Okay, so today’s project was laying down some “keel dancing beech assembled wooden flooring.” Sounds fancy, right? It’s basically pre-assembled wood flooring that’s supposed to make installation easier. I’ve done some flooring before, but never this type, so I was kinda curious, kinda nervous.

First things first, I cleared out the room. Everything. Furniture, rugs, the whole nine yards. Gotta have a blank canvas, you know?

Next, I checked the subfloor. This is super important. Any dips or bumps? Leveled that sucker out. It was mostly concrete, so I used some self-leveling compound in a couple of spots. Waited for it to dry. Patience, grasshopper.

Then came the underlayment. I used a roll of foam stuff, seemed pretty standard. Taped the seams together. It’s supposed to help with sound and a little bit of cushioning.

Now for the actual flooring. The “keel dancing beech” part, I’m guessing, refers to how these planks connect. They had this, like, interlocking system. Started in one corner, laid down the first row along the longest wall. Made sure to leave a little gap around the edges for expansion. They sell these little spacer things, super handy.

• Clicked the second row into the first. It was kinda satisfying, that click sound. Like giant, wooden Legos.
• Kept going, row by row. Used a rubber mallet and a tapping block (don’t wanna damage the edges!) to snug them up together.
• Had to cut some pieces to fit around doorways and at the end of rows. Used a jigsaw for that. Measure twice, cut once, as they say! My grandpa use to say that all the time, God I miss him.

Biggest pain? Probably those cuts around the door frames. Had to get the angles just right. Took a few tries, not gonna lie. There are so many ways to mess up, good grief. I had more scrap pieces that I care to admit.

Finally, got the last row in. That was a relief. Then, I put the baseboards back on to cover up those expansion gaps. Looks pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

Cleaned up the mess, moved the furniture back in. Boom. New floor. Took me most of the day, but hey, I did it. And I only swore, like, a dozen times. Progress!