First steps & dumb mistakes

So I really wanted dance flooring in my garage studio. Saw those fancy permanent ones? Too expensive. Too stuck. Found larch wood boards online – solid choice, looked tough enough. Measured the space thinking “easy math”. Grabbed 10 planks. Rookie move.

Cutting disaster phase:

Unpacked everything smelling that fresh wood scent. Felt good. Marked first board with pencil where to chop. Grabbed my jigsaw. Cut it. Then placed it down proud… realized spacing was totally jacked. Boards weren’t sitting flush together. Big gaps. Like, toe-stubbing traps. Had to drag all pieces outside to recut EVERY. SINGLE. BOARD. Sweat pouring down my neck, neighbors probably heard me cuss.

Assembly chaos

Okay, recut pieces. Did the dry fit this time – smart, right? Layered them side-by-side on the garage floor. Saw gaps disappearing, felt like victory. Time to lock them together.

Connecting nightmare:

• Tried those little plastic connector bits first. Cheap ones from toolbox. Snapped two just trying to hammer them in. Pieces flew across room.
• Switched to metal brackets instead. Slightly better. Hammered like mad. Thumb took a hit. Yelled.
• Crawled on hands and knees, forcing boards tight while screwing brackets underneath. Felt like surgery under a car.

Finally stood up. Whole floor section looked kinda… level. Stepped on corner. Board popped up like a see-saw. Unscrewed that bracket, shoved scrap wood shim under it, tried again. Still wobbled. Said “screw it” (literally) and added two more brackets on that offender.

The “removable” hustle

Whole point was easy tear-down. Glue? No way. Saw carpet tape advertised as “heavy duty”. Skeptical, but cheap. Tested it between two spare wood blocks. Yanked them apart. Held surprisingly tight. Bought extra rolls.

Floor jailbreak:

• Cleaned garage floor spotless. Dust sucks for tape grip.
• Stuck long tape strips down where each plank would sit.
• Peeled red backing off tape slowly – sticky strings everywhere.
• Carefully dropped each plank onto its tape track. Pressed down HARD walking over entire thing like stomping grapes.

Waited overnight. Next day? Tap-danced on it. Solid! Did twist test. No squeaks! Jumped. Felt glued… but then just pulled plank edge real hard. Came up with a sticky ripping sound. Still in one piece! Tape stayed on plank bottom mostly. Peeled leftover gunky tape off concrete later like old bandaids.

Took entire floor apart in under 10 minutes. Stacked planks against wall. Garage looked empty again. Perfect for when bikes need space. Dance mode: unstack, press down, stomp. Done. Still got that one stubborn board that lifts slightly near edge though. Might duct tape that idiot next time.