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. 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. The floor joists under the wood floor hold the sub floor in place. Keep joints that line up at least two rows apart. Many installers will lay hardwood over one layer of 1 2 in.

We chose to add a second layer because some of our flooring runs parallel to the floor joists. When hardwood floors are installed parallel to the joists they will sag squeak and gap. Subfloor as long as it s plywood and the hardwood direction is perpendicular to the floor joists. Glue using liquid nails and screw the floor down every 10 12 inches square.

For aesthetic reasons i would like to run 3 4x3 inch oak strip flooring parallel to the floor joists instead of perpendicular as is typical. In a nutshell the preference calls for running the flooring front to back as you enter the home. Join the ends of the boards over a floor joist where possible avoiding joints that form an h. The subfloor is 3 4 inch tongue and groove plywood.

This can eventually lead to the subfloor sagging in between the joists. If you go parallel with the floor joists you will not have support under some portions of the wood. 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 your sub floor is a concrete slab you can run the floors in any direction you prefer.

Is there any reason i can t do it. 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. Installing them parallel creates the possibility that the floor will sag. In these cases the conservative choice is to go perpendicular across the floor joists and allow them to support the new floor as well as the sub floor.

Install hardwood floors perpendicular to the floor joists parallel to the longest wall leaving a inch expansion gap around the perimeter. By way of explanation as you walk into the foyer the floor will be installed perpendicular to the front door threshold. Therefore you should consider going perpendicularly across the floor joists. You are good to go.

Flooring experts recommend installing flooring boards perpendicular to the floor joists in a house with a plywood subfloor. Choosing which direction to install wood floors is often a confusing choice for many.