Best Direction To Run Wood Flooring

Interior designers often agree it is preferred to run your hardwood flooring straight in from the front entry.

Best direction to run wood flooring.

If your sub floor is a concrete slab you can run the floors in any direction you prefer. We have mostly slab foundations in this area and with engineered floors you have more flexibility. The best way to decide is to lay out the floor and visualize what looks best. Yet another exception if you have solid wood floors not engineered on a pier and beam foundation then you don t have a lot of choice as far as which direction to run the flooring it would best be run perpendicular to the joists.

Another way to determine the best possible direction for your planks is by following the lead of your room s features. This gives visitors a sense of openness flowing into your home. The most common way to lay install hardwood flooring is by aligning the planks parallel to the longest wall or run in the installation. Here are a few tips to help you decide.

Hallways should aim to have planks running in the same direction. The wood planks that make up your new wood flooring should be laid out in a manner that leads to the center or focus of the room. The direction that your wood flooring will run is not just a matter of personal taste. The direction in which the flooring runs may not be a top consideration but it is essential to plan this aspect carefully.

When you lay a hardwood floor in your home some of the first things that come to mind are color choices and the type of wood. While personal preference is a factor the direction in which you run hardwood flooring boards is governed by visual and structural guidelines. For example you can follow the direction of the main or most frequently used entrance of the room. This pattern results in a hardwood floor with the appearance of a checkerboard sometimes with more complex patterns within each checkerboard square.

When hardwood floors are installed parallel to the joists they will sag squeak and gap. If you re installing your flooring on a main floor you will want to float the floor in the same direction throughout all of the rooms to create a cohesive feel. The correct direction for laying hardwood floors. Apart from a few exceptions like sagging joists this is the preferred direction to lay wood floors because it provides the best result aesthetically.

It also is governed by several design principles. Sight lines and aesthetics laying the hardwood flooring so that it runs from the main entrance of the room to the opposite wall is the best for sight line.