Hardwood Floor Parallel To Subfloor

Unfinished and factory finished solid hardwood should be installed perpendicular to the joists or if your subfloor boards are diagonal fairly common in those pre 1920s houses perpendicular to the joists or perpendicular to the subfloor direction.

Hardwood floor parallel to subfloor.

Even the slightest imperfections in your subfloor can telegraph into the flooring and result in squeaking buckling and uneven floors. First renail the existing plywood subfloor so that the old nails are tight and add new nails to achieve a maximum nail spacing of 6 inches. If the hardwood flooring is installed nailed down parallel to the direction of the old wood flooring the new wood floors could pull apart leaving open gaps or. We d like to install the new wood floor to be level with the slate.

A flooring contractor howard brickman responds. Both of the rooms getting the hardwood are next to the hall which has a slate floor. 3 4 plywood over joists 12 oc should be quite stiff enough. Because of the wide beam spacing there is noticeable movement of the floor and the current floor squeaks in many places.

The sub floor is laid perpendicular to the beams and the current flooring is laid perpendicular to the sub floor. One of the problems when running parallel is that if some joists are higher than others you get a roll in the floor lengthwise that makes the floor very difficult to sand and it can be seen. Do this by multiplying the room s length by its width. Before you install your plywood subfloor first calculate the room s square footage to find out how much flooring you ll need to buy.

The key to a beautiful long lasting hardwood or laminate floor is a well prepared subfloor. New hardwood flooring over old hardwood flooring. Just be sure to flatten the subfloors. Ensure the subfloor is flat to the recommended tolerances for the flooring you are installing.

I would like to place the new floor parallel to the sub floor and perpendicular to the beams. If the subfloor is stiff enough there is no reason why solid nail down strip flooring can t be run parallel to the joists. The slate is 1 2 higher than the current subfloor under the carpet. 3 4 thick or thinner solid or engineered hardwood flooring must be installed across the old wood floor boards at a 90 degree angle.

When it comes to hardwood flooring the quality of the installation will be determined by the quality of many things including the choice of subflooring and the condition its in.