So I wanted to practice tap dancing at home without wrecking my knees or the concrete floor. Figured those expensive portable dance floors looked nice but heck, couldn’t afford ’em. Decided to DIY something that wouldn’t bankrupt me or take up permanent space.

Getting Supplies

Scoured the local hardware dump first. Snagged:

• Scrap plywood sheets – about half-inch thick for solid footing
• Wood glue that promises to stick anything
• Heavy-duty felt fabric roll for sound muffling
• Velcro strips longer than my arm

Cutting & Assembling

Measured my practice corner with tape screaming numbers at me. Took the circular saw to those plywood sheets – split ’em into 2×2 foot squares. Sanded every edge twice after getting splinters just breathing near ’em. Glued felt pieces bigger than the squares onto their bottoms so they wouldn’t slide around like drunken penguins.

Stuck Velcro strips around the edges like outlining a tattoo – fuzzy side on one tile’s edge, scratchy side on the next. Tested two squares by smashing them together. They held when stomping but popped apart easy when I yanked diagonally. Good enough for jazz.

Testing & Tweaking

Laid all the panels on the floor during morning coffee. Big mistake. Neighbor below started banging her ceiling with a broom halfway through my warmup shuffle. Peeled tiles up, flipped them over and glued extra felt layers until they felt like walking on moss.

Also realized wooden panels clacked like skeletons playing poker. Solved it by:

• Drilling holes near corners
• Looping rope handles through so I could lug multiple tiles at once
• Rolling felt side inward for storage so they stacked quiet

Final Result

Now I throw the stack in my trunk for park practices too. Takes five minutes to Velcro-snap the whole dance floor together wherever I want. When done, yank the rope handles apart and roll ’em up. The felt muffles my happy feet and protects whatever floor’s under it. Still going strong after three months of daily stomping – cheaper than physiotherapy and my downstairs neighbor finally stopped glaring. Worth every splinter.