Alright, so I decided to put down some wooden flooring in the spare room. Been putting it off, you know how it is. Thought, ‘How hard can it be?’ Famous last words, right?

First thing, gotta clear the room. Everything out. Then spent ages cleaning the subfloor. Swept it, vacuumed it, then swept it again just to be sure. You don’t want any little bumps messing things up later.

Prep Work Done, Now the Fun Part?

Rolled out that foam underlayment stuff. Easy enough, just cut it to size with a utility knife and taped the seams. Made the room feel kinda bouncy already.

Then came the actual boards. Opened the first pack. Looked simple. Click, click, done? Not quite.

The first row is the most important, they say. Gotta get it straight against the wall. Used spacers like the instructions said. Getting that first board clicked into the second one took some fiddling. Then the third. Okay, maybe not that bad.

Enter the Rubber Mallet

Once you get a few rows down, you get into a rhythm. Lay the board, angle it in, push down. Sometimes it needs a little… persuasion. That’s where the tapping block and the rubber mallet come in. Tap, tap, tap. Nudge it into place.

And this is where the ‘rubber dancing’ part comes in. You’re kneeling, you’re leaning, you’re shuffling sideways, tapping away with the mallet. You kind of look like a fool, honestly. Bending over, tapping, shifting your weight, trying not to scuff the board you just laid. Yeah, felt like some weird interpretive dance with tools. An engineer trying to groove, I guess.

• Measure the gap at the end of a row.
• Walk back to the saw (which I cleverly set up outside to keep dust down).
• Cut the board.
• Walk back.
• Fit the piece.
• Repeat. Many, many times.

Had a couple of tricky cuts around the door frame. Took my time with the jigsaw. Measured twice, three times even. Still wasn’t perfect, but good enough for who it’s for, as they say. Caulk and trim hide many sins.

The Final Stretch

The last row was a bit of a pain, needing to rip the boards lengthwise. Used the pull bar tool thingy and the trusty mallet again. More awkward tapping and shuffling. My knees were killing me by this point.

But then, suddenly, it was done. Stood back, looked at it. Not bad. Actually, pretty decent for a first timer doing this specific type. Took way longer than I thought, and my back’s definitely complaining. It’s solid though. Looks a whole lot better than the old carpet.

Cleaned up all the sawdust and offcuts. Put the tools away. Now I just need to recover before tackling the trim.