea to put down a proper floor for my pad dancing setup in the spare room. Bought a pack of those solid assembled wooden flooring panels online because, hey, it looked easy enough. Famous last thoughts.
Slammed open the box, pieces flying everywhere. First problem popped up right there. Some boards looked fine, but a couple were already kinda curved, like they couldn’t be bothered to lie flat. Shoulda checked them when they arrived. My mistake. Had to shuffle pieces around, pick the flattest ones for the starting edge.
Cleared out the old rug mess, swept hard. Got down on my knees, scratched my head looking at the uneven concrete underneath. Knew I needed something underneath the wood for padding and noise. Dug out this thin black foam underlayment roll I had tucked away.
Unrolling the underlay:
- Kicked off my shoes. Bare feet gripped the dusty concrete.
- Shoved furniture to the walls, breathing in dust bunnies.
- Rolled out the black foam stuff, pressing down hard to keep it flat.
- It kept wrinkling up! Used heavy books on the edges to pin it down.
- Cut the foam with kitchen scissors, cursing as little black bits floated everywhere.
Then came the actual wood. Laid down the first board, carefully measured it against the longest wall. Seemed okay. Hammered it gently at the end to click it into place. Felt stupidly proud for a second.
The nightmare domino effect:
- Slid the next panel sideways towards the first one.
- Bent at a weird angle, shoved it hard, felt the stupid tongue snap a little. Heard a crack.
- Tried hammering it again from the side. Just made the crack worse.
- Swore. Pulled it out, grabbed another board. This one went in smooth. Of course.
Got halfway across the room when things went south again. The boards started pulling away from each other. This little gap opened up, right in the middle of where I planned to spin on the pad later. Looked awful.
Packed it up for the day, legs aching, seriously wondering why I thought this was a good idea.
Making it sorta work
Came back the next morning with fresh eyes and achy knees. Saw I’d messed up measuring near the door frame. Cut a short piece too long. Grabbed the handsaw, hacked off the extra inch. It splintered ugly on the cut edge, but the wall would hide it.
Finishing touches (well, kinda):
- Struggled with the last row. Less space than the width of a board.
- Measured the gap four times, still cut it wrong first try. More swearing.
- Wiggled the skinny strip in place using a pry bar. Scratched the edge doing it.
- Stood up. Walked across the whole thing. No terrible creaking sounds. That’s a win.
Stepped onto the pad placed in the middle. Did a small test step-ball-change. Didn’t feel like it was gonna collapse. Still found a few tiny gaps where boards weren’t perfectly tight, but I’m calling it done. Looks okay enough for my feet, not a showroom, that’s for sure. Should’ve just hired someone.
