Perpendicular Wood Floors

In most cases you should try and go perpendicular across the floor joists to allow the boards to span the gaps and be supported by them.

Perpendicular wood floors.

Install hardwood floors perpendicular to the floor joists parallel to the longest wall leaving a inch expansion gap around the perimeter. If you go with the direction of the floor joists the weight of the wood floor could cause the sub floor to sag over time. If you re laying your new floor in an older home that has a plywood sub floor the first thing to consider is the direction of the floor joists that support it. Flooring experts recommend installing flooring boards perpendicular to the floor joists in a house with a plywood subfloor.

Keep joints that line up at least two rows apart. When hardwood floors are installed parallel to the joists they will sag squeak and gap. If you go parallel with the floor joists you will not have support under some portions of the wood. Subfloor as long as it s plywood and the hardwood direction is perpendicular to the floor joists.

If your sub floor is a concrete slab you can run the floors in any direction you prefer. Sight lines and aesthetics. Installing them parallel creates the possibility that the floor will sag. Join the ends of the boards over a floor joist where possible avoiding joints that form an h.

Therefore you should consider going perpendicularly across the floor joists. In a nutshell the preference calls for running the flooring front to back as you enter the home. Before starting calculate the width the last row will be. We chose to add a second layer because some of our flooring runs parallel to the floor joists.

By way of explanation as you walk into the foyer the floor will be installed perpendicular to the front door threshold. If you really want to run the hardwoods perpendicular to the windows and your floor doesn t meet our recommend specs you could glue and screw a half inch of plywood to the existing sub floor. Many installers will lay hardwood over one layer of 1 2 in. Is there any reason i can t do it.

This can eventually lead to the subfloor sagging in between the joists. The subfloor is 3 4 inch tongue and groove plywood. Glue using liquid nails and screw the floor down every 10 12 inches square. The floor joists under the wood floor hold the sub floor in place.

Choosing which direction to install wood floors is often a confusing choice for many. You are good to go.