Perpendicular Wood Floors

The floor joists under the wood floor hold the sub floor in place.

Perpendicular wood floors.

When hardwood floors are installed parallel to the joists they will sag squeak and gap. In a nutshell the preference calls for running the flooring front to back as you enter the home. We chose to add a second layer because some of our flooring runs parallel to the floor joists. Join the ends of the boards over a floor joist where possible avoiding joints that form an h.

Choosing which direction to install wood floors is often a confusing choice for many. For strength and durability installing hardwood flooring perpendicular to the floor joists is recommended. 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. Glue using liquid nails and screw the floor down every 10 12 inches square.

Before starting calculate the width the last row will be. If you go parallel with the floor joists you will not have support under some portions of the wood. 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. 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.

Subfloor as long as it s plywood and the hardwood direction is perpendicular to the floor joists. 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. The subfloor is 3 4 inch tongue and groove plywood. Flooring experts recommend installing flooring boards perpendicular to the floor joists in a house with a plywood subfloor.

Is there any reason i can t do it. Many installers will lay hardwood over one layer of 1 2 in. Therefore you should consider going perpendicularly across the floor joists. Installing them parallel creates the possibility that the floor will sag.

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. 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. Sight lines and aesthetics.

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. Keep joints that line up at least two rows apart.