Alright, so the other day I decided to tackle a project I’ve been putting off – installing some rubber dancing solid assembling wooden flooring. Yeah, the name’s a mouthful, but basically, it’s those interlocking wood floor tiles that are supposed to be super easy to put together.

First things first, I cleared out the room. This involved a lot of shoving furniture around and realizing just how much junk I own. I could be a hoarder. My wife keep saying that.

Next, I unpacked the flooring boxes. I had ordered this stuff online, and it came in these surprisingly heavy packages. I inspected the tiles, making sure none of them were cracked or damaged. Fortunately, everything looked good, just a little dusty.

Getting Started

• Laid down a moisture barrier. Now, the instructions said this was optional, but my basement can get a little damp, so I figured better safe than sorry. It was basically just a big roll of plastic sheeting.
• Started in one corner. I followed the advice I found somewhere, the advice said leave a tiny gap between the tiles and the wall to allow for expansion. I picked a corner and set a first tile there.

Then came the “assembling” part. The tiles have these little tabs and slots on the edges, and you’re supposed to just… click them together. It sounds simple. However, I found myself fumbling with the first few. Getting the angles right and applying enough pressure without feeling like I was going to snap the wood, that was a struggle. A small rubber hammer could help, but I don’t have one.

I found that I needed to get down on my hands and knees, line up the edges just so, and then give it a good whack with the palm of my hand. After a few tries, I finally got the hang of it. The “click” sound was surprisingly satisfying.

From there, it was a matter of repeating the process. Lay down a tile, interlock it with the previous one, whack it a bit, and move on. It got a little tedious, I’m not gonna lie. My knees started to ache, my back started to complain, and I definitely worked up a sweat. I took a short break.

The trickiest part was cutting the tiles to fit around the edges of the room. I don’t own a fancy saw, so I used my old, trusty jigsaw. It wasn’t the prettiest cuts, I made some mistakes, but luckily, the baseboards will hide most of my imperfections.

The End Result

After a few hours of work, the floor was finally done! I stood back and admired my handiwork. Honestly, it looked pretty good! The wood-look tiles had instantly warmed up the room, and the surface felt surprisingly solid underfoot.

So, there you have it – my experience with “rubber dancing solid assembling wooden flooring”. Was it as easy as the name implies? Not entirely. Was it worth the effort? Absolutely. Would I do it again? Probably, but maybe I’d invest in some knee pads next time. And a rubber hammer!