Okay, so last weekend I tackled that gym flooring project I kept putting off. Total pain in the butt but man, the results? Worth every sore muscle.

The Mess I Started With

First off, my garage looked like a war zone – dusty concrete floor, old oil stains everywhere, and random junk piled up in corners. I just stood there holding my coffee thinking “Why did I volunteer for this?” But hey, committed now.

Dumping My Wallet First

Went to the big box store thinking I’d grab some rubber tiles real quick. HA. Stood there like an idiot staring at three entire aisles of flooring options. Sales guy starts throwing terms like “interlocking premium polypropylene” at me and I just waved him off. Ended up grabbing the cheapest tongue-and-groove maple planks I could find. Got some underlayment foam rolls too because some guy on YouTube said I needed it.

The Sweat Part

• Cleared everything out and found some horror show level cracks in the concrete. Had to run back to store for filler putty. Of course.
• Unrolled that foam and immediately tripped over it. Cut it kinda jagged with my box cutter but figured “eh, who’s gonna see it?”
• Started clicking planks together. First row went smooth. By the third row? My cuts looked like a drunk beaver chewed them. Had to flip pieces around to hide the worst gaps.

That “Oh Crap” Moment

Realized too late I’d put two planks with big ugly knots right in the dead center. Tried prying them up with a screwdriver – snapped the tongue right off. Just covered it with the weight rack and pretended it didn’t happen.

Finishing Touches? Nah.

Got to the last row against the wall and… yeah, gap’s too wide. Trim won’t cover it. Stuffed in some leftover foam strips as “spacers” and called it a design feature. Threw down my old squat rack to cover the evidence.

End Result – Surprisingly Legit

Took me two full days and about twice what I budgeted, but you know what? Dropping weights doesn’t make my ears bleed anymore. Floor’s got that nice wood smell instead of old motor oil. Still won’t show closeups of that corner though.

Biggest lesson? Measure twelve times, cut once. Or just wing it and pray. Either works.