If we run them parallel then the hallways would have short planks laid crosswise which we think would look ridiculous. I agree. Floor should be solid before you lay LVP. Floor joists shouldnt affect results in my opinion. I would lay them the length of the hallway and continuous with that direction for the rest of the space for cosmetic purposes as you mentioned. It will look odd if done incorrectly. You could also consider transitioning at the hallway if you wanted to, running the long way in the rooms continuous then gluing down the planks at the transition and running the planks the long way down the hallway.

I just installed Armstrong Vivero Arbor Orchard in Natural, selected because it has the integrilock click-in install mechansim. 530sf - 2 bedrooms and a laundry hallway. I have never used luxury vinyl, but have college rentals and heard good things. Carpet is NASTY for college rentals. In the past, I've used various levels/price points of laminate, when the subfloor allowed it. The husband and I do the install - mostly him doing the labor, me doing the shopping. I like the finished floor to look as natural as possible (vs just throwing down whatever comes out of the box), so I help with the layouts. (I also LOVE epoxy - garage - for concrete, but am saddened that Home Depot stopped carrying the Rust-Oleum 2 part version that I've used many times.) What I look for in flooring is durability that looks great. College kids think even the low end laminate is real wood, but this cheap stuff lacks durability. For my latest project, I wanted to do the install myself - maybe with the help of my young kids. Prior to learning of Armstrong's Vivero, I was set on US Flooring's Coretec because it seemed to have the best available LVP click-in locking mechanism. My project was delayed and I failed to order the flooring. Then, I found Armstrong's product and the price was easily $3 less per square foot. Plus, I watched the You Tube video where the guy could not close the gaps between the Coretec planks. I figured that if he couldn't do it, neither could a chick with two young kids. So, I prepped the floor - sanded the OSB and began the install - without reading the directions!! My tools in hand were a tapping block made for LVP, carbide utility knife blades, a rubber mallet and shims. Of course, also measuring tapes and L squares etc. Because I failed to read the Armstrong install directions (I did watch a few videos), I installed backwards. Instead of laying the top piece onto the bottom piece, I slid the bottom piece onto the top. This took a lot of finesse and hammering. I failed to hear any "click". The floor was looking awesome, but it seemed to be taking more effort and time than anyone claimed. The husband decided to help. He read the directions and discovered my first issue. I finished one bedroom, doing the install wrong, in 9 hours. This bedroom is 15'x12', plus a closet. I had to go to the store to buy a "pro bar" to tighten the planks together. (The probar damaged the planks, even after taping cardboard around it.) The second bedroom - same size - was installed the correct way and was done in 6 hours. These times include the OSB sanding/clean up. I laid the flooring directly onto the OSB. When installing correctly, where the top is layed onto the bottom, there is definitely a "clicking" noise. Although the correct way to lay the planks takes less time/effort, there are very slight gaps here and there between the planks. When I installed the one bedroom incorrectly, the gaps are non-existent. These gaps are very slight and resemble a wood floor when the boards slightly shrink. I don't think the "gaps" are a big enough issue to warrant the extra time/effort to install. When installing following the directions, the pro bar was needed only on the final edges of the room. The planks do not move nor make any noise when walking on them. This is my new non-epoxy flooring!! My only complaint is that 1 length (48") is not enough. With a 15' long room, I ended up with tiny 1" slivers inside the closet. There was no way I was starting a row over once I got to the end. Using a 12-16" starting piece was problematic in every 1" sliver row. I hope that more lengths become available. The planks were difficult to cut, so I am hoping this equates to fantastic surface durability. The carbide blades did mar the surface (and could remove a finger with no effort), so installing with the recommended titanium blades might make the install quicker/easier. It is true that young kids can help with the install! I wouldn't trust them with the sharp blades, but they can definitely "click" the pieces together.

Another thing to consider when looking at the engineered floors is plank length. I just realized why I didn't like some of the photos I saw ... they had too many short pieces which gives the floor a choppy look and to me, it looks too much like a tile effect. The Uptown Floors suggested above sound great, and I will look at them more closely, but they still have "shorter" board (12" to 8 ft). I am looking at another company with board lengths from 3 ft to 12 ft. Those longer boards make a big difference in the overall look in a larger open floor plan. The longer boards do cost more, so I need to do some more comparisons and value of spending more for a more pleasing look. Their other specs are mostly similar. I think floors are going to be my hardest decision!

At this point, the job ($4/sf for a BIG job with LOTS of things to do = awesome price) is finished. The cure is going to be worse than the disease. I'm a big fan of "Wait until you have a problem before throwing money/time at it." It is the cheapest solution I know of (I'm a pragmatist...who is both cheap AND lazy ;-P). My advice is this: leave it alone. Keep 10% 'extra' of the flooring product (roughly 75sf or to the nearest box). This will offer you the peace of mind and the material security you will need to feel secure. You will keep it in the back of your mind. You will know that IF something goes wrong you have ALL THE PRODUCT needed to repair/replace the damaged planks. With a laminate floor I wouldn't worry to much about a bit of bounce. People have 'put up with' bouncing laminate floors for 20 years (the SAME laminate they installed 20 years prior). That tells me the click system is fine. Your floor is a rigid vinyl (8mm thick = nice product). The rigidity of the core will help keep everything stable. The only weak point (as in everything in life) is the link (click edge) between one plank and another. This is the one and only place things *might go wrong. Now to be blunt, a rigid vinyl floor like yours can be taken apart and, "in theory", be clicked back together - BUT I don't like that idea. I really don't. We know the click-edge is delicate. We know that. We've seen them brake by grazing the ground before being installed. A vinyl floor that has been disassembled has a STRONG likelihood of DAMAGED edges. If the edge is damaged then there is almost no way you will get them back together. That means you will have to assume 25% damage should you choose to 'unzip' this floor to the point where it bounces. That leaves you with 75% intact flooring with 25% garbage planks (which must be replaced). As soon as you try to fix the subfloor underneath (by removing the flooring) you will have lost the 'intact' floor. You are guaranteed to spend MORE time, MORE money and MORE materials to deal with this. Compare that to 'leave it alone'. Right now you have 100% intact flooring. Every day you wake up to 100% intact floor is another day with a perfectly functional floor. Every day you have 100% intact floor is another day you have SAVED time, money and materials. Simply leave this floor alone until something MAKES you repair it. Keep your 5%-10% extra on hand for future repairs (and there will be future repairs). Use them if and when you need them.