Okay, let me tell you what went down with this flooring situation.

Putting the Larch Wood Floor to the Test

So, we finally got that larch wooden flooring put in. Looked real nice, gotta say. Larch has that warm look, you know? Anyway, it was all fresh and new, and I was kinda paranoid about scratching it up right away.

We still had this old rubber volleyball kicking around. Not the super hard leather kind, just a basic rubber one. Kids found it, naturally. Started bouncing it inside. Now, I told them, “Easy does it,” because, well, new floor.

They started off light, just little taps. The sound was kinda dull on the larch wood, not like bouncing it on concrete or even older hardwood. It absorbed the bounce a bit, which I guess makes sense. Larch is softer than oak, right?

Then came the ‘level up’ moment.

One of the bounces wasn’t so gentle. More of a medium-force whack. You know, the kind where you instantly look to see if anything broke. That rubber volleyball hit the larch planks with a solid thump.

I went over immediately to check. Ran my hand over the spot. Looked at it from different angles, trying to catch the light just right. Here’s what I found:

• No big dent, thankfully. That was my main worry.
• There was a very faint, almost invisible scuff mark. You really had to look for it.
• The rubber seemed to leave a tiny bit of residue, more than causing damage to the wood itself.

So, I grabbed a soft cloth, slightly damp, and gave it a gentle wipe. The scuff mark pretty much disappeared. The little bit of rubber residue came right off. Huge relief, let me tell you.

My takeaway? That larch flooring, while maybe not as tough as rock maple, handled a decent hit from a rubber volleyball surprisingly well. It confirmed my thoughts – it’s got a bit of give, which might actually help prevent really bad dents from certain impacts. Still, I told the kids, volleyball stays outside or on a rug from now on. No need to push our luck just after putting the floor in, right? It was a good little real-world test, though, unplanned as it was.