The joist structure usually determines the best direction to lay flooring boards. While personal preference is a factor, the direction in which you run hardwood flooring boards is governed by visual and structural guidelines. Visual congruity usually requires the boards to run away from the main entrance of a room, but structural integrity mandates that they run perpendicular to the floor joists. When installing a floor in an entire house, the structural requirement may constrain you to maintain a certain direction throughout unless you fortify the subfloor. Sightlines Running the flooring boards from the main entrance of a room toward the opposite wall simplifies the sightline and makes the room appear less busy. It is therefore the preferred choice in most cases. When installing a floor in an entire house, the main entrance is usually the sightline reference, and the boards run away from it. If you maintain the same direction throughout the house, the boards may run across the entrances of some rooms.

Although you can always change the flooring direction in doorways to prevent this, you must also take joist direction into account. Structure Flooring experts recommend installing flooring boards perpendicular to the floor joists in a house with a plywood subfloor. Installing them parallel creates the possibility that the floor will sag between the joists and open gaps between the boards or worse. If you prefer a layout that requires the boards to run parallel to the joists, you need to shore up the subfloor by adding a layer of 3/8-inch plywood. Older houses with 1-inch planks running diagonally to the joists can support flooring planks running parallel to the joists. If the subfloor is a concrete pad, these structural considerations don't apply. Installing Flooring Diagonally A diagonal installation is as stable as one that runs perpendicular to the joists, and it creates an interesting visual effect that works especially well in large rooms. While a 45-degree diagonal is the most common, it isn't the only possibility.

A floor that is slightly skewed with respect to a wall -- perhaps as little as 10 degrees -- may help tie that wall visually to one in another room and create a unifying principle. Fly Fishing Spots NcDiagonal installations are more work and require more wood, because you produce more unusable offcuts when making angled cuts. Wedding Dress Sample Sale LondonConsiderations When laying out the first row of flooring, it's important to take into account the possibility that the walls aren't straight. Can You Paint Faux Wood ShuttersIf you use a doorway or single wall as your sole reference, you may find yourself compensating for a large angle at the end of the installation. This not only makes more work for you, but also affects the appearance of the floor.

The ideal direction for the flooring may therefore be at a slight angle with respect to a doorway rather than perpendicular to it. To find the angle, you'll need careful measurements of the walls in all the rooms in which you run flooring. References Hardwood Floors: 5 Wood Flooring Installation SinsHardwood Installer: Floor Layout. Which Direction to Install Hardwood Photo Credits David Sacks/Lifesize/Getty Images Suggest a Correction Layout #1 -- Horizontally Laid Out Layout #2 -- Vertically Laid Out 12 posts, read 12,618 times I had another thread going, but left out an option in the poll question. We are remodeling our home and need some guidance on which direction to lay our wood floors. Should we have no change of direction, minimal change of direction, or change as many times as necessary to fit the room? I have drawn out a few floor plans. Please let me know which is the best way and why. It appears that change of direction options were not popular, so I've narrowed it down to two options to lay our wood floors.

Please help my wife and I choose from these two options! Layout #1 -- Horizontally laid out Layout #2 -- Vertically laid out 3,184 posts, read 1,928,459 times 4,899 posts, read 10,223,606 times 4,058 posts, read 3,594,387 times Originally Posted by luv4horses The windows are actually not drawn correctly as I just threw this floor plan together quickly. The kitchen window is actually 95" wide and will be visible from the foyer 8,924 posts, read 33,173,370 times 9,068 posts, read 14,779,446 times 26,771 posts, read 17,867,884 timesHow do I choose which direction my hardwood should run? The first answer is, if you have solid hardwood, the wood has to be run in a particular direction. The hardwood should run perpendicular across the floor joists for more strength of the floor going over it. Not doing this can cause sagging of the hardwood and board separation. If you are using engineered hardwood, you have the following choices below.

The second answer is personal preference; however below are some helpful guidelines to keep in mind. Often, it depends on what look you are trying to achieve. The easiest way to make a decision is to look at the areas receiving hardwood and if there is a narrow hallway involved, then run the hardwood the long length of the hallway. If you have hardwood in one large size room only, the direction is truly personal preference. The room will appear longer if the wood is run from one end of the room to the other. If hardwood is in more than one room, but the rooms are open to each other, running the hardwood from the long end to the other end rather than from the front of the room to the back of the room will make the 2 areas seem larger. Otherwise, the hallway will look chopped up. Hardwood can also be installed diagonally or with a pattern such as a herringbone. Here are two rooms – one with the wood running horizontal to the sofa and the other running vertically to the sofa.