The joists will usually run perpendicular to the long walls of the house to keep them short, (shorter is stronger). Consequently the nail down flooring will run parallel to the long wall and perpendicular to the joists.
That's simply not the case. It's 50/50 in construction, with rooms dimensionally switching back and forth on a given level. Getting under and looking is the only way to tell. Even then, you'll often have to violate the perpendicular-to-the-joists rule in one room or another if you lay a level rather than a single room.
Can you update this video to address open floor plans? Our first floor is about 1,000 square feet. When you walk in the front door there is a long run to the back wall. Windows are exclusively on the front and back of the house, so for these two reasons we thought about running the floors front-to-back. However, the main living space (kitchen, breakfast area, and living room) is all contiguous and runs along the back wall, left-to-right. Therefore, one could make an argument for running them side-to-side.
My floor is being installed now. It depends on the floor joists; perpendicular to them. So, it’s not in the direction one wants 🥲. I live in Rochester,NY
How do you join the transition between the larger room to the smaller room that has the different color floor and different direction? I am changing direction and i dont know if I can cut plank ends to blunt in the hallway and them remove one edge groove of the plank in the other room which will be laid lengthway in another direction. Then butt blunt ends and blunt side together in the doorway and join with glue and strong carpet tape underneath? I dont want a regular transition strip to stub my toes on
What if the room is a split level? I have a lower living space with an upper dining/kitchen that is only separated by 6 stairs and a banister, but the lower space runs with a long focal point, and the upper space would have a short focal point in a rectangular-ish room.
Personally I would always run the flooring the long way in a room that is long rectangle no matter where the focal point is in the room the short way looks to me like ship lap on the floor. With that said unless you are laying the hardwood on a cement slab the boards should run perpendicular to the floor joists no matter the shape of the room. Well that is the way I always understood was the best way.
But what if the entrance is on the opposite side of the long wall like in my case the kitchen. If I do that it will look like I layed out the floor wider when I come into my kitchen, even tho I layed it paralel to my long wall and in the same direction as the main light source.
Question my front door opens into main living area, but directly to left of the Front door(5’ x3’ entry space) is the hallway leading to the bedrooms. Almost an L-shaped which way do I lay my tile floors?😅
Will have uniclick LVT professionally installed in a condo. Shotgun in that upon entering, you are looking at the rear patio door 35 feet away. Obviously, a front to back run. However, just 3 feet to the right, upon entering, is a galley kitchen. That would result in a chopped up look. Since it’s LVT uniclick, the direction can’t be changed. The minimum width in the rest of the condo, is 15 ft. Going across, horizontal, would give the galley a good look, while the rest of the condo is wide enough to take the horizontal lay. It also gives a cozy look, where the end of the family room, has an 8 ft patio door, and the horizontal planks would look best at that point. To, me, laying the planks straight down from the front to the back patio door reminds me of a stairway to nowhere. That wouldn’t be the case if the end point was a wall, but it’s an 8 ft glass door.
So since I have a long L shape, for the big room which consist of living room, dining room, and (the short part of the L) kitchen I would run my hard wood from the front of the living room to the backdoor in the dining room. This would also be the same direction I would run the floor in the hallway, long ways. Am I understanding you correctly? Help, please.
This might be correct from a design perspective, but it's not correct from a structural perspective. Wood floors should always be run perpendicular to the joists under the floor, as in across them, forming a + pattern not a = pattern. This will make the floors stronger and prevent sagging and buckling. In fact, most hardwood floor manufacturers will void your warranty if you don't run the boards perpendicular to the joists. If you want the floors to support a focal point, but the joists don't support that solution, then you have to provide additional structural support to the subfloor and joists, OR something like a chevron pattern would work because the boards run in one direction, but creates a sense of movement in the perpendicular direction.
This is nowhere near true. Your dead and live loads are calculated plus FS and floor beam or choice that meets that is chosen. It doesn't matter what floor system you use because its never a structural member.
If you are nailing the flooring to a subfloor plywood/OSB you are not going to be just nailing the flooring into the joists… It’s going into a subfloor. I’ve never seen anyone install flooring nails only through the finish floor board into a joist member that are spaced 16 inches apart. most flooring manufacturers suggest (warranty) nailing every 6 to 8 inches. Unless there’s no subfloor and you’re using more than 1” thickness flooring. lol
Sorry, the people disagreeing here are wrong. What I wrote is right out of the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) installation guide. Wood flooring should always be installed perpendicular to floor joists. The only exception is if you double-up your subfloor to make it extra thick, but a normal ~1/2" subfloor is much too weak. It's not about the floor itself being "structural" it's about the floor being supported by the actual structure below it. Installing the floor perpendicular to the joists reduces the possibility of sagging or bouncing in between joists, prevents deflection, and reduces the risk of buckling or gapping. If you have doubts take it up with the NWFA.
@@CheeseBaeyou are absolutely correct. I am looking to replace hardwood floors in our living/dining room, about 30x15 space. Current floor has been installed perpendicular and even though I was never ecstatic about boards runing sideways (short side), it was the correct way to do it. They always looked great, so it's not really a big deal. Since we decided to replace birch (scratched up by many dogs we've have had over the years) to hickory or red oak, we have decided to spend bit more and go with the chevron pattern. Thank you again for your comment that confirmed what I've been told when we got the home 13 years ago, and now that we're looking to remodel. Cheers
Thank you for the information. I want to run the same flooring throught the house. But my kitchen-hallway and combined living-dining areas has an L-shape. It starts from and entry door you see 26" long 5.5'W hallway with line kitchen along the wall than the hallway murges into the living - dining room area with a modern wood stove and patio doors on both sides of it. So it's kind of complicated to decide what direction to run the floor. Any suggestions? Thanks a lot
This is awesome! We have an old Queenslander (Australia), and have had no idea how to transition floors from the old and the new. This has now shown me what I can do!
@@KimLewis If I have an "L" shaped open floor plan with the living room floor already replaced (wood) and I wish to change the kitchen/dining room floor, should I switch direction or follow the living room's existing floor direction? It will be a different floor color/type.
My floor is being installed at this very moment. The direction of the planks depend on the direction of the joists. Perpendicular to them. Apparently, is not in the direction I wanted. I live in Rochester NY
Unfortunately, this doesn’t always have that much of an affect, unless you’re mapping out / marking all the joist locations and where they are on top of the subfloor, and making sure you are nailing the flooring into the joists, which is not a very common way of installing flooring.
For me sometimes it helps to imagine the floor on the ceiling. I don't know why, I guess it just changes your perspective and flooring direction becomes obvious.
Yep. This video example does not cover a lot of different situations when they contradict each other… like entrance and focus wall on perpendicular Walls, main light source direction coming in from parallel or perpendicular walls , existing flooring direction in the hallway or other existing rooms before coming into the room.
Hello, I am still confused, because my light source goes in the same direction as the long wall (where is also my focal point), but my entrance is on the opposite direction to that longest (focal point) wall...so that means that when I open my doors my floor will look like I lay it out wide direction (because window is on the left of my entrance). Oh btw it is my kitchen that I am talking about, which will also have similar countertop and backsplash tiles in the same long wall dirrection. Which way to go? 🥲
Traditional 3/4 hardwood flooring should always be installed perpendicular to the floor joist, it makes for a strong less sqeaker floor, if you think about it when nailing it down you are going to have more staples or (cleats) going into the joist when installing flooring across the joist. I've been installing and refinishing hardwood flooring my whole life so take it from a pro!
What if you have an L shaped open consent with the door one toe end of the L, fire place across from that (heal) and Kitchen at the other end (top) of the L. AND the bedrooms connect at bottom and top of the L and you want to also do the bedrooms???
We have something similar, L shaped ground floor, and rectangle first floor where bedrooms are, stari are partly open. We installed wood imitating tiles i direction of longer side of L shape. Longer side consist of TV place and kitchen. It partly open space. House entrance is on shorter L side and it is kind of un-natural when entering space, tiles are kind of 'blocking'. But thought our primary circulation will be kitchen-living room so this solution seems OK. Not exactly in compliance with sugestions in this video. Uper floor follows direction as ground floor.
If I walk into my long compartments master bath.. big window is on my right. So that wd be focal point. But will I still run the planks the long way???
Yes, we are! It’s been really fun to be back in the tiny house. We’re actually doing Christmas morning here right now! merry Christmas to you and your family!!!
Sorry but alot of this is incorrect. Focal direction is only 1 consideration. Installers don't always want it long way. Real hardwood also needs to be sanded and finished. Might be easy to install one direction, but easier to finish the other direction. Also need to consider strength and if can turn the floor in some areas.
Wow > with your Unique/Captivating Voice, U shd be doing Voiceovers! Trust me, U've got the Right Stuff ! U'll be Famous in No Time !! #1 do Demos #2 hire a Manager #3 start Auditioning #4 $ign Contract Ur voice sets U apart ! it Lured me into watching this video which i had No interest in > That's the kind of Magic Producers Look for > Good Luck !
how is this person a flooring expert? is this just google telling us what to do so that we can google google to tell us what to do so that google is telling google what google is telling us what to do in an infinity loop..... this is an issue? no?
You are so wrong. Do not take this woman’s advice. The hardwood floor must run perpendicular to the joists. Period. There is no alternative. Design is irrelevant. If you install it diagonally, or with the joists your floor will fail 100% of the time. The extent of the failure will differ depending on different factors associated with your particular installation. If you are looking for a new home and see angled floors or hardwood changing directions expect to have to change some or all of the floors. If your designer suggests you can choose the direction of your floor… Fire them.
The joists will usually run perpendicular to the long walls of the house to keep them short, (shorter is stronger). Consequently the nail down flooring will run parallel to the long wall and perpendicular to the joists.
i guess interior designers don't know much about construction
That's simply not the case. It's 50/50 in construction, with rooms dimensionally switching back and forth on a given level. Getting under and looking is the only way to tell. Even then, you'll often have to violate the perpendicular-to-the-joists rule in one room or another if you lay a level rather than a single room.
@@TheRayDog Thanks. I've been pulling my hair out over this. I read somewhere that with modern 3/4 OSB is not as big of an issue as years past.
Perpendicular to the floor joists!
Can you update this video to address open floor plans? Our first floor is about 1,000 square feet. When you walk in the front door there is a long run to the back wall. Windows are exclusively on the front and back of the house, so for these two reasons we thought about running the floors front-to-back. However, the main living space (kitchen, breakfast area, and living room) is all contiguous and runs along the back wall, left-to-right. Therefore, one could make an argument for running them side-to-side.
Thank you for this! You make the decision so clear and easy with the "XO" solution.
@kimlewis Very good video. Does this apply for large 60"x24' tiles for a large room similar to the middle sketch?
My floor is being installed now. It depends on the floor joists; perpendicular to them. So, it’s not in the direction one wants 🥲. I live in Rochester,NY
Thai video is so useful and she is so cool. Thank you
How do you join the transition between the larger room to the smaller room that has the different color floor and different direction? I am changing direction and i dont know if I can cut plank ends to blunt in the hallway and them remove one edge groove of the plank in the other room which will be laid lengthway in another direction. Then butt blunt ends and blunt side together in the doorway and join with glue and strong carpet tape underneath? I dont want a regular transition strip to stub my toes on
Always diagonal, It looks the best every time! Waste isn't an issue if you have a great installer.
What if the room is a split level? I have a lower living space with an upper dining/kitchen that is only separated by 6 stairs and a banister, but the lower space runs with a long focal point, and the upper space would have a short focal point in a rectangular-ish room.
Personally I would always run the flooring the long way in a room that is long rectangle no matter where the focal point is in the room the short way looks to me like ship lap on the floor. With that said unless you are laying the hardwood on a cement slab the boards should run perpendicular to the floor joists no matter the shape of the room. Well that is the way I always understood was the best way.
But what if the entrance is on the opposite side of the long wall like in my case the kitchen. If I do that it will look like I layed out the floor wider when I come into my kitchen, even tho I layed it paralel to my long wall and in the same direction as the main light source.
Question my front door opens into main living area, but directly to left of the Front door(5’ x3’ entry space) is the hallway leading to the bedrooms. Almost an L-shaped which way do I lay my tile floors?😅
Will have uniclick LVT professionally installed in a condo. Shotgun in that upon entering, you are looking at the rear patio door 35 feet away. Obviously, a front to back run. However, just 3 feet to the right, upon entering, is a galley kitchen. That would result in a chopped up look. Since it’s LVT uniclick, the direction can’t be changed. The minimum width in the rest of the condo, is 15 ft. Going across, horizontal, would give the galley a good look, while the rest of the condo is wide enough to take the horizontal lay. It also gives a cozy look, where the end of the family room, has an 8 ft patio door, and the horizontal planks would look best at that point. To, me, laying the planks straight down from the front to the back patio door reminds me of a stairway to nowhere. That wouldn’t be the case if the end point was a wall, but it’s an 8 ft glass door.
So since I have a long L shape, for the big room which consist of living room, dining room, and (the short part of the L) kitchen I would run my hard wood from the front of the living room to the backdoor in the dining room. This would also be the same direction I would run the floor in the hallway, long ways. Am I understanding you correctly? Help, please.
This might be correct from a design perspective, but it's not correct from a structural perspective. Wood floors should always be run perpendicular to the joists under the floor, as in across them, forming a + pattern not a = pattern. This will make the floors stronger and prevent sagging and buckling. In fact, most hardwood floor manufacturers will void your warranty if you don't run the boards perpendicular to the joists. If you want the floors to support a focal point, but the joists don't support that solution, then you have to provide additional structural support to the subfloor and joists, OR something like a chevron pattern would work because the boards run in one direction, but creates a sense of movement in the perpendicular direction.
This is nowhere near true. Your dead and live loads are calculated plus FS and floor beam or choice that meets that is chosen. It doesn't matter what floor system you use because its never a structural member.
If you are nailing the flooring to a subfloor plywood/OSB you are not going to be just nailing the flooring into the joists…
It’s going into a subfloor.
I’ve never seen anyone install flooring nails only through the finish floor board into a joist member that are spaced 16 inches apart.
most flooring manufacturers suggest (warranty) nailing every 6 to 8 inches.
Unless there’s
no subfloor and you’re using more than 1” thickness flooring.
lol
Sorry, the people disagreeing here are wrong. What I wrote is right out of the National Wood Flooring Association (NWFA) installation guide. Wood flooring should always be installed perpendicular to floor joists. The only exception is if you double-up your subfloor to make it extra thick, but a normal ~1/2" subfloor is much too weak. It's not about the floor itself being "structural" it's about the floor being supported by the actual structure below it. Installing the floor perpendicular to the joists reduces the possibility of sagging or bouncing in between joists, prevents deflection, and reduces the risk of buckling or gapping. If you have doubts take it up with the NWFA.
@@CheeseBaeyou are absolutely correct. I am looking to replace hardwood floors in our living/dining room, about 30x15 space. Current floor has been installed perpendicular and even though I was never ecstatic about boards runing sideways (short side), it was the correct way to do it. They always looked great, so it's not really a big deal. Since we decided to replace birch (scratched up by many dogs we've have had over the years) to hickory or red oak, we have decided to spend bit more and go with the chevron pattern.
Thank you again for your comment that confirmed what I've been told when we got the home 13 years ago, and now that we're looking to remodel.
Cheers
Thank you for the information. I want to run the same flooring throught the house. But my kitchen-hallway and combined living-dining areas has an L-shape. It starts from and entry door you see 26" long 5.5'W hallway with line kitchen along the wall than the hallway murges into the living - dining room area with a modern wood stove and patio doors on both sides of it. So it's kind of complicated to decide what direction to run the floor. Any suggestions? Thanks a lot
If it’s a wood floor, can’t the installer just change directions, with a good transition strip.
Should you consider the direction the floor joists?
Absolutely
This is awesome! We have an old Queenslander (Australia), and have had no idea how to transition floors from the old and the new. This has now shown me what I can do!
Oh I'm sooo glad to hear!! Thank you for watching and I LOVE hearing that it's helpful!! Send me pics!!!!
@@KimLewis If I have an "L" shaped open floor plan with the living room floor already replaced (wood) and I wish to change the kitchen/dining room floor, should I switch direction or follow the living room's existing floor direction? It will be a different floor color/type.
My floor is being installed at this very moment. The direction of the planks depend on the direction of the joists. Perpendicular to them. Apparently, is not in the direction I wanted. I live in Rochester NY
Unfortunately, this doesn’t always have that much of an affect, unless you’re mapping out / marking all the joist locations and where they are on top of the subfloor, and making sure you are nailing the flooring into the joists, which is not a very common way of installing flooring.
For me sometimes it helps to imagine the floor on the ceiling. I don't know why, I guess it just changes your perspective and flooring direction becomes obvious.
Definitely perpendicularly to the floor joists
In all your examples you x and o was on opposite walls. What happens when your x and your o are on adjacent walls?
Yep. This video example does not cover a lot of different situations when they contradict each other…
like entrance and focus wall on perpendicular Walls, main light source direction coming in from parallel or perpendicular walls , existing flooring direction in the hallway or other existing rooms before coming into the room.
Do you use a transition flat piece to each room OR blend flooring?
Thank you. You helped me make my decision
Hello, I am still confused, because my light source goes in the same direction as the long wall (where is also my focal point), but my entrance is on the opposite direction to that longest (focal point) wall...so that means that when I open my doors my floor will look like I lay it out wide direction (because window is on the left of my entrance). Oh btw it is my kitchen that I am talking about, which will also have similar countertop and backsplash tiles in the same long wall dirrection. Which way to go? 🥲
Fantastic understanding
Awesome!!!! X and O did it for me. Perpendicular to my floor joist too.
Thank you!
Whats brands of 3.25 inch prefinished hickory do you recommend? Have you had experience with Maine Traditions flooring?
Traditional 3/4 hardwood flooring should always be installed perpendicular to the floor joist, it makes for a strong less sqeaker floor, if you think about it when nailing it down you are going to have more staples or (cleats) going into the joist when installing flooring across the joist. I've been installing and refinishing hardwood flooring my whole life so take it from a pro!
What if you have an L shaped open consent with the door one toe end of the L, fire place across from that (heal) and Kitchen at the other end (top) of the L. AND the bedrooms connect at bottom and top of the L and you want to also do the bedrooms???
We have something similar, L shaped ground floor, and rectangle first floor where bedrooms are, stari are partly open. We installed wood imitating tiles i direction of longer side of L shape. Longer side consist of TV place and kitchen. It partly open space. House entrance is on shorter L side and it is kind of un-natural when entering space, tiles are kind of 'blocking'. But thought our primary circulation will be kitchen-living room so this solution seems OK. Not exactly in compliance with sugestions in this video. Uper floor follows direction as ground floor.
Thanks, I did it just as you explained, phew 😅🤸🏽♂️
If I walk into my long compartments master bath.. big window is on my right. So that wd be focal point. But will I still run the planks the long way???
Thank you!
but u are only talking about of individual rooms...but what about when u need to connect a L shape hallway with rooms with different focal points?
Great information!
Are you living in the tiny home while you are renovating?
Yes, we are! It’s been really fun to be back in the tiny house. We’re actually doing Christmas morning here right now! merry Christmas to you and your family!!!
@@KimLewis - Awh, how lovely. Merry Christmas to you too 🎅
when you don’t know which direction to run, run them 45 degrees.
Definetly that shouldn’t govern the way the floor goes
Sorry but alot of this is incorrect. Focal direction is only 1 consideration. Installers don't always want it long way. Real hardwood also needs to be sanded and finished. Might be easy to install one direction, but easier to finish the other direction. Also need to consider strength and if can turn the floor in some areas.
Wow > with your Unique/Captivating Voice, U shd be doing Voiceovers! Trust me, U've got the Right Stuff ! U'll be Famous in No Time !!
#1 do Demos #2 hire a Manager
#3 start Auditioning #4 $ign Contract
Ur voice sets U apart !
it Lured me into watching this video which i had No interest in >
That's the kind of Magic Producers Look for > Good Luck !
Thank you. It would take a woman to EXPLAIN IT
Waaaaaaaayyyyy toooo looooooog. This could have been a < 1min video. (It was 13 min)
Too much cream on the tacos.
how is this person a flooring expert? is this just google telling us what to do so that we can google google to tell us what to do so that google is telling google what google is telling us what to do in an infinity loop..... this is an issue? no?
You are so wrong. Do not take this woman’s advice. The hardwood floor must run perpendicular to the joists. Period. There is no alternative. Design is irrelevant. If you install it diagonally, or with the joists your floor will fail 100% of the time. The extent of the failure will differ depending on different factors associated with your particular installation. If you are looking for a new home and see angled floors or hardwood changing directions expect to have to change some or all of the floors. If your designer suggests you can choose the direction of your floor… Fire them.
I mean your not you. Typo
toooo much bla bla bla ,,, the case is simple and many other videos have away better explanation
Thank you!