Okay, here’s my blog post about putting together a rubber volleyball and laying down some solid wooden flooring. I’m no expert, but I like to get my hands dirty and figure things out. Here’s how it went:

First, I got the volleyball. It came deflated, obviously. So, I grabbed my trusty old pump – the kind you use for bike tires. I screwed the needle onto the pump, stuck it in the volleyball’s valve, and started pumping.

It took a little while, and my arms got a bit of a workout, but I kept going until the ball felt firm. Not rock hard, but firm enough to bounce nicely. I gave it a few test bounces, and it seemed pretty good!

Moving on to the Flooring

Now, the flooring… that was a bigger project. I decided to put down some solid wood flooring in my spare room. I’d watched a few videos online, so I felt kinda prepared… kinda.

First, I had to clear the room completely. Moved all the furniture out, took up the old carpet, and pulled out all those annoying little carpet tacks. That part took longer than I expected, my back was acing.

Next, I cleaned the subfloor really well. Swept it, vacuumed it, even wiped it down with a damp cloth. Gotta make sure there’s no dust or debris under the new floor.

Then came the underlayment. I rolled it out and the noise was very loud. I cut to fit the room, making sure to leave a little gap around the edges for expansion. I taped the seams together with some special underlayment tape.

Finally, the actual wood! I started in one corner, laying down the first row of planks. I used a rubber mallet to tap them together, making sure they were nice and snug. I also used spacers to keep a consistent gap between the planks and the wall.

• Used mallet to connect the first row.
• Applied spacers for wall gaps.

Row by row, I worked my way across the room. It was slow going, and I definitely made a few mistakes, but I learned as I went. Cutting the planks to fit around doorways and corners was tricky, but I managed it with a jigsaw…and a few deep breaths.

After a couple of days of hard work, the floor was finally down! I put on the baseboards, and it looked pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. It’s not perfect, but it’s solid, and it’s mine. I even bounced the volleyball on it a few times to celebrate!

If you don’t try to do it, how can you be successful?