Right, let’s talk about putting down that wooden flooring. Wasn’t sure how it’d go, being more used to figuring out the bounce on rubber things, you know, volleyball stuff. But a floor’s a floor, right? Decided to give it a shot myself.

Getting Started

First thing, had to clear out the room completely. Moved all the furniture out. Felt like a huge space then. Then came the less fun part – prepping the subfloor. It was concrete. Had to sweep it, vacuum it like crazy. Found a few low spots, nothing major, but the engineer in me wanted it perfectly flat. Used some self-leveling stuff here and there. Let that cure properly. Patience isn’t my strong suit, but rushing this step is asking for trouble later, believe me.

Checked for moisture too. Concrete can be sneaky. Taped down a plastic square overnight, checked for dampness underneath in the morning. All clear. Good to go.

Laying Down the Base

Next up was the underlayment. Got the kind with the built-in moisture barrier. Rolled it out, wall to wall. Cutting it to fit wasn’t too bad, just used a sharp utility knife. Taped the seams together with the special tape they sell for it. You want a nice, continuous layer under the wood.

The Actual Flooring Part

Okay, the main event. Opened up a few boxes of the wooden planks. Let them sit in the room for a couple of days first. They call it acclimating. Apparently, wood shrinks and expands, so you gotta let it get used to the room’s temperature and humidity. Makes sense.

Figured out which way I wanted the planks to run. Usually parallel to the longest wall. Then the tricky bit: the first row. This one has to be straight. Measured carefully off the wall, used spacers to leave an expansion gap. Wood needs room to breathe, remember? Snapped the tongue-and-groove pieces together. Used a tapping block and a mallet gently to make sure they were tight. Getting that first row locked in felt like a small victory.

• Started the second row with the piece I cut off from the end of the first row, as long as it wasn’t too short. Staggers the joints, looks better, makes the floor stronger.
• From there, it was mostly rinse and repeat. Lay a plank, click it into the previous row, tap it tight against the end of the last plank in its row.
• Cutting planks for the end of rows took time. Measured twice (sometimes three times), cut once. Used a jigsaw for most cuts. Made a bit of dust, okay, a lot of dust.

Had a few tricky spots around doorways. Had to undercut the door trim with a handsaw so the flooring could slide underneath. Looks much cleaner than trying to cut the flooring perfectly around the trim. That took some careful sawing.

Finishing Touches

The last row was another fiddly one. Often had to rip the planks lengthwise to fit, leaving that expansion gap again. Took some careful measuring and cutting.

Once all the flooring was down, I removed the spacers from around the edges. Then installed the baseboards to cover the expansion gaps. Nailed them to the wall, not the floor. Important distinction!

Cleaned everything up. Stood back. Honestly, felt pretty good. It looked like a proper floor. My knees and back were complaining a bit, not gonna lie. It’s harder work than checking air pressure, that’s for sure. But seeing the finished result? Yeah, worth it. Solid job, even if I do say so myself.