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Flooring Design Dilemma

Direction of upstairs

Will Shropshire

3 years ago

Hello everyone. Wife and I are going to lay down our own laminate flooring for the entire upstairs. Just wondering what would be the best direction to lay it down. The stairs are hardwood so we thought just carrying the wood in that direction throughout the entire floor would be ideal? Or would rotating it in certain rooms make sense. Thanks in advance!

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Comments (3)

The Design Doula
3 years ago
Will, if I were in your shoes, I'd be thrilled to have beautiful real hardwood on the stairs. I'd do the upstairs in a neutral colored low pile carpet the same everywhere upstairs--hall and all rooms (except bathrooms obviously). And I'm a person who hates carpet! But, I think carpet is a lesser crime than laminate "wood" which just looks extra fake against real wood. Plus the noise factor--carpet is quieter and more relaxing upstairs. My two cents:)
Will Shropshire
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks Doula but carpet isn't option for us.
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SJ McCarthy
3 years ago
Laminate requires t-moldings through ALL doorways. So that's a no brainer. If you want to turn the planks you can. It comes down to the SKILL of the installer. A flooring installer will have no problem getting laminate into this space in all one direction. A DIYer who has just a snick of knowledge about flooring is going to have a hard time with the HALL WAY. The angle in the hall way is going to be an issue for a DIYer.

The cuts will need to be precise. The expansion gaps at all walls will need to be preserved (more so with a kink in the hallway like that).

If you are trying to figure this out, laminate floors are usually run with the LONG edge of the board running down the LONG AXIS of the home. If this is too hard to figure out (as in your upstairs) then the NEXT option is to run the LONG lengths of the planks in the DIRECTION OF SUNLIGHT.

Example: if we assume the BOTTOM of your diagram is facing the sun, you would run your planks "top-to-bottom" of the diagram. If either of the SIDES of your diagram are sun-facing, then you run the planks "side-to-side" in the diagram. The hallway can stand as it's own direction to make the installation easier.

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