How to Make a Portable Tap Floor - Easy DIY Project

Day 1:

1. Buy the materials:

1 set of foam interlocking gym mats 

3x3 foot particle board or plywood (I used particle board) 

1 box of vinyl or laminate flooring (I used vinyl) 

2-3 bottles of liquid nails (I used 3 but probably could have gotten away with 2)

You'll also need:

Some type of saw (I used a portable circular saw).  

Optionally, a sander can come in handy (any type of orbit, sheet, or hand sander is fine).

Good ol' Home Depot

2. Put together your gym mat and cut the particle board to size.  If your particle board is rough, you can optionally give it a quick rough sanding so it's easier to work with.

These will be the bottom 2 layers

3. Apply an even layer of liquid nails to the particle board and glue on the smooth side of the gym mat.

This took me just over 1 bottle of liquid nails

Glued together

4. Weigh it down and let it sit for a day.

You can use anything to weigh it.

Day 2:

1. Apply an even layer of liquid nails to the particle board and add on your vinyl flooring.  I applied a strip of liquid nails and added one piece at a time.

Adding the first vinyl piece

Adding the second vinyl piece

2. Weigh it down and let it sit for a day.

Weighing it down again!

Day 3:

1. Cut off all the edges to make it even, and you're done!  You can optionally hand sand the edges so that they're not too sharp.

My vinyl pieces were initially uneven lengths because I used some extra pieces that were lying around.

First edge cut

All 4 edges cut

2. Enjoy your new portable tap floor!

Top

Bottom

Side

Here's how the sound changes as you add the layers on.  Pretty cool!