Last but not least the direction that you lay your hardwood flooring should match your personal preferences.
Which way to lay wood floor.
The general rule of thumb is to install perpendicular to the floor joist doing so will allow the flooring to keep its structural integrity if the joists sag.
Exceptions can be made with the use of additional subfloor use to strengthen the existing subfloor.
The best hardwood flooring direction for you is always the direction that matches your home and your design aesthetic.
Take the time to visit a showroom and see how different hardwood flooring directions change the way that a room flows.
Choosing your hardwood floor board direction can seem challenging if you have never done it before.
The correct direction for laying hardwood floors.
Here are a few things to consider before you lay your floorboards so you can achieve your perfect design.
Apart from a few exceptions like sagging joists this is the preferred direction to lay wood floors because it provides the best result aesthetically.
Use 1 2 inch spacers to assist in maintaining the 1 2 inch expansion gap between the first row of flooring planks and the wall.
Here s how to install click lock engineered hardwood flooring.
While personal preference is a factor the direction in which you run hardwood flooring boards is governed by visual and structural guidelines.
It may not occur to you at first but the right direction can add a lot to the overall look of the floor.
Yet another exception if you have solid wood floors not engineered on a pier and beam foundation then you don t have a lot of choice as far as which direction to run the flooring it would best be run perpendicular to the joists.
The direction in which the flooring runs may not be a top consideration but it is essential to plan this aspect carefully.
When you lay a hardwood floor in your home some of the first things that come to mind are color choices and the type of wood.
A way to avoid transitions or to create a nice impactful visual statement consider laying your wood floors in a diagonal or herringbone pattern throughout your house.
Sightlines running your hardwood planks from your main entrance toward the opposite wall will help simplify the sightline and makes the room appear less busy.
Put the first board up against the mason s line with the groove side facing away from the walls.
But as a general rule laying the boards in the manner i ve shown below is a good go by.
Many factors determine the overall look of a wood floor including the species of wood the quality of its grain and finish the size and consistency of the individual courses and possibly the most noticeable the direction or pattern of the layout.
In most homes this means running the planks lengthwise straight away from your front door all the way to the.