should all hardwood floors run in same direction?
bebetokids
16 years ago
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Comments (14)
springbabes
16 years agosue36
16 years agoRelated Discussions
engineered hardwood floor over old hardwood floor
Comments (14)You need to do a little more archeological digging still. You need to know the whole construction of the floor before you can decide how best to install something new. I'd take up that plywood piece in the kitchen and see what's under it. It's higher than the surrounding floor, so needs to go. You should also be able to see from there what subfloor is under the original kitchen hardwood. It's too bad the space under your entryway is finished, but I'd still do some exploring from below to see what's under there, and to figure out the fix to stop it from squeaking. Is it drywall below or a drop ceiling? I know it probably seems like a pain to tear out drywall, but if you cut out a clean patch, like 2' x the width of the joists, it'll be relatively simple to repair. Just make sure to cut it down the center of the joists so that there's room to screw the patch piece to it later. Cut the hole under the area that squeaks the most, if you can. Have someone walk on and watch the floor from below to see what's moving. It might be as simple as pounding in a couple shims from below, or face-nailing a loose board from above. You want to find out what's underneath the hardwood. It might be laid directly on the floor joists, or there might be 10" wide boards that the hardwood is nailed to. Another thought is to take out a board in the hallway, since that's not original and you want to replace it. See what the subfloor is there. I am a bit puzzled at why, when you've stripped the kitchen down to the original hardwood, it's still higher than the hallway floor. Is your current surface perhaps not the original kitchen hardwood? Peeling back the plywood area will help determine that. BTW, I haven't heard of that stop squeaking product you linked to, so can't offer any personal opinion. And don't pour self-leveling compound over top of hardwood. It needs to go over plywood....See Morewhich way should my hardwood floor run
Comments (2)If installing diagonal there is no need to be concerned with the floor joists if it's a solid 3/4" product. However if you reside in places that have different codes for subfloors(California for example) your subfloor may be suitable for any direction because of it's thickness. Longest dimension of the area is usually the best direction, but front to back in this case would look more appealing...if I'm looking at it right....See MoreWhich way should hardwood floor run?
Comments (2)The only time to violate the unwritten rule of running wood flooring with the length of a room might be if a majority of doors and windows were located on the long walls. Although the book says to run flooring perpendicular to the underlying joists, I have violated that rule many times with no adverse effects. Run it the way it looks best to you with the foreknowledge that you may be running it with the joist direction and possibly creating an unorthodox and potentially troublesome install....See Morehardwood flooring - joists switch direction
Comments (5)Do you think it would look better to have the whole upstairs hardwood running in the same direction, as opposed to switching how the hardwood runs in the master bedroom? My main concern is entering the master bedroom, the floors won't run left to right they will run front to back I.e. perpendicular to how the bed is situated but also perpendicular to how the light (south light) hits the room....See Morefairegold
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